bons

Much as I love it down by the sea and the mild weather we've had last few months, we can't really afford anything but a apartment or a pile of rubble as my husband put it, so we're thinking of looking further north where the money will go further. We're going to meet a relative in Lisbon in a couple of weeks so we are going to spend a couple of nights in Tomar beforehand have a look around the region and look at a couple of properties whilst we are there.

If anybody lives up there, Is it quite cold in winter north of Odimira and do you like the area you are in? We will go and rent maybe if we like the area.

borisface

I don't live near Tomar but winters can be chilly in the centre. Someone on here described Portugal as a cold country with hot sun - which is about right. Tomar (and Santarem district generally) gets very hot in the summer - regularly 38-40 degrees, I don't know if that's a factor for you.

bons

I heard the summers get hot. We'd have to make sure we had air -con in the house. It gets cold here a night still where we are on the Algarve, but the days are mostly beautiful.

liveaboard

People seem to have strange ideas about what good weather is;
Here in the south, we've hardly had rain for years. That might seem pleasant for the moment, but when all the vegetation dies and the economy crashes, it's not nice at all.

It still rains in the north of Portugal. That's good.

Vmlopes

We have friends in Tavera, and family in Samora Correia, Vila Franca de Xira, Ota and Santa Cruz, as others have said all warm in the summer but can get very cold in the winter, that middle part of the country towards the coast, the Silver Coast where Santa Cruz is can be especially chilly even in the summer!!

toots sweet

We live about half an hour south of Santarem. Weather is within 1-2 degrees(generally) cooler in the day than the Algarve in winter, but we have been warmer. A few degrees colder at night. I have lived on the Algarve and don't really feel the difference as its always freezing inside during the winter months! Look near the Tejo maybe. Plenty of fluvial beaches if you want to be near the water.
Much more the true PT here. Also has the benefit of being an hour from Lisbon and within easy reach of the coast .Again about an hour or so from somewhere like Ericeira. Silver Coast is nice but can be very foggy in winter and misty even in the summer.

bons

Thank you, very useful information.

bons

Thanks for that.

Alan PT

It's hard to generalise, since there are so many microclimates (though a Lisboeta managed it "What's it like on the Silver Coast?" "Windy")

Around Peniche it can certainly get windy and the classic costal mist can appear in the mornings (though normally burns off by lunchtime). Honestly I don't notice it much more than when we were in Lisbon (well, Estoril), But you can certainly have a period of a few weeks where it's like that every day, maybe that's why it tends to stick in peoples memories! Temperatures are almost always between 10 and 30 day and night, Summer & Winter. We installed air conditioning, but mostly use it for Winter heating and a bit of Summer drying - it's almost never actually on cooling.

Tomar and other inland spots, as others have said, experiences significantly more Summer/Winter temperature variation. That could be a good or bad thing, depending on your preference!

Be a little careful of "an hour away from Lisbon" - that's true if you are close to the A8, less true as you get away from main roads (more like 2hrs from Castelo Branco for instance). Also, check the transport if you don't want to be driving. The Linha do Oeste train line is next to useless, but there are good express busses to Lisbon from our part of the coast (and a fast service from Caldas de Rainha). The main N-S train line runs much further inland, through Santarem.

Caldas da Rainha is starting to get a lot of attention, with some of the Brits who would have headed to Obidos or Tomar in the past and also increasingly with Americans, so it's increasingly got all the local services you need.

bons

It was just a general view that I was after, from people who live fuirther up north. Thanks for your input.

SgtTroy

We live within Greater Lisbon and I'd say that the climate is fine for us, with moderate winters and reasonably hot summers. The ocean is close which imho beneficially affects the climate.

As far as the cost/area is concerned, I'd say that it would be perhaps better to look within Lisbon metropolitan area, or within Porto metropolitan area, as there are still places with reasonable prices and good infrastructure.

Further inland you might be subject to temperature extremes, increased risk of fires, floods, limited choice of service providers, issues with internet access and/or with other utilities...

The weather is an important factor, sadly, not the only one.

chislenko

"Much as I love it down by the sea and the mild weather we've had last few months, we can't really afford anything but a apartment"

Why I don't come on here anymore. Oh and yes if I wanted I could afford an Algarve villa but for convenience I choose a "poor man's apartment"

riv

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Why I don't come on here anymore

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? WHY? don't you come on here anymore ? I don't understand this post ( and miss your posts generally ~please return ! )