mfesharne

Portugal is a fairly small country but it varies immensely from area to area in everything from terrain to Govt attitudes to property prices but I'd suggest you try to find a comfortable long term rental with good internet and probably more or less in the middle of the country so you can travel anywhere without too much of a schlep and do your online research in comfort......... and rent for several months at least so you can have a good look around the country and get a feel for what areas/things you do and don't like etc. - One thing you need to remember is that the vast majority of Portuguese although fabulous people, can't market for toffee and don't advertise anything at all..... ever. So it'll take a fair bit of research for you to find out what an area is like by way of facilities and attractions etc. - As an example of that, we recently launched a website for our guest apartment (address in my signature line) and we found that the tourism websites for our 3 local towns were in Portuguese only and one has to wonder how they can expect to market the area to the world, in a language virtually no-one outside the country can read! - But take a look at the 'about central portugal' tab and the fly offs from there and you'll see how beautiful the area is......... and how empty of tourists it is! LOL

As to is it best to buy or rent for the first 3 years or so...... if I knew the answer to that, I'd do the lottery but no-one can predict the future whether it be politics, property prices or anything else. Sorry I can't give you the answer to that one.

not2old

post #16 - is what I was looking for in the response

I'd appreciate if others have anything to add to the questions or responses from the OP?

not2old

Banks & the banking system

before I begin, I must point out that I dislike Banks or any financial institutions & will stay as far away from them as possible, to only when necessary have to do any transaction or business if there is no other way.

I'm old school ... cheques & cash. No on-line banking transactions or debit cards for me

Back to the Portuguese banking system. How is your experience with it - the good, the bad or the ugly?

fulwood

Not2old - hello. Interesting to read you might be considering Portugal. Good luck with your decision.

mfesharne

I also detest banks and banksters but we use Millennium here and so far, they've been tip top. Their charges are not unreasonable, their staff (in our branch) English speaking and their online banking is brilliant.

not2old

I like to get most all of the basic stuff answered from those that have traveled the road before going down that same road

not2old

Services: which ones are on the poor rated end of the scale?

Ukkram

We have only been here for just under 4 months so no winter cost here but this is our total ave for all 3.

As to medical insurance. I think the minimum cover in the EU is €30 000.00. I am 60 years old so pay a premium for my insurance at €50 odd per month and that is without medication and dentistry. Not bad as at my age, I just pull my teeth out myself after a few cold ones.

I must add that there is a vast diffs in international health insurance and local health insurance. Do not opt for international as it will cost you 3 to 4 times more. Local health insurance covers you for 60 days outside of Portugal anyway.

mfesharne

Your winter heating costs will vary immensely depending on type of fuel used, size of building, standard of insulation and type of glazing etc.

We use a wood pellet burning boiler linked to central heating so our costs are quite reasonable at about €3 per day but if we switch to our standby/emergency boiler which is diesel powered, the costs go up to about €12 per day.

Ukkram

Eish. That is expensive. We only have double glazing in our apartment. No heating AND we are in the colder North.
Then again, I am from Finnish decent and they only start wearing long leave shirts when the temperature gets sub zero and close their windows when the arctic bears evacuate.

mfesharne

I'll be interested to hear how you cope with a PT winter........ We've been here for 3 winters now and so far, all the locals tell me we haven't had a 'normal' winter yet so it'll be interesting to see what this one will be like and now we've moved from the main house to the newly renovated barn, it'll be equally interesting to find out how good our insulation is in the new building..... I should have said those costs I mentioned were for a 16 hour burn.

I was also interested to see the cost of pellets someone mentioned..... we buy ours direct from the factory and get them for €3 per bag but they're paying €4 per bag so a hell of a difference!

not2old

post #25 & 26

without good heating & good insulation PT is cold in the winter, as seen from the weather charts

Weather statistics for Nodeirinho, Leiria (Portugal) – yr.no

WATHER FORECAST NODEIRINHO - Current weather Nodeirinho, Distrito de Leiria

Ukkram

Thanks Not2cold. I can live with those temps in winter without Steve's heating stuff.
I just cannot live with 40°C in the Algarve in summer.

mfesharne

I understand the central and northern zones are generally colder and wetter than the coast but the advantage is far fewer tourists and fewer people overall. Which suits me down to the ground and we still have some incredibly beautiful places to enjoy here...... and plenty of swimming and fishing etc within a few minutes drive from home.

mfesharne

The hottest we've had in the 3 years we've been in here was a few days of 40C the summer before last and the coldest is a few mornings of heavy frost. But you can see from the pic how the frost melted as soon as the sun hit it.