Best cities to live in Portugal

I would like to get some feedback on this topic as I'd like to visit places popular with expats with the possibility of moving there. 

I'm currently living on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica but am interested in something with more of a European(developed) flavor. How's the Algarve region? Is the weather nice? Does it have an outdoor café culture? Thanks in advance.

Alcoutim, by far  : Guadiana views, close to Spain, nature , quiet , outdoor café culture, nice community…restaurants .

The coastal area of Bicuda, Colares, Azoia, almocageme, lower part of Malveira da Serra.

Definitely Cascais! Elite sea village with lots of nearby attractions and in close proximity to Lisbon. Good International schools, excellent quality of life.

It depends what you're looking for. If you are looking for culture, variety and acitivitie then Lisbon is it!

Portuguese cities have lots to offer however it depends where you come from as well as your age.
For example, you will die in Porto if you are over 40 and nobody will know who you were. On the other hand if you are < than 40 you can have a great time. Lisbon has at all, better weather more support groups and they welcome foreigners with open arms, it has awesome museums and great restaurants. Coimbra is a very dull city with very little to do unless you are a professor at the university and offer tuition after classes. Faro is alright but only around 65000 people which does not amount to much. Therefore, if you want a life in Portugal, Lisbon and the Cascais area are the best places to prosper and have a fun time. If Porto sucks and it is the arm pit of Portugal as well as the second most populous city imagine what the others cities are like!
Enough said
JV

You must be kidding, unless you love to play dominoes and hate museums and great music.

Check Algarve on youtube.

It depends what you like and what you need.
Lisbon is a very nice, busy and european capital, but it still has very quiet neighbourhoods. And some souroundings are very nice such as Cascais, and Azoia but, if you have go everyday to Lisbon at rush hours is quite busy.

Im From lisbon and lived abroad for longtime, and I'm an sculpture, I love my town, I'm now taking small braks around the country to find a suitable place where a can work, have a social life and without turist crowds, that's what Algarve is, and the main Lisbon street, sad.

Sao Martinho Do Porto is to my mind the best place to live. It's beautiful, only an hour from Lisbon (to the North) and it's a very unique bay that's almost totally enclosed so the sea in the bay is always calm. It's quite up market as a town with some renowned seafood restaurants there too. It's also surrounded with Portuguese history to visit and much much cheaper than the Algarve.

Algarve is close to look like a holliday camp. If you are not interested about Portuguese culture Algarve is acceptable providing that you can follow the cost of living.
If portuguese culture attract you, I do agree that Lisbon is a very good pick

Apart from lovely climate, it is not easy finding decent jobs here presently unless you come with an international company, or starting up your own business. You need to do your research and come here out of season! Summer it's easy to fall in love here!  The Lisbon coast is the nicest area to live in all year around. Many places out of Lisbon, Cascais and Estoril coast have little to offer. It's all rather seasonally based, especially Algarve which is good if you are retired.

PS I guess you are French?  Many French people are coming here in droves. On retirement golden visas, but young people take time to adapt here on poor salaries.

Lisbon being chosen, wich area in the city can offer affordable housing, good public transports connection and green open spaces ?
Have a nice day 

Well one on the best places is at Silver coast
For more informations you can send me a email

Manuel
xxx

Hi Manuel,

can you please send me more information on Sliver Coast?

Many Thanks

Why die if over 40 in Porto? I am 62

It depends on what you're looking for. I would definitly recomend Lisbon, Oeiras, Cascais, Ericeira... They have everithing close and are near the sea.

How about recommendations for a smaller cities that are way less expensive than Lisbon and Cascais?

Yes please I 'd like to know as well

Anyone suggest which city in Algarve is best for US and UK retired?

PEOPLE.  There is way more to Portugal than Lisbon and the Algarves, especially if you do not like the hot weather that the southern areas have.   We live in Braga, and absolutely love it.  About half the price of Lisbon, all the amenities, 30 minutes by car to the beach,  an hour to an international airport that is much less crowded than the sardine airport of Lisbon, and much more temperate weather.  It is the oldest city in Portugal, and still has lots of historic areas to roam about, plus many more are close by.  The largest national park in Portugal is 30 minutes away, and the Spanish border can be reached in less than 90 minutes.  Look around and see what else there is iin Portugal besides Lisbon and the beach.  You will be glad you did.

Thank you hereiam35 for your input on Braga. My partner and I are considering Braga. One concern we have is the weather. We live in the Northwest, near Seattle to be exact. The winters here are wet and grey and we are looking to get away from that. We are told Braga has similar weather to the Northwest here. Is that your experience? Thanks for your thoughts. Much appreciate it.

Anyone have any thoughts or input on Tomar? We love Lisbon and Caiscas, but the apartments are way out of our budget. We don't care for condos or modern high rises. Any thoughts on affordable areas outside of Lisbon or nearby that have the old world charm without the high rents?

mrosephoto,
I can not answer your question about Braga weather in the winter personally yet, as we have only lived here since August 11, 2018.  However, locals have warned us about the rainy winters.  I can speak from experience about those months we lived here, and 10 days of early to middle March of last year when we visited.  During the time we have lived here, it has rained twice until Hurricane Leslie yesterday.  Both times the rain was short lived, and followed by bright sunshine.  Back in March of 2017, it rained a little more, but cleared up afer a period light rain of about an hour and offered sunshine before and after, more like a spring thunderstorm than gray and consistant rain.  We came from the Piedmont area of North Carolina, and wanted to escape the hot humid summers of 90 to 100 degrees with humidity of 70 percent, which is more like the Lisbon area during the summer.  Plus, we could not afford that area on our budget.  Our rent of a three bedroom two bath with 2 car garage and two balconies, in a small 6 unit apartment building,  with furnished kitchen 1/2 mile from the dead center of town is 475 Euros per month.  In Lisbon, it would have been easily twice that.  If it does rain a lot in the winter, we plan on traveling then with our saved money.  This year we will spend four weeks back in the States for the holidays, and a week in Zurich in January.

Sorry that I could not help more.

Thank you so much. This is in fact helpful. I may be visiting Braga in January or early February if all goes well and can see then what it is like. If you are around, would love to perhaps meet for coffee.

Also is I could ask one more question. How did you find your apartment?

My wife and I would love to meet Americans if you do come.  We will be back in Braga by January 15th, and could easily meet you somewhere - we even have a Starbucks, lol.

As to finding an apartment, it was a lot of internet looking, and then finding a real estate agent that spoke English.   But finding this place was a little serendipitious.  We were down to our last full day in Braga on our apartment hunting trip, and had actually decided on a place located right in the center of town that was furnished, but was also 100 Euro more.  It had great balconies and views, but was older and did not have central heat.  I will not say that we were settling, but it did not tick all of our boxes.  We had gone back to our real estate agent to tell them  what we had decided, when they told us that a new place had come open just hours earlier and was not even empty yet.  We went and viewed it while it was still occupied and not repainted, but liked it more.  The rent as quoted was going to be 550 Euros per month, but we asked if they would take 475 if paid the entire year up front.  They said yes, and we even signed the contracts and such after we returned to the states. 

So, if you have the ability, do not be afraid to bargain if you can.  Just come prepared beforehand, and plan on spending a little time in searching, and you should find something you like at a reasonable price.

I think Lisbon is a great choice. Transportation, entertainment, accommodation, and food and drink are all very affordable for a capital city.

We chose Lourinha on the Silver Coast. We have been here since September 1. We had a run of 45 beautiful sunny warm days with cool evenings,  paradise. After Leslie we have had some rain and cooler days. We were in Cascais in January and February. Days in the 50s and then in the low 60s. Quite pleasant for 'winter'.

Lourinha is a really nice town. Lovely beaches. Great cafes. Nice public libraries - including a branch library at the beach so you know they have their priorities straight.  The entire Silver Coast is surfers paradise, so there is some surfing tourism.  But unlike Cascais, Obidos, or the Algarve, not a trace of tacky tourism silliness.

We bought a great house 4 km outside of town, in a country village. Beautiful landscape. Very quiet. We love it here.

We loved Lisbon but found the rents way too high for our budget. Are there areas that you found more affordable rents that still retain the charm of Lisbon?