AARP The Magazine (www.aarp.org/magazine), the world’s largest circulation magazine with more than 35.1 million readers in the US, has revealed the top 5 best places to retire abroad. The magazine used factors such as climate, cost of living, housing, health care provision, and leisure facilities to assess quality of life for retirees all around the globe.
According to the report, the best five places are Boquete in Panama; the city of Cascais in Portugal: the Le Marche region of Italy: the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France; and the Puerto Vallarta region in Mexico.
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico is the undisputed number one destination for American retirees. With its rich Indian and Spanish culture, lavish beaches and affordable real estate, Puerto Vallarta offers the low-cost, laid back lifestyle retirees seek to find in a community.
Arts and culture, medieval towns, vineyards, beaches and castles attract retirees to the Mediterranean seashore region of Languedoc-Roussillon. The region is also just three hours from the bright lights and bustling energy of Paris via high-speed train. French health care has been named the best in the world by the World Health Organization.
Panama is a smart choice for retirees who want it all. Not only does it feature attractive retirement destinations – sleek capital city, hot beach towns, cool mountain villages – but it also offers an unbeatable package of retiree benefits and discounts. If you want a temperate highlands retreat surrounded by unmatched natural splendour, the mountain town of Boquete, an hour’s flight from Panama City, is close to heaven. Here expats settle amid rain forests, coffee plantations, burbling streams, and hummingbirds hovering over dazzling flowers.
With its castles, wines, ancient ruins, cobblestoned streets and plethora of golf courses and beaches, Portugal has a fantastic appeal. Considered by many to be the Portuguese Riviera, Estoril and Cascais are full of glamour and charisma. These postcard-pretty towns on the Atlantic coast, 15 miles west of Lisbon, boast glorious beaches.
Le Marche in Italy is beautiful region with vineyards, snow-capped mountains and gorgeous Adriatic Coast beaches. There is an incomparable mix of open-air opera festivals, Renaissance painting and architecture, wine tasting and nature reserves. It also prides itself on the best fish dishes in the country and is trendy enough to have snagged Dustin Hoffman as a tourism spokesperson!
