Looking for a place with a great quality of life and a low cost of living? A place where you can live in a style you can’t afford at home? A place that's not yet been discovered by the mainstream press. You've found it in Xalapa, the “Athens” of Mexico.

The roads in Xalapa wind among lush green hills and ravines. Rivulets and small waterfalls are a common sight. In spring, coffee bushes bloom, with their tiny white flowers scattered like snowflakes on the green leaves. This is the heart of Veracruz’s coffee-growing region, where the foothills meet the mountains.

The air in Xalapa is rich and moist. The temperature mild. You may need a light jacket in the evening. You’re only an hour from the torrid coast, with its temperatures in the 90s. But in that hour’s drive from the coast, you’ve gone from sea level to 4,000 feet, and from Veracruz’s black-sand beaches to this capital city nestled in the hills.

With a population around 400,000, Xalapa is a small city. For those who love landscape, this is great country. From the city’s heights you can see green hills in almost every direction, with blue-tinged mountains as a backdrop. It’s no surprise that Xalapa is a hub for mountain sports, especially eco-tourism and white-water rafting on the area’s many little rivers.