Living in Portugal

19 Honest Downsides of Living in Portugal: Which Ones Matter To You?

A person wearing black-rimmed glasses looks upwards, with a contemplative expression. Above their head, "CONS." and "PROS." are written, separated by a vertical and horizontal line, suggesting a comparison chart. The background is grey and plain.

Portugal’s biggest downsides aren’t the cold ocean or the pickpockets on the 28 tram. They’re an immigration system that can leave you waiting years for a residence card, laws that change while you’re halfway through them, houses that are colder inside than out, local wages that don’t match local rents, and how long it takes to make real friends here. Nineteen downsides in total. Eleven are serious enough that I’ve watched people leave over them. Eight are the daily irritations …

Joel wearing a beige cap and green t-shirt is holding a baby dressed in white. The man is looking down and smiling at the baby, who is staring at the camera with a curious expression. They are indoors, with a shelf and a television in the background.

Practice Portuguese is one of the most comprehensive (and most popular) tools for learning European Portuguese. It’s something many people living in Portugal will be familiar with, but most people probably don’t know the story of how it came to be. In this interview, I chat to Joel Rendall about how he came to live in Portugal, the difference between life here and life in Canada, and his personal tips for learning Portuguese. Also worth mentioning: Practice Portuguese normally costs …

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Liz Sharma spotted a need for more engaging content for people learning European Portuguese. She set up Talk The Streets, which has become one of the most popular YouTube channels, and later set up her own very popular course: Portuguese Pro. Check out her 7 tips for sounding like a local and free lesson for beginners. In this interview, we discuss how she learned Portuguese and where she thinks language learners should focus when learning European Portuguese. James: You have …

A person is holding a tablet displaying an Amazon webpage. The webpage shows a search for Portuguese dictionaries, featuring listings for "Oceano Pocket Dictionary" and "Dicionário de Portugais 100% Visual." The handheld tablet has a black case.

Yes, you can shop at Amazon from Portugal. There’s no Amazon.pt, so you order from one of Amazon’s other European stores, and the one I’d use almost every time is Amazon.es (Amazon Spain). Which Amazon should you use in Portugal? Amazon.es is the best Amazon store for Portugal: standard delivery is free on orders over €35 that are sold or shipped by Amazon, it usually arrives faster than anything from Germany or France, and the whole site is available in …

Continente supermarket at Vasco da Gama shopping centre in Lisbon

People ask me what grocery stores in Portugal are like, and the short answer for anyone coming from the US is: smaller, cheaper, and there are a lot more of them. Smaller isn’t a high bar—American supermarkets are enormous. There’s no Walmart-style store here, and even the hypermarkets, the big out-of-town ones, would look modest parked next to a Supercenter. Your fridge and kitchen cabinets will be smaller too (unless you buy an American-size fridge), so your habits change. The …

If you’ve spent any time hunting for Portuguese-learning resources, you’ve probably run into the big frustration right away: most of what’s out there teaches Brazilian Portuguese, not European Portuguese. That’s the gap Mia Esmeriz has been filling since 2017. Through her website, her YouTube channel, and a full set of online courses running from A1 to C1, she’s helped thousands of people learn real, everyday European Portuguese — pronunciation, listening, grammar, and natural conversation. I’ve since gone through her courses …

A doctor wearing a white coat and stethoscope smiles while speaking with a woman and a young girl in a medical office. In the foreground, text reads “Understanding Health Insurance in Portugal.”.

Feeling lost in the maze of Portuguese healthcare? Trying to get health insurance quotes but ending up with a headache instead of answers? We get it – it’s confusing! Health insurance isn’t just a “nice to have.” It’s a must-have for many visas (hello, D7 and Digital Nomad Visa!) and increasingly recommended for, well, just about everyone else. Don’t worry, though – we’ve got your back! At Portugalist, we’ve been the trusty sidekicks for folks moving to Portugal since 2016. …

Close-up view of a driver's license, focusing on the section listing vehicle categories and restrictions. Rows are labeled with codes (A1, A, B1, B, C1) with corresponding icons for different vehicle types, such as motorcycles, cars, and trucks.

One of the many administrative tasks that you need to think about when becoming resident in Portugal is exchanging your driving licence. Everyone will need to do this at some point, but the time-frame will depend on where you’re moving from. Moving from another EU Country Driving licenses that have been issued by countries belonging to the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA – Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) are valid in Portugal, until the expiration date printed …

A man with a beard is looking down while holding a large white sign that reads "DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?" in bold, black letters. He is wearing a black vest over a gray shirt and standing against a plain, gray background.

One of the most frequently asked questions on Portugalist is: how widely is English spoken in Portugal? Can I get by with English or do I really need to learn Portuguese? You may have travelled or lived in other European countries like France or Spain where English isn’t always spoken. Portugal’s not like that. When it comes to speaking English as a second language, Portugal is the 9th most proficient country in the world, according to the EF English Proficiency …

A person lounging on a beach chair, wearing a large sun hat and white clothing, is reading a book. In the background, gentle waves are visible under a bright blue sky. The sun is shining, creating a serene and relaxed atmosphere.

There are lots of great blogs and YouTube channels that have great information about moving to Portugal, but there’s something nice about just picking up a book and reading it through. Surprisingly, there are very few books about moving to Portugal (so far). There isn’t really a Portuguese equivalent of Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence or Frances Mayes’ Under the Tuscan Sun, at least in terms of popularity, but there are a few self-published accounts that give some insights …

19 Honest Downsides of Living in Portugal: Which Ones Matter To You?

Practice Portuguese Co-Founder Joel Rendall: How He Reached C1 Level

How Liz Sharma from Talk the Streets Fell in Love with Portugal

How To Shop At Amazon from Portugal

Grocery Stores in Portugal: What’s Different, What It Costs, and Where I Shop

Mia Esmeriz On Learning Portuguese in 6 Months

Health Insurance in Portugal: Get A Quote Today

Exchanging Your Driving Licence for a Portuguese One: What to Expect

Do They Speak English in Portugal? An Honest Region-by-Region Answer

7 Books About Moving to Portugal