Hi all, I am new to this site and hope that someone out there can give me some valuable advice. My hubby and I plan to move to Portugal and spend our retirement years in the sun, rather than freeze in good old England, however this won't be possible until two years time.
We wonder whether any of the older members of you can suggest suitable area's where there are ex pat communities. Our favourite holiday destination has always been Tavira, and although we have visited many other parts of Portugal, this one place has a special pull in our hearts. Our dream is to live here or somewhere similar, where there is a mixture of Portugese and english ex pats, but not somewhere like 'Benidorm'! We are learning to speak Portugese and want to be part of the local community, but as we are both in our 50's would also feel happier having english neighbours/friends around us, if that makes sense.
So does anyone know of any suitable areas? Better still, somewhere for the over 50's?
Retiring to Portugal.... places to consider.
Welcome on Expat-blog Thornbird! 
Hi Thornbird,
We are in our 50's and live in the Western Algarve which is totally unspoilt. Tavira was far to hot for us during the summer months. There is an excellent Expat Community where we live and we are just a few minutes from 2 great beaches.
I dont want to post too much personal information here but if you want to contact me by email. (It should be set up in my profile) I would happy to help and no I'm not an estate agent LOL - I detest them.
Cheers
PiP
Hi Piglet in Portugal...thank you for replying to my post. I have Pm'd you.
Algarve for sure, unless you're lookimg for something more cultural like Porto 
My family are Portuguese and for retirement plans I'd recommend the South (coast - Algarve)
In the countryside temperatures can vary much more (much hotter / much colder)
Ex pat communities.
We love Tavira and it's not overcrowded as Albufeira or Faro, and still you have everything a tourist town can offer.
It's positive that you're learning Portuguese and willing to integrate more, not wanting to live enclosed in an expat community.
Also to consider:
Algarve - East coast: Lagos / Portimao / Sagres (may be too distant)
Hi there, I live 20km in land from Lagos down on the south west coast of the algarve. It has everything for people of all ages, fantastic and beautiful beaches,stunning coastline, the town and surrounds cater for all needs,fatastic and health therapists in all areas [Moderated: free ad is not allowed on the forum]
Hi, new to the site and noticed your post of two years ago.
I would interested to hear if you made the move and to where?
Thinking of where to hang the hat after 40-years overseas.
Kind Regards
PM
Hi Pinemarten,
Welcome to Expat.com
As you posted on an old thread, you may not have any reply to your question.
It would be best if you could start a new discussion on the Portugal forum with all your questions regarding life in this country.
Thank you,
Hasnaa
Expat.com Team
Hi PM. I chose not to go with the expat ghettos of the Algarve. We live south of Lisbon and west of Setubal. We have been here for 2 years now and love it. I highly advise renting a house/apartment in a central location for 6 months as we did and then use the time to get paperwork settled and tour all of the areas to decide which one might suit you best. This is what we did and in the end, the area we thought would be best for us was not really what we wanted.
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