For a relatively small country, Portugal offers a huge range of lifestyle options. You can go fully “off the grid” while you renovate a ruin surrounded by olive trees or head for one of the country’s increasingly effervescent cities. You can ease yourself into a resort town with an established expat community, or embrace cultural change in a small village, familiarising yourself with the local language and customs as you go.
If you crave a life on the Portuguese coast, the Algarve is NOT your only option. The Silver Coast region is also well worth a look, easy to reach and affordable.
Portugal’s East Algarve is ever popular with overseas residents. Anybody considering the area soon begins to ponder the possibility of living in Tavira.
There’s no doubt that learning Portuguese is desirable in you plan to live in Portugal. If you wish to truly integrate, understand the culture of the country, and properly get to know your Portuguese neighbours, learning the language should be a top priority.
Anyone planning a move to Portugal’s sun-drenched Algarve quickly stumbles onto a dilemma: choose the west, with its picture-postcard coves and established resort towns, or the east, with notably different scenery and (some believe) an extra degree of Portuguese authenticity.
