Meeting people, making friends etc...

Hello,

Some of the things you are saying are true such as, yes it's difficult to make friends in Portugal, especially if you don't speak the language. Well, it's my case also. Being an older woman is also difficult but what makes it even harder is being new to a country. Yes Portuguese can appear to be quite 'reserved and distant' especially with foreigners but I wouldn't call it 'xenophobia' either. Portugal is a very safe country. Perfect for a single woman, old or young. You won't see any violence here like in the USA or Canada. They have their habits and traditions.
Why don't you try the city called 'Fatima' ? It's a very nice little town in Santarem, where it's very easy to find a furnished place to live and not expensive like in Lisbon or in the Algarve, where you're going to have a hard time finding anything. It's about one hour from Lisbon airport and they have many non stop buses for as little as
2.99 euros ! Imagine, it's a bargain. Buses are reliable and comfortable too.  I often take it to go to Lisbon or at the airport, as I often travel. Since Lisbon has become so expensive, unless you really have to be there, I wouldn't recommend it unless you have a big budget of course but depending where you live in Lisbon, it can be quite noisy.

Beside that, the food is really cheap in Portugal and going to the restaurant is not expensive either, even if the country lacks variety.

On a final note, I would recommend to take your time before buying a property in Portugal. You will have to do a lot of research.

Cordially,

Julia

Unfortunately there are no friends for sale in the supermarket ...

First of all, it's worth defining what "a true friend" is.

eg.
https://themighty.com/2019/04/what-is-a-friend/

Are you looking for friends or known acquaintances?

Let's put it this way. If I arrive in Switzerland, will I find true friends easily ?
What do I need to do without waiting for others to do it for me?

In Portugal, it's the same. Answers to your questions are in yourself and not in others.

From your answers, I see that you have already read my answers on this subject in other topics, so I don't need to repeat them here.

As a Portuguese Ibcan say that being distant and reserved depends also on location. The North is known for its friendliness while in Lisbon people may seem more cold. However no xenophobia happens. Unfortunately some tourists fail to understand that they are the ones that n3ed to adapt to the country they are visiting and expect everyone to adapt to their needs. You will find people helpful and everyone tries to speak english especially in the main urban centres. In small villages and inland it can be a bit more difficult language wise. You are correct in avoiding algarve. It is a nightmare especially during high season. The places you mentioned are amazing. The whole Oeste region is delightful and you can find good houses at reasonable prices. Another great region is Costa Vicentina, much less touristy than Algarve and with stunning beaches.

In summary, making friends can take time but if you are adaptable, respect our culture and are willing to learn the language I believe you will be absolutely fine here.

If you are retired and single I think that you need to find a town where you can easily meet expats too, take language classes etc without it being too big so that the locals get to recognise you.
We live in a big fishing village ( Fuseta) with activities for those interested, enough restaurants and bars where to meet others, "alive" even in winter...
A good mix of expats and friendly portuguese neighbours.
Personally I would avoid the big cities
Good research!

Dalila Dias

I beg to differ.... we love it in the Algarve and are barely bothered by the tourists since we live at walking distance from all restaurants and the beach. It might be different in western Algarve but east of Olhio it is ok. The busiest is August when the parking is impossible.
But we never experience any kind of traffic problems like in the south of France when driving to get groceries !

After visiting much of Portugal we have personally decided on Ericeira, asit is 30 min from Lisbon and that was important to us. Otherwise, we spent several months near Caldas da Rainha and absolutely love it there. We have only recently started to make friends, mostly because we have decided to permanently live here and not be seen as a tourist. We have a few friends that are Portuguese, but the others are Finish, Canadian, and other immigrants. We are more than friendly, and hope to make more friends as time goes by.

I live in south central Portugal in a town called Ferreria Do Alentejo and never had a problem. It?s an hour from Lisbon and 90mins to the Algarve with a small ex pat community and very friendly and helpful locals.

A thank you to everybody who has responded to my posting. I am happy to read that my worries were unfounded (at least to a great extent) and am looking forward to live in Portugal. Great to have such forums, with people willing to respond to questions etc.

Best of luck fella 👍

Hi Elizabeth

Im heading to the algarve for a month next month to hunt around.... Any advice will be welcomed...

Yvonne
Ireland

This thread is extremely helpful to us.  Thanks to all the responders!

Yes thanks to all the posters! I just made it to PT this week for my first visit from the USA. I hope to find a property to buy then visit more often until I can stay much longer. The silver coast does seem to have so great opportunities though I was initially anchored on the Algarve (which I visit tomorrow). I may end up in the Lourihna area and if so will be planning to take language classes to support connecting with the locals - thus far I have seen only great attitudes by locals helping out this non-portugese speaking American.

Would love to hear from others that may be in or planning to locate anywhere from Caldas de Rainha to Santa Barbara --maybe there is a separate expat group for this area?

Hi W99kim, Welcome

There are many meet up groups you can join.

How to build a social circle from scratch in Portugal

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=909130

Best Regards

@whgwhg001

Hi...I'm a Portuguese lady living in Algarve,if you need any help in this area send me an email to [Moderated]

Best Regards

Thanks so very much. However  the policy here is not to exchange personal information.

Are there any websites or agencies that can assist with searching for a place to rent? I am on Idealistia.

I really like the small town . A town that comes to life during the holidays.

Lentzion,      I recommend the below link for Savvy Cat Realty as they are both rental and buyers relocation assistance experts that I used to great success when relocating from KY USA to Portugal.  Good luck!

[link moderated]

After having been in Portugal for almost two months, I can say that it helps a lot to visit expat meetings (my wife gets them through facebook groups), but you could also use the Meetup app, which has many Portuguese and non-Portuguese members that enjoy meeting others for hikes, sports etc.

We also joined Portuguese lessons which helped to meet more people. So in short, we've been actively trying to meet others and that is key.

Most of our contacts that have become friends have children in similar age groups with similar interests. When you arrive here, assume at least two months of complete chaos in case you need to look for a long-term rental furniture etc. It should get better after that. Beaches are awesome, so is the food. Learning the language, in my opinion, is a must (despite the Portuguese being good English speakers).

@juliajonesjy Hi, I have been doing lots of research about portugal lately because I want to visit, please can we keep intouch so that I could get some assistance from you about the place. is my Gmail, thanks a lot

@FriendlyG Hi, I'm planning to visit from Ghana(Africa), and I want to make friends before I come, pls is there a way we could contact each other?, thanks

Hi Bukari,

Please read my post #3 above, in this thread. What is your purpose of looking for "friends" here? Nobody here provides funding for travel or accommodation....

Posts of this type are not welcome.

If you want information about visas, you can find it in this thread:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=950421

Have a nice year.