Chapala is a municipality in the Ciénega Region of Jalisco State, Mexico. Many North Americans reside in this town, attracted by the mild climate and lower Mexican cost of living.
Chapala is located in the central zone of the state. Chapala is also the name of the biggest lake of the country. Chapala means "place of Vases"(Nahuatl); "really wet place" (Coca); or "place of grasshoppers over the water" (Nahuatl).
Originally Chapala or Chapallan was a pre-Hispanic settlement whose earliest antiquity is found in the twelfth century AD,when migration of Nahuatl tribes from the northwest, reach this latitudes, finding the north shore of the lake highly populated as referred by Fray Antonio Tello, franciscan friar and chronicler.
It is temperate, thanks to Lake Chapala, which provides freshness, and does not reach the levels of heat or cold that is in the towns to their surroundings.
The 'directo' bus leaves every full hour from the old bus station (la central vieja) in Guadalajara. It has A/C and costs M$58 (Dec 2021). It takes around 1 hour. You will be dropped off in the Central Bus Station 📍 called Central Camionera Chapala.
From Guadalajara, follow the signs to the Airport, then go ahead to "Chapala"
Small enough to walk around. When you come out of the bus station, turn left and follow the main road to reach the lake and the main church.
There are nice restaurants by the shore of the lake. Many of them have live mariachi music.
Apart from the restaurants you will find lots of drink stalls along the new lakeshore walk selling
Primary administrative division