# Best Place to . . .



## ElRey2020 (Oct 31, 2019)

I have some best place questions. I realize that best place answers are very much linked to personal preferences but please indulge me. 
1. My wife is a professional artist. What would you select as the best place for an artist to live
2. I love to bicycle. Best place for a road cyclist?
3. We both love cultural institutions- museums, concerts and historic places. Best location for access to art and music on a regular basis?
We had decided to move to Italy but COVID 19 stopped that. While waiting for the world to open again we have been reconsidering Portugal and it is starting to move ahead of Italy as a retirement destination. Thanks for considering questions


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## ElRey2020 (Oct 31, 2019)

I have noticed that many people have looked but none have responded. I decided to bump it up in the hope of receiving some suggestions.


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## Strontium (Sep 16, 2015)

Portugal in a relatively poor country and has 10 million people, 25% in Lisbon 20% in Porto, it has a long and interesting history (I assume you'd have at least read up some of this). There are many many historical places but mainly these are part of everday life not necessary fenced off. The best place for an artist (of a type you don't specify) would be somewhere they can practice their art be that painting of seascapes or Thrash Metal Guitarist so one would be near the sea and the other possible far away from sensitive people. The best place - if you mean the greatest choice - for museums, concerts would be where there is the greatest concentration of people so that's Lisbon - though Porto has a vibrant music scene a bit more alternative then traditional. There's also cultural events like the traditional bull fights and even running bulls through the streets. During the good weather there are many festvals but, as you probably know, a lot of (local) things here are not on the interweb so you have to talk to people in person to discover what is going on. There is a lot of rural undeveloped areas of the country so cycling up and down hills and along tracks through the countryside is possible. In reality only you can decide what you like/dislike and you can only do that by spending time here in different places at different times of the year, what I like (ie bull fighting or Gois Concentracao or BoomFest) as a cultural event may not coincide with what you like so I'll not recommend any to you.


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## ElRey2020 (Oct 31, 2019)

Thank you. Yes, I should have indicated what type of artist- Alla Parsons Art We have some familiarity with the history of the region. We have also visited but our travel was limited


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## Lusitanian (Jan 3, 2021)

Hi, just a suggestion for you to look into with all your other options.

Torres Vedras has an history linked to Portuguese cycling. Several streets in the city were recently adapted to be more bycicle friendly and it's common to see groups of people cycling in the roads around town.

It's also 30 minutes away from Lisbon by car.


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## ElRey2020 (Oct 31, 2019)

Thank you. I will certainly look. While Porto seems like an incredible place, we think we want to be in Lisbon or South. Part of this is for the weather but we also have friends in Lisbon


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