MOVING TO PORTUGAL | Part III
Adjusting to life in our new country.
About the series: Welcome back to the final installment of a 3-part series where I’m sharing our personal journey about moving to Portugal.
WOOHOO! 🎉 You made it to the end:
We covered a lot of ground this week, tackling:
Now it’s time to chat about how we’ve settled into life here in Portugal.
In this post I’m covering:
Let’s go!
Navigating the Day-to-Day
Learning Portuguese
I’ve said it once but I’ll say it again: learning Portuguese is tough — everything from its pronunciation to complex verb conjugations to prepositions (which are also conjugated 😵💫).
It definitely requires patience and, like any language, lots of practice.
Here’s what we’ve done to help acclimate ourselves:
Apps
Practice Portuguese is one of the few tried-and-true apps rooted in European Portuguese; for $20/month it’s well worth it.
Of course, there’s also Duolingo but it centers around Brazilian Portuguese, which has distinct pronunciation and rhythmic differences from its European counterpart; but I actually think that’s its advantage. The speech is slower and more enunciated so it has been a solid resource for Josh who uses it.
Courses (PLA)
PLA (or Português Língua de Acolhimento) is a 6-month government-sponsored program consisting of 150 course hours that helps non-native speakers (ages 16+) achieve language proficiency.
It only cost €12 to register, and you’ll need a residency permit to join. The best part? Once you pass the class, you’ll receive an A2 language certificate — official proof of basic proficiency, an essential step in applying for citizenship after five years of residency. I enrolled last fall and will have my certificate in just a few weeks! But my Portuguese still leaves something to be desired. 😭
Staying Informed
As residents, it’s important, of course, that we stay up-to-speed on the news here.
A few key media outlets we use include:
Tipping Etiquette
Tipping isn’t that common where we live because people earn a livable wage (though it’s become more standard practice in bigger destinations like Lisbon and Porto).
That said, however, a general rule of thumb is that if you’re extremely pleased with your service experience (whether at a restaurant, hair salon, etc.), it’s best to leave a 10% tip, which is typically what we do.
Tickets, Please!
When we first moved to Portugal, we were craving pork chops one day so we headed to the butcher to pick up a few cuts.
We waited about 20 minutes before being helped, not realizing that whether you’re at the butcher, baker, or candlestick maker, Portugal operates on a ticketing system.
We learned that we always need to find the ticketing kiosk and grab a number in order to be served at most places (restaurants and cafes being among the exceptions — where you can just generally grab any table of your choosing).
Grocery Stores
I don’t know what it is about this stage of life, but I love a good grocery store!
In the States, I had a mild obsession with Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.
While neither exist here in Portugal, here are a few chains that I enjoy:
Large- and urban-scale: Continente, Auchan, and Pingo Doce
Small-scale: Mini-Preco
Discount: Lidl and Aldi
Most offer great rewards programs; in the almost two years we’ve been here, we’ve accumulated nearly €200 in cash back from Continente alone (our preferred grocery store).
Of course, it’s also worth mentioning the neighborhood markets, wine shops, talhos (butchers), frutarias (fruit and vegetable markets) and peixeiros (fish mongers) are equally fabulous and we shop often there too!
Entertainment Q&As
Amazon
“Can you buy things from Amazon?” has to be one of the top questions we were asked by friends and family after moving.
The answer is yes but with some caveats.
While there isn’t an Amazon Portugal, we can purchase items from either Amazon Spain or Amazon Germany (they’ve got everything from pantry organizers to English books to toothpaste).
We’ve noticed that Amazon Germany has a wider selection of items compared to Spain’s (perhaps because of its larger expat population).
VPN & Streaming Services
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and it allows us to change our IP address to different locations all over the world.
We use NordVPN and ensure that all of our devices – iPhones, smart TV, tablets, laptops, etc. – are connected to it (set to the US) and we’ve never had an issue getting access to any streaming service.
Josh is a die-hard NFL fan and regularly tunes into games during the season using DAZN’s NFL Game Pass International package (€150/year). And yes, that means he’s sometimes up watching games in the middle of the night.
Logistics
Taxes
We use a tax accountant here in Portugal as well as one in the US.
We filed taxes for the first time in both countries last year and it was a very smooth process.
Here’s how we did it:
Our US accountant filed an October extension for the US and drafted our tax return.
We shared that draft with our Portuguese accountant (recommended by friends) who used it as in input when filing on our behalf here in late June (also accounting for our Portugal-related activity tracked via our NIFs).
Once we got our Portugal return back, we then applied it to our October submitted US tax returns and any payments made to Portugal would have been credited to us via Uncle Sam (we didn’t owe anything). The reason for this is the Foreign Tax Credit available through the US-Portugal Income Tax Treaty, which helps prevent double taxation by allowing us to apply taxes paid in Portugal as a credit toward our US tax liability.
Public Health Insurance
Portugal’s National Health Service (Serviço Nacional de Saúde, or SNS) is universal and publicly funded.
Once we became legal residents, we were entitled to access it — and registering is relatively straightforward.
Now, let’s be real. It’s not without its quirks.
Like many public systems, you’ll hear mixed reviews — long wait times, bureaucracy, etc.
Supplementing it with private insurance can be the way to go for speed and flexibility.
And yes, most doctors speak English regardless of whether you’re in the public or private system.
Cell Phone Plans
We have unlocked iPhones, which allows to have two e-SIMs — one for our US provider (yes, we’ve kept our plans) and one for our Portuguese provider, Vodafone.
Our monthly Vodafone bill is €45 and includes 10 GB per line (which we can use when traveling in most European countries — Switzerland, for example, being an exception) as well as unlimited minutes to Portuguese numbers.
Since we switch back-and-forth between the SIMs, we’ve found it’s best to have friends and family text our Apple ID email addresses.
Why?
It ensures that regardless of which SIM we’re using, we can still be reached since the ID is tied to both lines (of course, WhatsApp is a great alternative). Before we did this, we weren’t receiving texts coming through on one line while on the other.
International Packages
Customs in Portugal is notoriously fussy — especially with anything coming from outside the EU.
We’ve tried getting things shipped from the US, but international parcels have often been flagged and held up at customs.
Even once cleared we’ve had to pay taxes, handling fees, and import duties depending on the item. It can turn a simple delivery into a total headache.
The best advice we’ve gotten?
Keep it small — like, flat envelope small. Anything bulky is more likely to attract attention.
Use DHL. It tends to have the smoothest track record with Portuguese customs (likely because it’s European-based), whereas FedEx and UPS can be hit or miss.
Otherwise, our best bet has been to stock up on essentials whenever we’re back in the States or have friends and family bring things when they visit. It’s often the simplest (and cheapest) workaround.
Are We in the Early Aughts?
We live in Braga, which is Portugal’s third largest city. Abundant in charm, it’s been a terrific starter city for us.
That said, it’s not as metropolitan as its sister cities, Porto and Lisbon.
We find that very few businesses have websites and if they do have an online presence, it’s typically relegated to Facebook and Google Maps only.
Generally speaking, we’ve found that business information is far more accurate on Google Maps than on Apple Maps (in terms of hours, location, etc.) — so it’s the only app we use when we’re trying to figure out the operating hours of a restaurant or business.
This is mainly true in smaller cities like ours but it’s a non-issue in the bigger ones.
Quality of Life
Transit
Walking
What we love about being in Braga is its walkability; we walk EVERYWHERE, usually averaging anywhere between 5-10 miles a day depending on what we’re up to.
We haven’t had a need for a car and when we do want a getaway we usually use Bolt or take the train or bus.
Bolts
When we need to get somewhere further away, we’ll use Bolt (a more cost effective alternative to Uber and Lyft).
Whenever we’re flying in/out of Porto airport (45 minutes away), the Bolt ride usually runs us between €38-€42.
Trains & Buses
Getting around Portugal is easy; it has a great national railway system that connects you to major cities throughout the country (or even to certain parts of Spain).
We usually take the Alfa Pendular or Intercidades lines to Lisbon whenever we need to head south.
The ride takes 3h30 to 4h (sometimes longer) and the cost varies depending on the class you book (there’s Economy and Business – both are lovely but Business class offers greater comfort).
Without a doubt, Ninja and Trainline are our favorite transit apps to use when booking train travel. And FlixBus is also great for nearby getaways like this one to Vigo.
Making Friends
We’ve met several friends just by being out and about in our city — like our French friends, who we started chatting with while waiting in line at the butcher. Or our American and South African friends we met while walking the dog (having a pet definitely helps — it naturally makes us more social).
There’s also a local expat Facebook group that organizes monthly meetups and other activities. We went to one not long after we moved here after hearing about it from new friends and ended up meeting some truly lovely people.
Honestly, just staying open and approachable makes a big difference. You never know when a casual moment can turn into a new friendship.
Well, there you have it, friends! That’s a wrap on the series.
Overall, we couldn’t be happier with our decision to move here. Undergoing the visa and permitting process was fairly manageable albeit challenging at times.
That said, the overall quality of life is worth it.
Plus traveling around Europe is a breeze; we have several trips lined up for this year – all of which I’ll be sharing right here. 😉
Let me know what you thought of the series by dropping me a line below. I’m also happy to help answer any questions you may have about the process.👇🏽
Until next time!