# Best areas in winter?



## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

Nearly everything I read about Portugal makes it seem like a place I'd like to live for at least a few years after I retire in Jan. That's NEARLY everything. The one thing that puts me off a bit is winters described as cold and rainy and descriptions of homes (granted mostly old ones, but they're the ones I love!) that apparently get very moldy in wintertime. 

I've checked weather sites on precipitation and temperature patterns, but it's hard for me to translate that into what life is really like. 

Anyone care to opine on how they find the climate/weather in their part of Portugal in winter and offer an opinion on where the mildest, driest winters might be? And is it really true about having to combat the mold? Sounds miserable. 

Thanks


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

Plenty of ways to deal with mould, from effective insulation to good ventilation and heating, is it that bad only if you allow it

Winter is a short spell, time varies year to year, who can predict nothing seems terribly normal at the moment, my personal preference are eastern Algarve, Silver Coast, central around Coimbra area not the Serra Estrela and the western Minho


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

canoeman said:


> Plenty of ways to deal with mould, from effective insulation to good ventilation and heating, is it that bad only if you allow it
> 
> Winter is a short spell, time varies year to year, who can predict nothing seems terribly normal at the moment, my personal preference are eastern Algarve, Silver Coast, central around Coimbra area not the Serra Estrela and the western Minho


I would echo the comment about Serra Estrela where, apart from it being beautiful around there, we have had snow in May.


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## In 2 bikes (Apr 18, 2013)

baldilocks said:


> I would echo the comment about Serra Estrela where, apart from it being beautiful around there, we have had snow in May.


I rode up to the top of the mountains in my back yard yesterday ( Serra Caramulo, 1000 metres above sea level ) and I could see straight across the 70 odd Kilometres to the Serra Estrela mountains. Life is ace !! https://www.google.pt/maps/place/3465-103+Caparrosa/@40.604844,-8.155186,3a,75y,104.88h,72.15t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s7F90sutNrn3VWTDDA2k4Hg!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0xd233e577b9a5b8b:0xfcb13dfe23fe5380 Plenty of snow plough signs on the side of the roads


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

It is a skiing area with the right conditions


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## In 2 bikes (Apr 18, 2013)

canoeman said:


> It is a skiing area with the right conditions


Not really what I wanted to hear............:smow: Hate the stuff........


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

So does my OH skiing ok though Estância de Ski - Serra da Estrela - A Estância

you might prefer summer look Turistrela - Turistrela


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## In 2 bikes (Apr 18, 2013)

canoeman said:


> you might prefer summer look Turistrela - Turistrela


Nice little gaff..... I'm going to ring tomorrow to see if they have HP brown sauce and do egg and chips......


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## Verinia (Apr 6, 2012)

*How about inland Algarve?*

I would recommend inland on the Algarve. People always see the Algarve as a busy tourist place, but the inland areas around Silves, Messines and Loule are very beautiful, mild in winter, although it sometimes does rain a lot and when the tourists aren't here in July and August, i.e. for the other ten months of the year, it's great to be only twenty minutes from the sea. As regards mould, we have had an old house (100 years old little farmhouse) and get very little. What we get, a little diluted bleach clears. Good guttering, good ventilation and some insulation helps a lot. You can install central heating with a back boiler on a wood burning stove and be as snug as a bug. Some of the houses built in the 70s and 80s were poorly constructed, but modern houses nowadays have regulations which mean they are well insulated. But stay out of the valleys, where there can be five degrees of frost! Buy on a hill.


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## steve01 (Dec 8, 2010)

Setubal/Alentejo/Beja coast
South of the River Tagus in Lisbon to the Algarve.
Stay within 20/30 minutes of the coast and its very mild in the Winter, inland its much more extreme, but it can be windy on the coast, so 5-30 minutes inland is probably best overall.
We often get 20-25c between 11-3 throughout the winter months.
Rare frosts, always gone by 9am, i've never seen snow
When it rains, it rains, usually 1 inch plus , but mostly gone the next day
I'd say it rains 2 out of 7 in December Jan/Feb then some time in March winters gone.

Airflow is the secret to keeping mold at bay - extractors in all of the wet areas of the house, bathrooms and especially the kitchen.
Any sign of a problem run the de-humidifier
If you have good air con or even better excellent double glazing you avoid the sudden temperature changes that cause damp(wet internal walls) /mold
Damp feeds mold, no damp equals no mold.
To me Portugal has 3 weather zones
a large 'L shape following the coast from Lisbon to the algarvian Spanish Border , mild with occasional torrential rain in the winter warm to hot in the summer
A big chunk in the middle starting at the Algarve hills and running all the way to Santerem/Fatima in the Centre - warm to hot in the summer cold and damp in the winter.
North of the range of hills just south of Fatima upwards, typical European mixed and often very wet climate.
Because of the huge amount of variable terrain in Portugal, very hilly, mountainous, lot of rivers, many micro climates mixed in with all of the above= for example the point where the algarve turns the corner to the West coast Sagres round to Alijezur is often cooler , wetter and windier than the rest of the algarve

Wishing you good luck


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