# Where should we live?



## simjesso (Aug 28, 2012)

Hello All

We fancy living abroad either greece france portugal or spain 

We are driven towards portugal

How do we go about moving and finding and area

I am 45 my wife 43 and my son is aged 10 and on the autistic spectrum

We are self suffcient and retired

Where could anyone reccomend thats coastal with good english speaking schools and ofcourse expats

regards

simon:confused2:


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## ptrlee (Apr 22, 2011)

Why not include Singapore in your preferences ? Singapore is one of the preferred locations after retirement.


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## silvers (Sep 22, 2008)

Silver coast, around Alcobaca.


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## Coaster19 (Aug 11, 2011)

When you have a couple more posts I can PM you we may be able to help.


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## simjesso (Aug 28, 2012)

ptrlee said:


> Why not include Singapore in your preferences ? Singapore is one of the preferred locations after retirement.


Singapore is too far to travel as we have family in the uk


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## simjesso (Aug 28, 2012)

silvers said:


> Silver coast, around Alcobaca.


Is it a nice area ?


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## pintarroxo (Jun 15, 2012)

My suggestion is to first get a list of international and bilingual schools.

Then do your research to find out which of them has a program that's good for your son.

At this point your list will be pretty compact. Then you can ask more specific questions and make a trip to see the cities and schools in person, and see what clicks for you.

Best of luck!


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## oronero (Aug 24, 2012)

I was under the impression that most large schools teach English to their students as a subject so that should be less of a problem nowadays.

In fact my cousins are all Portuguese and I can communicate with them by writing in English and they respond in Portuguese, as my Portuguese writing skills are pretty bad. It works when we send instant messages, even their children who are pre-teens can understand my English!


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## -mia- (Dec 23, 2009)

Personally I would check first where you can find the best local schools and support for you child. Not all areas have the same level of support for children who may need special/extra help. And I would bet they would be around big cities, probably in and around Lisbon. 

Good luck with your decision.


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## siobhanwf (Mar 20, 2009)

I totally agree with Mia. The support for you child is paramount. There is an International school on the SilverCoast in Marinha Grande

Colégio Luso Internacional do Centro

Address:

Rua D. João P. Venâncio
2430-291 Marinha Grande

Phone: (+351) 244 503 710
Fax: (+351) 244 504 305


E-Mail address: [email protected]
Website: http://www.clic-online.com.pt/clic/en


another International school is at Torres Verdas 

Santa Maria e São Miguel
Casal Chafariz
2560 Torres Vedras

Phone: (+351) 261 919 116
Fax: (+351) 262 919 117

E-Mail address: [email protected]
Website: EITV | Escola Internacional de Torres Vedras
This site in in Portuguese but you can use Google translate to work your way through it.
I am sure they can provide you with an English Prospectus.


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## somanyhands (Apr 9, 2011)

There's a world of difference between a school that teaches English (as most do) and a school that teaches IN English.

English lessons are one thing but the rest of the curriculum, in a Portuguese state school, will be in Portuguese. 100% of it.

If you want your son to be taught in an "English Speaking School" then you sound as though you're expecting a lot more English interaction that you would get in a state school and you'd have to be looking at the International/Private options.

If that's the case then take Mia and Siobhán's advice and think school first, location after because English-speaking schools are few and far between (not to mention fee-paying!)


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## -mia- (Dec 23, 2009)

Humm, I guess I missed the part the school should be a "good english school" and and "of course with expats"..... I guess I'll refrain from commenting further.


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## steve01 (Dec 8, 2010)

Hi Simon,
you're describing the Algarve.

2 International English language schools.

Most of the population speak some English.

Best climate in Europe.

Good expat / even better Portuguese communities.

Good health facilities.

Modern transport, shopping, fabulous choice of restaurants, everything you could possibly want and a low cost of living.

Some of the people here hate the algarve and believe the real Portugal means living half way up a mountain and learning how to milk goats - but 99% of 'real people choose it and love it there.

Best of luck and feel free to pm me with any questions
Steve


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## siobhanwf (Mar 20, 2009)

steve01 said:


> Hi Simon,
> you're describing the Algarve.
> 
> 2 International English language schools.
> ...



The Silver Coast has TWO international schools taught through the medium of English I have already posted the details


Health facilites are even better in the Silver Coast region as we have the hospitals of Lisbon and the University hospital of Coimbra on our doorstep (Coimbra is 2nd in Europe fro transplants)

The cost of living on the Silver Coast is cheaper than the Algarve as are house prices.

We live 15 minutes from Caldas da Rainha and within easy reach of Lisbon.
We have restaurants that are open all the year round.
REAL Portugal is nowhere up a mountain and I don`t even like goats milk


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## steve01 (Dec 8, 2010)

goodness me , what a reaction.

my 'real Portugal ' comment was only aimed at a minority of the posters who seem to have a very anti-Algarve feeling - personally we spent over 3 years house-hunting here before buying and i seem to remember (with the exception of a very narrow band of Portugal alongside the coast - where most of the population live) an awful lot of mountains, hills and goats 

I was trying to help the poster - however its nice to know there are other parts of Portugal that offer so many things.


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## steve01 (Dec 8, 2010)

By the way,
i remember visiting Caldas de Rainha - really nice small town, and Peniche, nice nearby Coastal village - they were certainly as expensive as the Algarve if not more so , for both housing and certainly for restaurants.
I also thought the poster was looking for an expat population - Caldas is the largest town in that area, but tiny, hardly a village, by UK standards- whats it have 20k population ? - a handful of ex-pats ?


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## silvers (Sep 22, 2008)

Oh dear Steve,
when you're in a hole, stop digging!
I used to live on the Silver coast and believe me there is a thriving expat community with probably as many Brits as the Algarve. I could get a fresh fish meal in Os Queridos restaurant for under €9. Plus they don't have to put up with drunken Brits, as I had to when looking at where to buy and ending up in Albufeira.


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## steve01 (Dec 8, 2010)

Hi Silvers, no hole here and i'm certainly not looking for an argument.
I ate fish out twice in the Algarve last week - lovely whole Durardo(sea bream) for 7 euros in Carvoeiro, dish of the day and a HUGE robalo(bass) in Lagoa for 9 euros - off the menu, both beautiful and fresh.
Not a drunken Brit or any other nationality in sight - including at the Carvoeiro midnight fishermans festa on the same day.

The Algarve is lovely and can be as inexpensive as the rest of Portugal.

Places like Albufeira are the exception , not the rule and i'd no more live or recommend anyone else to live in the busier parts of Albufeira than i would in the worst parts of any UK city. .

As to your other remark - as many Brits on the Silver coast - don't be silly



silvers said:


> Oh dear Steve,
> when you're in a hole, stop digging!
> I used to live on the Silver coast and believe me there is a thriving expat community with probably as many Brits as the Algarve. I could get a fresh fish meal in Os Queridos restaurant for under €9. Plus they don't have to put up with drunken Brits, as I had to when looking at where to buy and ending up in Albufeira.


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## silvers (Sep 22, 2008)

We'll agree to differ, but as I say I no longer live on the Silver coast, so I have no drum to bang. I speak as I find, the Algarve wasn't for me, it is for you. It may be perfect for the OP, neither of us knows. All I know is that I wouldn't live in the Algarve, ever. Maybe I was unlucky when I visited but I cut short my stay by three days because of the trouble I saw. Fights, drunken louts of the streets, men peeing in doorways and then to top it all off, a warning about people being murdered in Albufeira, pinned to the door of the place I was staying in.


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## robc (Jul 17, 2008)

"I ate fish out twice in the Algarve last week - lovely whole Durardo(sea bream) for 7 euros in Carvoeiro, dish of the day and a HUGE robalo(bass) in Lagoa for 9 euros - off the menu, both beautiful and fresh."


So quite pricey then.

Would not pay that up here in Alçobaca.


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## siobhanwf (Mar 20, 2009)

Steve I think you have very much the wrong idea of the Silver Coast. There is a large ex pat community in the surrounding area of Caldas da Rainha. 
We visit the Algarve regularly (not the coastal towns) and I do find it much more expensive than where we are. 
Out of interest I live in a small village between Caldas and Rio Maior and within 1km of our home we have 5 ex pat families. 
Caldas, Rio Maior and Santarem do not partially close down during the winter months.
There are two separate Ladies Clubs each with over 100 members (not all of them overlapping) 
In the Tomar/Coimbra area a little more inland the story is the same.
When we first decided to move to Portugal we looked in the Algarve as we had a nucleus of friends thee, all who had lived most fof their lives in the Far East , but we decided that the Silver Coast area was more for us.
Lots to do, lots to see, good restaurants. And the beer is cheaper!!!


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## steve01 (Dec 8, 2010)

Hi Siobhan, 
i don't think i have the wrong idea at all, we house-hunted quiet extensively in your area, i lived in Tomar for several weeks and visited towns as far North as Porto.
I met some lovely people, but didn't find the quantity of ex-pats you're talking about - but i have to say neither was i looking for them.
Your quote of 'you plus 5 other within a km - well within a km of my house in Carvoeiro i could probably say hello to at least 500 ex-pats - and Carvoeiro is a town of a similar size to Caldas.

i actually live in the Alentejo, and had much of the same predjuces against the Algarve as others here until we bought the house in Carvoeiro.

The more i visit and get to know the area, the more i appreciate the choice / range of things available, and the ease in which you can do things(in part because English is so widely spoken) and also if you take the obvious tourist traps out of the equation that most things are very good value for money.

It just annoys me where people come for a day in Albufeira and decide thats the Algarve, its almost as long as the Silver coast and is even more diverse from East to West.

Personally the only region i found significantly less expensive for most shopping was the area inland from Porto.

The Alentejo is in my opinion the same price for most things as the Algarve, and in the case of more expensive items, elentical goods etc , more expensive

p.s beer in the village where i live is 70c for a media - superbock or sagres.

Personally i love Portugal and am happy to hear of sucessful ex-pats in all areas


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## anapedrosa (Mar 21, 2011)

I have spent a fair bit of time in the Algarve, Lisbon and Leiria. I have to say we chose the Silver Coast because we found the Algarve a bit too arid for us. Perhaps even more important to us was the proximity to Lisbon, being able to visit the city within an hour's drive and access to an international airport that has flights to and from Canada year round means that our family can visit more easily. Also, being from Canada, anything that didn't drop to -20C was going to be an improvement - so we're just happy that we are going to be able to make the move next year.

I think to say that Albufeira represents the Algarve, would be similar to saying that the Foz do Arelho, Sao Martinho do Porto or Nazare represent the Silver Coast, or that Cascais represents Lisbon - in particular during tourist season. 

In the Algarve there are beautiful areas and quaint villages - I spend a fair bit of time in Ferragudo where there is a good expat community and yummy restaurants - off season prices are usually better.

We did find we were able to get something less expensive in the Silver Coast - Leiria, certainly closer to the water with more land than we could have picked up in the Algarve.


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