Locations
 

I now have a bank account and a completed form stamped by the Notary to confirm my son will accommodate me and fund me for 12 months, so things are moving on, in anticipation of my big move, I am trying to narrow down locations to look at properties and wondered if anyone could help with some local knowledge?

My son lives in Sintra, my initial searches were around Coimbra/ Oliveira do Hospital, however after a visit I realised it would be too far to travel to see him.

So I then looked closer to him, around Alvaizere and Tomar but realised that would be too hot for me (and the hens) in the summer.

I am now looking at the areas around Caldas da Rainha, Alcobaca and Leiria, I want a village/rural, so not on the coast.

My questions are, what should I expect weather wise in that area, winter and summer? And are there any negatives I should think about, ie is it packed with tourists in the summer?

Thank you

Re: Locations
 

Somewhere within easy reach of Caldas or Bombarral would definitely be better in terms of transport, pretty good express bus service to Lisbon: Horários e preços | RDO | Rodoviária do Oeste

Alcobaca is nice, but not so well connected. You could also look a little further South - Lourinha isn't a very touristy town (even though it tries hard with it's dinosaur branding). On the coast Consolação, Ferrel, Peniche get pretty busy in the Summer but the smaller villages, even quite close to the coast never get mobbed with tourists

This area of the coast gets pretty windy and can get a coastal haze/mist quite often, though it often burns off by lunchtime. A Lisboeta told me she thought it was always "like Winter" (or, to me, always like a nice Scottish Summer!). So, opinions are very subjective, but the seasons aren't too extreme - never gets much below 10, rarely gets above 30 - of course the further away you get from the coast, the less that applies, but Caldas for example experiences much the same weather

The property location and orientation is also important, there's a huge difference between an exposed N facing space and a sheltered S or W facing space, this is much more important than in the UK. Our house faces almost due N-S and the difference between front and back is huge, it feels like a 10 degree difference

If you hunt through the C4 website you can maybe track down a couple of "A place in the sun" programmes which looked in areas around Caldas (sorry, can't remember much except that we saw them sometime). There's also a Facebook group "Silver Coast Our Home" where you might get some more feedback

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Sorry I can't help with your query....
Just to clarify, are you planning to bring your hens to Portugal? If so, you should check the EU-regulations on importing live poultry....

Re: Locations
 

Are you seriously planning on keeping hens ?

I would have thought the only place you could do that without seriously inconveniencing neighbours ( ie not a good start ) would be in a place where the neighbours already did the same.

( Or, of course, somewhere more isolated where the nearest dwelling is too far to be affected . )

If you live alone ~how does that work when you spend time away from the house ? They don't need daily attention ? Just wondering.

Re: Locations
 

We live about 30 mins south of Santarem. Hen paradise here .Also turkeys ,peacocks and geese. Surrounded by them in all directions.
It is probably hotter here than in Alcobaca area ,but we are about 5kms from the Tejo river as the crow flies so we do get some cooler air from there. We found when looking at property that Caldas to Leiria was getting quite expensive(it's proximity to the Silver Coast I suppose)​​​​​​​. We spent a winter there looking for property and found it windy, foggy and it could get quite stormy nearer the sea.
Here, we can get to Lisbon in an hour and somewhere like Ericeira in a litte longer.

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Here too, chickens all around. And pigs, dogs, mules...

If you want cool weather, you need a sea breeze. If you're within 5km of the coast it rarely gets hot.
Yes, sometimes there's fog or wind.

We were watching a series the other day, the woman suggests they could get a house near the sea.
"All the problems in the world are because everyone wants a house near the sea." the man growls.

Re: Locations
 

I recall stopping for one night in Winter on the Alentejo Coast. It was, perhaps, one of the most miserable nights that I have ever spent anywhere ..... everything was closed and all the bedlinen felt damp.... even after several hours of heat, it felt warm and damp! So don't underestimate the humidity in some places.

I was looking for a house at the time - and the owner of the small hotel where i stayed said to me "Why aren't you looking elsewhere? - I have to repaint every year.... if I could lift up this place and move it inland, I'd do so in an instant..." I had to admit, I took his advice.....

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All the poultry mentioned above was probably acquired on the spot.
I was thinking along the lines of importing British hens into a EU country, if that was the OP's intention..... There are regulations for pets, including the limit to 5 individuals, which specifically say "excluding poultry" (but without specifying what the regulations for poultry are).

Re: Locations
 

Hello DMU - the OP discussed the pros and cons of bringing her beloved hens with her on another thread so that seems to have been dealt with one way or another ---

Sally - look at around Rio Maior just up the valley from Caldas, direction Santarem. Or all around Bombarral and the hills towards the coast - wine growing country round there (between Caldas and Alcobaca it is pears, pears and more pears with some apples). A lot of people like Mafra but it is getting a bit close to Lisbon and may reflect that in prices. Don't worry too much about your hens - you will be providing shade and access to water in the summer, and a cozy henhouse for damper winter times. Make sure your house is cozy too, insulated, heating for winter, and take note if you can have outside sitting space - northside for summer heat, and south side to benefit from winter sun!

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Fair enough, I didn't think to look in earlier threads...:o
I wish her and her "pets" all the best in their venture!

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Thank you for the info, yes Rambling Archer you are right the hens are sorted, they need a vet to certify them fit to travel and various tests, a very long form and a further vet check no less than 24 hours before we travel, but they are coming! They are not much of an inconvenience to neighbours Riv, ( I don’t have a cockerel) and as I’m planning on being somewhere fairly rural I think there are likely to be other livestock about so hopefully we won’t upset anyone.

in terms of location, thanks Alan, I hadn’t thought about the orientation of the house, and explains why a lot of the listings mention south facing aspects.


So, Caldas and Alcobaca seem to be about 10km inland, is that close enough to the sea to have issues with damp, humidity, fog?

I am planning on having a wood burner linked to some rads, and a wood burning cooker for heat in the winter ( I would really like an older property so I’m guessing as in the uk I will need to have a constant heat going to keep it warm in the coldest months). I also want to put solar and pv on to minimise fuel bills.

Final question ( for now), alot of the houses have attics (albeit some with external staircases??) that could be bedrooms, or seem to be being used as bedrooms, are they not very hot in the summer and freezing in the winter?

Re: Locations
 

Caldas is certainly nearer the sea and at fairly low level and around there you do get some lingering dampness and mistyness, Alcobaca is somewhat further away and in the hills, so a bit less easy for getting to Lisbon (but note the lovely bay at Sao Martinho within relatively easy reach) but less prone to damp. Wherever you are the first thing to do is to insulate the loft/attic. The PT method of doing a roof is to put the tiles on over the beams leaving visible air gaps under the tiles, and have a concrete floor between the roof area and the rest of the house, and was often used more as a drying area for crops and storage area - hence the outside stairs. Where there are bedrooms, master suite, etc in converted lofts then the roof will have been sealed and insulated. If you are not going to use it for habitation, then you could simply insulate with thick layer of rockwool on the concrete loft floor. Anywhere north of Lisbon, and west of the hills is going to be more prone to winter dampness but it is compensated by being in easy reach of the sea and lovely sunny days even in the depths of winter. This is not the Algarve and has a climate more like western France than Andalucia!!

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Proximity to the sea doesn't actually have that much to do with levels of humidity in the air (and especially in the house, which is mostly generated by you). If you look at a weather app and check the dew point (relative humidity is a little misleading) you'll see very little difference between different areas. Most houses in Portugal have problems with damp, but that's mostly down to lack of proper ventilation, insulation and heating

But you undoubtedly will get a bit more mist nearer the sea some mornings, so if you really hate that idea then do head a bit inland (as a very rough guide, don't look much W of the A8). I honestly think it's a bit overstated as a problem, but it keeps our beach remarkably quiet, so I can't complain ;)

If you really want an older property, I'd be tempted to buy something that needs total renovation and redo things properly, since it's hard to fix insulation without ripping everything apart. But it's a major task to take on when you are moving to a new country. A modern property may not be your perfect dream, but it will be much more likely to be warm and dry, do give it thought

If you haven't had a woodburner before, consider the amount of work it generates in carrying wood, keeping it alight, raking out ash. As a decorative thing to light sometimes on Winter evenings it might be nice, but as a major source of heating, think carefully if it's what you want

Do consider heat pumps for heating as an alternative - with Portugal generating much green electricity and if you have PV panels as well, they can be very efficient and a more eco option than burning wood, as well as being much less work ;)