Living in Portugal - Page 3

11 of the Best Places to Retire to in Portugal

An elderly couple stands in shallow ocean water, holding hands and leaning back, with smiles on their faces. Both wear light blue tops and light-colored pants, enjoying a playful moment on a sunny day at the beach. The sky is clear with a few clouds.

Have you heard about the D7, sometimes known as Portugal’s retirement visa? If you’re reading this, you probably have — and you’re wondering: where should I retire in Portugal? In theory, you could move anywhere in Portugal. Some areas are more popular with retirees — the Algarve and Silver Coast being the obvious examples — but there’s nothing stopping you from settling somewhere more remote, like the far north or one of the Azores islands. That said, where you land …

If you’ve spent any time looking for Portuguese-learning resources, you’ve probably already discovered one of the big frustrations: most of what’s out there is for Brazilian Portuguese, not European Portuguese. That’s exactly the gap that Mia Esmeriz has been filling since 2017. Through her website, YouTube channel, and a complete set of courses from A1 to B2, she’s helped thousands of students learn real, everyday European Portuguese—from pronunciation and listening skills to grammar and natural conversation. In this interview, Mia …

An older woman and man sitting at a table looking concerned. The woman is holding paperwork and red glasses, while the man has his hand raised and is looking at a calculator. A pink piggy bank is placed in front of them on the table.

If you’re thinking about moving to Portugal, you are probably wondering how much money you need to have in order to live there. This is quite a difficult question to answer, but it can be broken down into two parts: Income Requirements for Residency Moving to Portugal long-term involves obtaining residency there. There are different processes depending on whether you hold EU/EEA/Swiss citizenship (e.g. you have a French or Irish passport) or whether you hold a citizenship from the rest …

A person is holding a Samsung smartphone, browsing an online shopping app displaying various black jackets. The person appears to be sitting indoors, looking at product images and details on the screen, with a wooden piece of furniture in the background.

Although Portugal has fantastic high-speed home internet, online shopping is not as popular in Portugal as it is in other countries. But it’s growing in popularity – both as a way of buying from Portuguese retailers and also as a way of buying (often cheaper) products from abroad. Read the guides Shopping at some sites – Amazon, for example – isn’t always straight-forward, but Portugalist’s guides help make things easy to understand. Amazon Amazon doesn’t officially have a presence in …

A display of beef jerky products labeled "Azores Beef Jerky," with one package of pork jerky in the center. Each packet is paired with a bowl of jerky pieces. The setup is decorated with a festive red and green plaid border on a burlap cloth.

In this interview, Tricia Alker explains how she moved from the US to the island of Pico in the Azores. She talks about how they had initially planned to start another business within the seafood industry, but life had other plans and they ended up starting Azores Jerky, a beef jerky company. What motivated you to move from California to Pico island in the Azores? In 1998 my husband was asked by a colleague/friend in California to help in a …

A white pickup truck loaded with boxes and miscellaneous items is parked in front of a rustic, stone-walled building with a red-tiled roof. The building has several small windows and a wooden door. Steps lead up to the door, and the sky above is clear and blue.

Portugal is still a very affordable country by Western European standards, but the cost of living has increased over the past few years — in particular, the cost of renting and buying a property. This is especially true in Lisbon, which has become one of the most desirable places to live in Portugal, but those increasing costs are also increasing all over the rest of the country, particularly in Porto and the Algarve. Looking at the cheapest places to rent …

Continente supermarket at Vasco da Gama shopping centre in Lisbon

If you’re moving to Portugal from the US, Canada, or the UK, grocery shopping is going to feel a little different — in mostly good ways. Portugal has a lot of supermarkets. Even small Portuguese towns typically have two or three supermarkets within easy walking distance. Larger towns often have four or five different chains, sometimes next to each other. The tradeoff, especially if you’re living in a city like Lisbon or Porto, is that you’re unlikely to find a …

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. Amazon doesn’t have a warehouse in Portugal so you’ll have to shop at one of the Amazon stores in another country (for example Amazon UK, Spain, or Germany). Which Amazon should you shop at? Generally speaking, Amazon.es (Amazon Spain) is the best option for several reasons: The second best option is Amazon.de (Amazon Germany). The products are sometimes cheaper here, but you will typically need to pay for postage and, due to …

A family of four sits on a sandy beach in front of a white cottage with green shutters. The mother and father, both smiling, have their three children with them: a baby on the father's lap, a young boy sitting beside them, and an older girl leaning into the mother.

Portugal is a fantastic place for families. In fact, a recent study ranked Funchal in Madeira and Lisbon, the capital city, first and third as the top places to raise a family in the whole of Europe. Porto also made the list at 22. The study, which focused on factors like education, health and safety, and lifestyle and leisure, listed 30 cities around Europe and it’s just one of many studies that say Portugal is a great place to raise …

A large library in Portugal with shelves filled with books, a metal staircase leading to an upper level, and a white sculpture of a person riding a bicycle suspended in mid-air from the ceiling.

Buying books, especially foreign-language books, can be a challenge in Portugal. And, if you can find the book you want, it often costs a lot more than you’re used to paying for a book. Getting used to the higher prices for books is just a part of living in Portugal, but the bigger challenge is not being able to find the book you want at all. All of this wasn’t such a big issue prior to Brexit. However, now that …

11 of the Best Places to Retire to in Portugal

Mia Esmeriz On Learning Portuguese in 6 Months

How Much Income Do You Need to Live in Portugal?

Online Shopping in Portugal: Amazon, FNAC, Worten — What Expats Actually Use

Interview: How Tricia & Griff Alker Started a Beef Jerky Business in the Azores

Where Are the Cheapest Places to Live in Portugal?

Supermarkets in Portugal: Continente, Pingo Doce, Lidl — What to Expect

How To Shop At Amazon from Portugal

7 Great Places for Families Moving to Portugal

Buying English Books in Portugal: Bookshops, Amazon, and What Actually Works