What is Cascais like to live in

Hello,

Cascais is crowded in July /August, still busy the other months.

Most of the restaurants and quite all shops are opened all year round.

We are very near Lisbon and there are big houses in the area, so many families live here and work in Lisbon.

Lots of foreigners live in Cascais all year, of all ages and condition. There is even an English speaking catholic parish (Irish) and I think there is an English church parish as well.

You will find expatriated families working for international firms/organizations, retired people, young workers...

We found easily an English nanny for our children. There are English and French speaking doctors in cascais or Lisbon.

The airport is 30mn away and you have flights to almost everywhere all year round.

I guess it is very different from Algarve in the sense that Lisbon is a very active city with a strong economy (for the country).

Hope it helps

Melts

Thank you so much for replying to both of my posts its great to hear your views. Where do you live is it in Lisbon?
Could you expand on how you have found life in Lisbon. Thanks

We live in cascais.

We wanted a big house with pool and we had therefore no other choice. Portuguese home have rarely more than 4 bedrooms, and as we work from home, this was not sufficient for us.

Lisbon is a very active city, Mediterranean style, and therefore very noisy all night. Portuguese people are used to live in these conditions, with people shouting/singing in the street until 4:00 a.m. but if you come from northern Europe, it may be a serious issue. Even if the neighbourhood seems calm, come and check at night before renting anything, you may be very surprised.

Summer may be very hot in Lisbon and Cascais benefit from the wind flowing from the ocean by then. Usually, it is sufficient to open the windows in the night to refresh the houses, and very few houses have air conditioning (which is a problem in Lisbon due to the noise).

There may be cockroach in Lisbon like in any other southern cities (in France the problem is the same), so this is an important point to check before moving in.

This may be a problem either in the center of Cascais, but not where houses have gardens between them.

There are huge traffic jams between Cascais and Lisbon, so if you need to commute daily, this may be an issue. In addition, the train is really slow between both cities.

After 9:30 in the morning, it usually takes 30 mn to go in the center of Lisbon (Restauradores) or to the airport.

are you planning to move shortly ?

kind regards

melts

Hi  We are looking at moving over in July 17, i need a school which does the Cambridge exams so i am looking at Prime School. I don't like the IB exams,its very intense i feel for 16 years olds and my younger one is not that academic,more creative.

I live close to London so about 30 mins, and i love the town i live in called Marlow, it is full of shops and cafes its small and very sweet, so i am looking for something like this. We also work from home so need a big house and i love to go to cafes for my morning coffee and catch up.
Have you now bought somewhere to live or are you renting.
Have you found it friendly and welcoming in the area

Are there lots of places to go for coffee and eat in the non touristy season

Again thankyou for your help.
Regards Karmal

just saw your other mail, i would love to chat with you when are you free to talk.
I work from home so i am flexible
x

same for me, you just need to invite me on skype !

Hi Melts

Sorry i have lost your skype id could you resend it to me and i will add you as a friend.
Sorry for dealy in writing i hae been working abroad for a few days.
Regards
Karmal

  and therefore very noisy all night. Portuguese people are used to live in these conditions, with people shouting/singing in the street until 4:00 a.m.

That is not true at all. Noise level in Portugal is regulated by law.

You're generalizing. There are some areas where that may happen at certain specific hours, like a bar-cafes areas, with special licensing, but you cannot make significant noises in residencial areas after 23 hours until 7Am.

Hi ,
Cascais is a nice place to live but its getting very crowded day by day. Also you can look for a place in Oeiras area. Its relatively better and near to both Lisbon / Cacais / Sintra.

Best regards,
Ahzan