Moving to Portugal for the right reasons

If you’ve already made up your mind about moving to Portugal, then you’ve certainly been asked a lot of questions about why Portugal, in Lisbon or elsewhere: here we’re going to give some clarification to the last undecided ones! If you haven’t yet decided to embark on this project, this page will indeed give you some known arguments and some less known ones on the reasons that will or will not make you migrate to this beautiful country.

The advantages of Portugal

Let’s leave aside the country’s real estate arguments and look at the advantages of living in Portugal. The financial arguments and opportunities related to buying your home are discussed on other pages, here we will discuss the points related to the well-being of living in the country.

The weather

Climate is the first thing you or your loved ones can think about. Unlike to many European countries, the so-called cold months here are only December to February. And when we talk about cold and winter, this has more to do with the wind than with the temperatures, since it is not at all uncommon to be around 25 degrees in the sun during the day and therefore to enjoy a meal in a t-shirt and on the terrace on December 24th!
You can still feel like you’re in winter when the evening and night are approaching with temperatures of around 10 degrees or sometimes less, depending on the geographical area in which you’ll be settling.

Concerning the summer, the temperatures vary between the north and the south but we can note in July according to the geographical zones:

• Faro: 12 hours of sunshine per day / Average maximum 29° / 0 days of rain
• Lisbon: 12 hours of sunshine per day / Average maximum 28° / 2 days of rain
• Porto: 11 hours of sunshine per day / Average maximum 26° / 5 days of rain

Acquiring a property in Portugal is therefore the assurance of enjoying the sun and good weather all year round: no more long winter periods below 5° and no more thawing of your windscreen before taking the car!

Portuguese mentality and culture

It’s no legend, the Portuguese are indeed very welcoming and far from every man for himself: many will give you a helping hand when you need it without expecting anything in return. This was very frequent for me and my family when we arrived in the country: many of them accompanied us in the first steps of settling in, made us discover the surroundings and the contacts were very easy from the beginning.

The Portuguese are very proud of their country, its history and that foreigners can take an interest in their culture. Even if they sometimes find it hard to understand that some of them can settle in their country when many of them want to leave it to escape from the economic crisis that is still hitting them. Nevertheless, they remain welcoming and they will help you as much as they can to facilitate your integration.

Integration means being able to communicate with them and you will have to learn the language. But be careful not to be fooled by online Portuguese courses that will not get you very far. It is therefore interesting, if you have the chance, to meet locals who also speak English and learn with them and to mingle with events in your area to familiarize yourself with the language. A lot of words look like those in France, Spain or Italy but the difficulty lies in the pronunciation.

However, it is important to know that English is here very developed and that you will have many other ways to make yourself understood when you arrive. For the first steps, you will also have the possibility to be accompanied by Essencial Portugal who will take care of everything: the administration generally only uses Portuguese.

The location and size of the country

One of the great advantages of settling in Portugal is its proximity to its neighbours in Europe. Add this to the climate and you will be sure that everyone will be able to visit you very easily during the holidays. With more than 320 flights per week at only 2 hours from Paris, the distance remains limited and appreciable. It also gives you the possibility in case of buying a second home, to go away for the weekend without any problem! The fact that the country is part of Europe also makes things easier in terms of travel, a significant advantage.

The second advantage here is the size of the country. That’s why, in my opinion, the centre of Portugal is worth considering. Wherever you want to go, it will never be very far. If you live in Lisbon, you will find Faro’s hot mother at only 2 hours 30 and Porto at 3 hours by car (2 hours 30 by plane to the Azores). So imagine that you can very easily go on holiday or weekend to visit all the wonders of Portugal without having to go very far.

Portuguese heritage

In Portugal there are a great number of buildings that are part of the Portuguese heritage to visit. They are steeped in history and will allow you to discover the country and its culture just a stone’s throw from your home. A heritage that has been preserved despite the tourist influx and thanks to the respect of the Portuguese for their country and their history.

Portugal has 14 UNESCO World Heritage sites:

2 natural sites

• Madeira’s Lauriferous Forest since 1999
• Selvagens Islands Nature Reserve since 2002

12 cultural sites

• Angra do Heroísmo Centre in the Azores since 1983
• Historic centre of Évora since 1986
• Historic Centre of Guimarães since 2001
• Historic Centre of Porto since 1996
• Convent of Christ in Tomar since 1983
• Monastery of Alcobaça since 1989
• Batalha Monastery since 1983
• The Tower of Belem and the Monastery of Jerónimos in Lisbon since 1983
• Cultural landscape of Sintra since 1995
• Wine landscape of Pico Island since 2004
• Wine-growing region of the Alto Douro since 2001
• Prehistoric rock art sites in the Côa Valley since 1998

The cost of living in Portugal

It is certainly not the only content you will read about the cost of living in Portugal that is being debated on the Internet. And having lived life in France and life in Portugal, let me tell you that this is quite normal. It is important to know that some items of expenditure are as expensive as in a lot of European countries or even more expensive and others are less expensive.

Cheaper Expense Items :

• Food
• Housing (Purchase and Rental)
• Leisure (Cinema, restaurant, café…)
• Clothing
• Hairdresser
• Tobacco

Identical or more expensive expense items :

• Car
• Essence
• Electricity
• Creche
• Household appliances
• Furnishing
• Telephony
• Internet

It is generally possible to live by spending less than in other European countries depending on your geographical area, but don’t expect a much lower cost or you will quickly be caught up with reality.

Real estate in Portugal

Real estate is obviously a great advantage of Portugal which makes that many european people choose this country for a year or half year installation. There are great opportunities and if there is one country in which it is still possible to easily afford a quality house at a more than reasonable price it is Portugal!
There are plenty of agencies, websites and ads but the search for a property in Portugal can get very tedious and complicated. That said, Essencial Portugal can help you. Contact us and being on the spot, we can be your privileged contact for :

• Gather information about your search and your desires: size, location, budget, availability, project…
• Browse through all the estate agencies to find the corresponding properties.
• We will take the photos and videos of the selected houses for you.
• Plan visits according to your availability

We can take care of your entire real estate purchase in Lisbon and accompany you throughout the purchase process.