# Scouting Trip To Portugal - No.1



## globalfamily (Aug 12, 2013)

Hello all, I have moved things up a little. I would like to be in Portugal with my family before the year is out. I am planning my first trip to Portugal for within the next two weeks.

I have decided to visit the South (Algarve) first. Could any of you perhaps assist with recommendations, refferals or suggestions regarding a rental apartment for 1 - 2 months which will allow me time to find a suitable place for my family and I. I dont need much, but it must be relatively central and good internet connectivity. I will be coming alone on this scouting trip, and rental budget around $350 - $450 USD per month for myself.


This is the basic wish list of what I am ultimately looking for: a long term rental for my family and I until we decide where and what to buy:

Somewhere relatively central, not in the hub of touristic night life, somewhere peaceful enough for the most part of the year, within 5 km from a beach preferably, close enough to supermarket shopping, good internet coverage, decent schooling, safe and secure enviroment for a family and around $500 - $750USD p/month on rental. 

Thanks


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

Suggest you use €'s not dollars when asking, me I'd be looking Silver Coast rather than Algarve


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## globalfamily (Aug 12, 2013)

Got it, USD currency is in my blood, need to work that out. Canoeman, Silver Coast - why? Help me out here, tell me where, tell me about the place/s that you can recommend or suggest. Please share your thoughts?


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

1$ roughly 75c/euro but plenty of sites to give you daily rates via email.

I've nothing against Algarve and have owned property there, just that I consider probably the areas that would interest you are still especially the coastal strip tourist areas and nearly everything is accented to that including rental and property prices.

Silver Coast to me has many major & minor places, good transport links with options, a more diverse choice of property, for me a good central town is Caldas de Rainha


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## globalfamily (Aug 12, 2013)

Canoeman, thank you for that, I shall do some searching. Much appreciated.


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## Genych (Aug 22, 2013)

Hey Canoeman! What places exactly you can suggest for living in Silver Coast area? How cost of living is different from Lisbon and Algarve there?


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

It's a very varied area so it offers something for everyone, because we have definite wants/needs for our next move then we are looking in and around close to Caldas da Rainha.

Give us an idea of your ideal and might be able to help more


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## Genych (Aug 22, 2013)

Good point. Our ideal would be something like living in a safe and fairly quiet town with a more or less good weather year around (relatively of course), not too far from the sea and close to major cultural centers. And not expensive in terms of cost of life. I doubt that we want to live in very dense urban areas per se but we love visiting art museums, theaters, concerts, etc. So, being fairly close to it would be what we are looking for. Algarve is a great place to live if you mostly like beaches, warm weather and very laid back life style. I suspect that going to Lisbon from there would be not just a one day trip and one has to stay overnight there, if you want to spend a big part of a day in the capital city. Other major cities like Porto will be even farther. Am I right in my assumptions? I hope you can get a general idea about what I have in my mind, though.


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## anapedrosa (Mar 21, 2011)

I can offer an additional point of view here. My husband and I will be moving to the Silver Coast in October. We chose the Silver Coast over the Algarve for a few reasons:
- The landscape is greener, coming from Canada we find the Algarve a bit arid for our liking
- Property prices, we found we could get more for our budget - we were buying though, so I can't offer experience on rentals
- We like some of the seaside towns, Peniche, Foz do Arelho and São Martinho do Porto, all have nice beaches 
- Caldas da Rainha offers small city amenities, certainly enough for anything we need and most of what we want
- Lisbon, a city we love, is only a 1 hour trip away - we used the bus instead of the car for a day trip and found it very relaxing 

We will be living near the Obidos Lagoon, we're bringing our Canadian kayaks with us, and looking forward to our new lifestyle in a place where there is no need to understand the concept of winter tires.


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## Genych (Aug 22, 2013)

Thank you Ana! It is so nice to have a good piece of advise from fellow Canadians. As a matter of fact, we may also be buying a property down the road but we want to explore the country first. And being as a resident of Greater Vancouver area I perfectly understand what you say about arid landscapes and climates. 

May I ask you how did you work out your status in Portugal? Are you planning to work or leave on some pension/savings over there? If you feel more comfortable, contact me via PM.


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## anapedrosa (Mar 21, 2011)

Hi Genych,

I have dual citizenship and my husband will be able to join me under family reunification. We are retiring, at that happy stage in life where work is an option. I'm in Ottawa. Vancouver's a lovely city.


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## Genych (Aug 22, 2013)

Hi Ana,

I hear you. Unfortunately, none of us has any EU citizenship but I heard that we can work around permits and stuff, if we have enough income to support ourselves in Portugal. Basically, we also have plans to retire in the near future and looking for a nice place to live in Europe on a budget. 

Yes, Vancouver is a great city, if you like nature and outdoors. Hard to bit it in that league. Though, being raised in Moscow, Russia we had very many opportunities to travel around the world and all over Europe specifically. I mus say that we miss the culture that only Europe can provide with more or less. We are so far from any major museum here in BC that it often makes more sense to fly to Europe than to NYC, for example, though we love coming there time to time as well. I hope yu understand what I mean. And it is getting insanely expensive to live in Canada and in Vancouver in particular lately.

When you guys are moving there? We are thinking of going to Portugal either in November or some time in spring depending on some stuff that we taking care off right now.


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## anapedrosa (Mar 21, 2011)

We are moving October 20 and will stay in Lisbon most of the time (though some time down in the Algarve to see my folks). 

I know what you mean by European culture. A big motivation for us to move is to explore more of Europe without having to pay the crazy flights from Canada. 

When you're in Portugal send me a PM, if we're in the same area we can meet up to say hello.


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## Genych (Aug 22, 2013)

Great! I am sure that you are eagerly looking forward to make this move. And, thank you - I will try to contact you, if it happens that we will be not far from each other.


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