paulpud

My partner and I are seriously considering relocating to Portugal for our retirement, attracted by the climate, proximity to the UK and lower cost of living. We've done our initial research, which has thrown up a few queries, but perhaps the most fundamental question of all is where should we head for?

I'm 50, my partner 56, and we have been planning to retire at the latest when I am 55, dependent mainly on how our finances shape up. We won't be particularly wealthy pensioners; our current projections suggest that we could spend around 80,000 to 100,000 euros on a property and continued modest pension growth will provide us with an initial pre-tax income of at least 2500 euros per month. One possible course of action, subject to us finding an area and property that we were sure about, could be to buy a place in the near future for use as a holiday home prior to relocating permanently.

It has been a while since we visited Portugal and the only region we are familiar with is the Algarve which, purely from a climate perspective, would be an excellent place to settle, but it seems that the higher cost of property and general day-to-day living expenses there means it would make economic sense for us to look elsewhere.

Ideally, we'd like a semi-rural location within walking distance to a village with a shop (and cafe/bar!) for essentials and not too far away from a town where we could access supermarkets and such like. We accept that our limited budget is unlikely to get the Algarve climate, but we're hoping we can strike a reasonable balance between sunnier/drier weather and reduced property/living costs.

We are heading to the Algarve for a few days holiday at the end of December to refresh our memories and we intend to drive up to more central/inland areas on a bit of a fact-finding mission, and we'd really appreciate it if people could suggest one or two areas that may be worth us looking at.

mfesharne

Portugal varies immensely by even just a few miles & has everything from ultra touristy beaches complete with English pubs & fish n chip shops to bustling cities to mountains, trout streams & Knights Templar castles & convents and every ex pat/immigrant Brit you ask will tell you their area is the best area of the country............... because it is for them so it'd probably be a good idea for you to compile a list of the things you do & don't want in your local area & then start researching from there.

Property prices drop immensely once you get away from the coastal areas & in my part of the central zone (Figueiro Dos Vinhos/Pedrogao Grande) it's possibly to buy a reasonably comfortable house for something in the region of €80k.

paulpud

English pubs and fish n chips are definitely not what we're looking for, although having a few expats dotted around would be welcome.

Here in the UK we live a pretty quiet life in a semi-rural village and I think that is the fundamental thing we're looking for. We'd like more in the way of countryside rather than coast, but without being too isolated as we get older, and we'd like a nice climate - I've read many contrasting opinions on how cool and wet certain areas can be during winter time.

I have already looked at some internet properties available in Figueiro Dos Vinhos/Pedrogao Grande areas, but unsure as to what the climate is like, especially during winter?

mfesharne

So if you want to see what the terrain/area is like just click on the link immediately below this post, then click 'about central portugal' & watch the videos for the various areas.

Weatherwise, we have long hot summers with lots of clear blue skies & highs of mid 30s to 40C & winters vary immensely. Some are very wet & we do have light winter frosts occasionally but others are very mild. - This last winter, it was warm enough for me to light the BBQ on Christmas day.

As far as infrastructure is concerned, we're on the edge of a small village with forests on 3 sides & plenty of wildlife around but despite that, we're only 15 minutes from doctors, supermarkets, shops & trading estates & nearest small hospital is about 25 minutes away with 2 big hospitals about 40 minutes away.

We're also only 40 minutes away from the beach & about 15 minutes away from several river beaches & Lake Cabril.

If you're not in a rush to buy, it's probably a good idea for you to spend a few weeks renting in different areas & having a good look around each.

paulpud

Thanks, I'll take a look at that

ouriquejan

And here's me and my input

We lived in the East Algarve for 10 years and loved it - but it started getting a bit too touristy and although we loved being a 10 minute walk from the beach, we decided to move to the Alentejo. We wanted single storey living and couldn't afford it in the Algarve.

Really love where we are now. A very small, vry spread out hamlet, a mixture of nationalities. The people are much more friendly, everything is a lot cheaper, council tax, food, wine. Our house is small, ish. all on one level, we have 3 acres of land, 2 of which is used by a local young farmer, so we«'re helping with the local economy - also drinking in the local bar helps!

We're a 15 minute drive from Ourique - 10 minutes if I drive - Beja is 45 minutes away, and Faro airport is about an hour.

Just spend some time looking around at different areas, climates. We spent 10 years looking around - before we could afford to retire and move.

paulpud

Thanks

We do intend to have a good look around, starting with our trip in December, but we're not too difficult to please so I'm sure we'll find several areas that will appeal. Your location sounds great and definitely the sort of area we'd be interested in.

We do have a fairly limited budget property-wise, but I seem to have spent half of my life working on the houses I've lived in so I'd be willing to take on a place that needed a little updating in the hope that it will give us a few more options.

EMR

Being realistic the Algarve is probably outside of your budget.
Even inland from the coast small houses are hard to find a commanding prices over E100,000.
Recently two such came up for sale in Silves, both sold, one within days of listing at E125.000
Modern 3bed village aapartments also around this price range.
As others have suggested widen your search to less popular regions.

mfesharne

Alentejo is also well worth a good look.

liveaboard

If you intend to retire in 5 years and you're both UK nationals, you may not be able to gain residency in Portugal.
It's not known at this time.
So I advise keeping flexible, and not getting too emotionally invested for now.

Assanah

Good advise!

macliam

Well, let's be clear - you will be able to get residency, but it might be on the same basis as other non-EU migrants.

So, something to consider, but not necessarily a blocker.

paulpud

I think we realised we didn't have an Algarve budget when we first started looking so it's more inland/central areas we'll be focusing on.

The Brexit issue is something we're keeping a close eye on; if it seems significant residency issues are in the pipeline we may either have to re-evaluate our plans or relocate sooner if it might prove advantageous.

macliam

I live in the same area as ouriquejan - it is a hilly region, close to the Algarve border and within easy reach of the coast to the south or the west. The space, the food and wine, the quality of life in the Alentejo are great, - if that's what you want. There are very nice areas on the west coast (around Setubal), which may be better on some levels, but around us you are likely to get land (I have 3 hectares) and peace and quiet. As with everything, it depends on your budget and your needs.

peterfc

Hi Paulpud

What i did was find an area i was interested in. I then came for a week and went out every day until i found what i wanted. then from 2008 till 2011 i came over about 20 times and finally moved in mid 2011 and never looked back.

Peter