Top 12 Best Places to Live in Portugal in 2025
Looking to move to Portugal? In this video, Josh from ExpatsEverywhere reveals the 12 best places to live in Portugal for 2025. Whether you’re searching for affordability, serene beaches, vibrant cities like Porto, or tranquil towns like Sintra and Tomar, this list has something for everyone. Discover the pros of each location in Portugal, explore charming spots like Ericeira, Lagos, Aveiro, Tavira, and Funchal, and find out why so many expats are calling Portugal home.
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📌 City Guides to Explore Portugal
Explore destinations for expats and retirees:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL25TVkE0JZWmwIluhFxoDrAwWPKuiFBTC
Great Cities to Explore in Portugal
Hidden Gems Like Braga and Chaves
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL25TVkE0JZWkyR9Ot4d4lvkWgcO87nIIP
Who Are We?
Josh and Kalie, creators of ExpatsEverywhere, have been living abroad since 2009. With experience in countries like Spain, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore, they now share insights about living in Portugal—perfect for expats, families, or those considering to retire in Portugal.
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Chapters
00:00 – Intro
00:26 – City 1
01:48 – City 2
03:08 – City 3
04:21 – City 4
05:45 – City 5
07:26 – City 6
08:52 – City 7
10:27 – City 8
12:12 – City 9
13:48 – City 10
15:34 – Honorable Mentions
16:55 – City 11
18:18 – Notable Omission
18:54 – City 12
We asked Serenity Portugal, a company dedicated to helping people moving to Portugal and living here navigate the Portuguese healthcare system, to rate each city on our list. Here’s what they said.
Ranking is 1-5, based on:
-Availability of different specialties contemplating the “regular everyday needs”
-Availability of English-speaking physicians.
-The existence of decent facilities, ease of access, scheduling and the “admin around the medical service”
-Availability of a good public hospital
Sintra – 4
Tomar – 2
Ericeira – 3
Lagos – 3
Aveiro – 3
Tavira – 1
Funchal – 4
Braga – 4
Figueira da Foz – 3
Chaves – 1 (because we didn’t put 0)
Caldas da Rainha – 2
Porto – 5
For more information about Serenity, here’s their website https://serenity-portugal.com/
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#LivingInPortugal #MoveToPortugal #ExpatLife #RetireInPortugal #LifeInPortugal #BestPlacesToLiveInPortugal
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Very good.
Sintra and Lagos are great to visit but not so much for habitants as they are over-run by tourists. I think Guimaraes also deserves a shout-out.
Bairrada all day
Always enjoy your videos
Very good information on each city!
❤I really enjoyed this particular video due to the information you provided about each city‼️ I love Madeira and I would love to live there of all of the places I have visited around the world‼️ I hope you and your family are doing well ❤
Glad to see Tavira on the list. We are moving there next week.
Braga!! 🥰 Been living in Braga for almost 2 years. Love this city! Great video guys.
I've been listing to your channel for a while and I'm impressed with how your Portuguese pronunciation is coming along. Kudos to you!
We have lived in Porto for over a year and have just scratched the surface on things to do. The people are welcoming and more than willing to help with our Portuguese. We are also looking forward to visiting several of the places on this list.
Great video, thanks
Many of these smaller cities have mostly pre 1990 and earlier architecture which means no insulation and no central heat.
In the winter in valleys around Tomar it has been zero degrees Celsius several times in the last two weeks. If you com from N America or Northern Europe you will find this uncomfortable or with respiratory disease dangerous. In the central valley there was a reason the Portuguese left for France after WW2.
Josh, your pronunciation of Portuguese has improved so much. Just surprised Nazare or Alcobaca weren't on the list.
Great video and summarization of the locations! I love Tomar Braga and all the Islands. I need to go back and explore other cities/communities. 😊
Any progress on your own place to live? LOL You seem to have disappeared.
Yankees go home. 🤷🏽
In the end, how to find work there as well. Sounds like is only for retired.
Thanks for including Caldas da Rainha. This area of the Silver Coast really is a bit of a hidden gem.
My city and the other cities around it are still off the radar. Good.
Great list! Wonderful to see Chaves!
I've started my process and will be down near Tavira by Halloween.
Finally some acknowledgement of the beautiful city of Viseu, my adopted home.
Beautiful ❤ as always ❤️
An accumulation of clichés for people who have never been to Portugal… Thanks for not revealing the real best places!
Curious about Leiria
We love Ericeira! Really great vibe and beautiful scenery + friendly people! Also, if you want a bit of city – Lisbon is only 30 mins away.❤
YOU FORGOT TO MENTION VIANA DO CASTELO? UNBELIEVABLE!…
I absolutely love Caldas da Rainha!! Love the pace the life and the daily farmers market. The park is also awesome!! Maybe I will live there someday
Figueira da Foz is a bit crowded in the summer , because many come here from the interior but mainly from Coimbra at weekends for the beach, but the rest of the year is a very quiet town, it has the ocean for surfing and also a lot of BTT trails in the hillside of town, or just walking trails in the nature if you enjoy those. also a lot of picnic sites in the hillside for you to enjoy. Also if you like sports there are some football fields , tenis or basketball in the garden or beach side that are free to use for who wants to. But i must warn you that in the winter is mostly a ghost town because no one will come here , well at least is very quiet 🤣
Congratulations on the portuguese, pá! It's very nice to see the effort you put on speaking the local language. Keep it up!
So Porto made the list. I was wondering. I've been wanting to try living / working abroad for some years, and now I'm doing it. I arrived in Porto yesterday! I not far (~10 minutes?) from Praça da Ribeira. I'll be here for a month.
Sintra was another that piqued my interest. I visited there briefly in 2022 while spending a few days in Lisbon, and I'm hoping to take the train there again this trip. Such a charming spot!
E preciso praticar a lingua português.
What do you think about Leiria and in general what other cities in proximity of Lisbon could be considered modern?
Como pode alguém dizer quais os melhores locais sem conhecer todo o país?
Foi patrocinado para dizer isto?
Great video Gosh, but have to disagree on two choices (just my opinion): Chaves is nice, but as even you said in one of your videos about Chaves, it is just too isolated to be a convenient place to live. Funchal is great, and we loved it, but for people who don’t like heights, driving on some of Madeira’s roads is just pure terror with the sheer drop-offs along the sides of some roads coupled with the steep, narrow roads. It proved too much for us even though we had plans on retiring there. Great video overall!
Great overview. Look forward to a scouting trip this summer.
Dude! I can really hear your Portugues improving. You really have the cadence and melody of the language internalized well.
Great compilation. Do a deep dive on the Torres Vedras line, and some historic sights associated with the Napoleonic wars one day, please. Maybe a review of some of the various tour packages offered? Great places to visit that also almost always have great food, free wine, and other stuff to do for non-war-history-nerds,
Thank you for this video 😊 I have a sister who lives in Caldas da Rainha. She is a nurse and works in the hospital there.
I'm a Portuguese American. It is so sad that Portugal's authenticity and uniqueness is changing due to the disappointing influx because of all the videos calling people to move there.
8:22 is Albufeira, not Tavira.
Viana do Castelo, Guimarães and Évora are the most hidden gems!!
I live in Figueira Da Foz and I’m so happy it made the list. I discovered this beautiful town in 2015 and I knew one day I would live here. Portugal is such a beautiful country and I can’t wait to explore more towns and meet more people.❤
What places would you suggest for temperate weather that is great for dog owners that like to do off leash hiking?