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Traveling to Portugal September 2018: Need Advice

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My wife and I are going to be taking a trip to Portugal in early September (2018). We are trying to plan ahead and would welcome suggestions. Specifically, it would be a 7-10 day trip and we would be arriving in Lisbon. We have looked into going to Cascais for a few days with visiting Sintra during our time there and then heading to the Algarve region, most likely Lagos. We would prefer not to have to rent a vehicle if possible but will do so if it makes getting around to different areas easier/quicker.

Note: This trip is in part vacation but since we have considered moving to Portugal in the future for retirement, we also want to explore those areas that would be good for retirement. We recognize that more trips and research would need to be done before choosing a place to relocate from the U.S. to Portugal but we were hoping to get a taste of a few areas in Portugal to help us to make a more targeted approach the next time we visited. We are not “big city folks” and while we like the countryside (rural areas), we want to live in an area that is accessible to services (medical, dental, supermarkets, etc.) and entertainment (i.e. beaches, biking, etc.) using a form of public transportation or biking rather than having to drive a car to.

Any suggestions would be great!
Thanks!

Posted by
625 posts

Ignore the vacation part.
Prioritize what is important in a retirement location for you.
Decide upon possible retirement locations and focus your visit.
Lengthen your trip.

Posted by
1926 posts

Sounds like you may be making the same type trip I did in spring of 2015. I moved here 4 months after my scouting trip and love it.

The Lisbon area is very, very different than the Algarve. The Algarve is much more spread out with fewer things to do IMO. You would need a car to live in that area. That said, English is even more widely spoken than in this area and if you play golf you might like it. When visiting in 2018, you would also need a car.
The Lisbon area has great public transport. I've lived here for two years without a car and am happy using public transport and walking.
You might want to plan on checking out other towns along the commuter train line between Lisbon and Cascais. There are a number of towns that are smaller with fewer tourists. If you really want rural, the Tomar or Coimbra areas might appeal to you. But to live in those areas you would need a car. Pretty much any place you choose to live would have basic services.
If you have specific questions, feel free to PM me. I would be happy to help if I can.

Posted by
16 posts

Thank you for the information and advice. Since we have never been to Portugal before, it can be daunting to try to figure out where to explore as our main resources/information is coming from Google searches, blogs, etc. Again, thank you for taking the time to respond to this inquiry.

Posted by
361 posts

I second Kathrynj's remarks. Communities along the railway line that ends in Cascais would be great locations to live as an ex-pat. We stayed with a local couple in nearby Estoril for a month or so and found Cascais a great center for banks, food and other shopping, sports centers, health centers etc. Easy train access to Lisboa and seniors are entitled to 50% discount on train fares. After travelling for 6 weeks in Portugal (with locals) we realized that inland locations would be much more difficult to live in due to language barriers. In spite of not speaking Portuguese we found all the citizens to be very warm, friendly and welcoming and we will always hold this country in our hearts.

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