WHY PORTUGAL?

Why Should You Seriously Consider Choosing to Live, Work & Retire in Portugal!

Portugal has some of the most breathtakingly beautiful landscapes and glorious weather. Portugal was one the original great maritime powers and gave the world some of the most famous explorers, who are honoured in the most entertaining and interesting World of Discoveries Museum in Porto. The climate is varied and offers anything from balmy hot summers and cool wet winters to cater for all weather tastes, as well as providing excellent growing conditions for the beautiful plants and fresh fruit and vegetables.

Portugal is loved for its relaxed pace of life and the outstandingly warm and friendly citizens. In the 2022 Global Peach Index it was rated as the 6^th safest country in the world to live.

Portugal offers an extensive range of housing options to anyone who wants to live here, so you can buy an old palace or castle, a derelict old farm, a small seaside cottage, apartment, or townhouse with options to choose from the smallest little village to a thriving city like Lisbon or Porto and everything in-between.

Portugal’s beaches are arguably among the most beautiful in the world. The Algarve, Portugal’s famous southern-most region, is extremely popular however the entire country is surrounded by a beautiful coastline offering vast golden beaches, interesting caves, limestone cliffs with breath-taking walks and of course the infamous Nazaré boasting some of the largest surfing waves in the world.

The cost of living is very favourable to expats, often giving considerable savings depending on where you move from. Superb fresh fruit, vegetables and seafood markets are everywhere and provide the most succulent and delicious food sources imaginable.

A wonderful by product of all these fresh and freely available groceries is that the food in restaurants is absolutely amazing. Menus are often based on the availability of seasonable ingredients and the abundance of olive oil and the most fantastic wines to complement any meal make dining simple but sublime! The plethora of fresh seafood and meat paired with lots of fresh salad and vegetables mean that the life expectancy in Portugal higher than in many other countries. Restaurants are more affordable too which of course means that for expats eating out is enjoyed far more often.

The Beauty Of Portugal

Portugal offers one of the most family friendly environments in Europe, where young girls can safely walk the streets alone at night. Family is valued here in Portugal and there are so many options to keep the family together and entertained. From wonderful museums, incredible culture and history, ocean and river beaches, historical sites, amusement parks, tuk-tuk rides, scooters for hop-on-hop-off and a calendar of exciting carnivals and festivals year-round and children are welcome everywhere.

Portugal also offers the most exciting base for Digital Nomads, with exciting and unconventional communal workspaces, local meetups, a thriving IT industry, incredibly fast and reliable internet and mobile service. The availability of the most brilliant highway system gives digital nomads the opportunity to finish work on a Friday and be in the northern or southernmost side of Portugal a few hours later for the weekend or the whole of next week.

English is widely spoken throughout most of Portugal, apart from some of the remote villages, but the locals really appreciate anyone who puts in the effort to speak Portuguese and their faces light up when you try. Portugal is also home to lots of people trying to maintain a sustainable communities / off grid living lifestyles and there are even options for green camping holidays.

You shouldn’t miss out on sampling the wide variety of low-cost superb quality Portuguese wine, and there is no finer place to have a glass than with a bunch of locals in a tiny pub watching a huge flat screen TV cheering on their local football team. Football is omnipresent here and you will win friends easily by supporting the right local team.

Portugal may be a small country (more or less the size of Ireland) but it provides a compact universe of activities and options within its borders! Incredible unspoilt scenery and historical buildings, time-honoured traditions, and culture, it really does have it all and the team at Gateway to Portugal are ready to help you make your move here.