The MiMove blog has talked to Niklas who fell in love with Portugal and moved there with his wife Kari. They chose the Silver Coast for their new home after a lot of research and preparation.

I went on a windsurfing trip to Florida in 2010 with my good friend Calle. During that trip, we made the decision to start looking for a place in the sun. Both of us wanted to buy something where we could be neighbours, somewhere with good surfing opportunities and great weather. A nice beach in a nice country was the starting point.

A nice beach in a nice country

My wife and I had many thoughts about where this nice beach might be located. We did our research thoroughly together with Calle and we tried to look with open minds at different countries; Florida, Turkey, Thailand, Spain, the Canary Islands, and South Africa. But in the end, we decided on the town of Nazaré on the Silver Coast.

Our thoughts went along these lines: we were looking for a holiday home in another country that may turn into a permanent home, in the long run. Therefore it shouldn’t be in a place with a big time difference like for example Florida or Thailand. And the trip to get there should not be too long or weekend trips would be out of the question.

Time difference and too far away

This way, we limited the number of places that might suit us. For example, we excluded South Africa – the trip to get there is too long. Florida and Thailand were also excluded due to the time difference.

We were left with Europe; no or little time difference and often direct flights under 4 hours from Stockholm, Sweden where we lived.

For a brief moment, we also contemplated Turkey and maybe Greece, but we concluded that they are too politically and financially unstable places for us.

In the end, we had excluded all the Mediterranean countries for different reasons; it is often too expensive to get a place with sea views, too many tourists, too hot in the summer, deserted towns in the wintertime etc.

We also thought about island living, for example, the Canaries. We have been to the Canary Islands many times and liked it. Great windsurfing, hiking, mountain biking, sun, and surf but there is a long flight to get there. And to own a property on an island did not seem attractive to us.

The Atlantic won

After the elimination process was completed only countries by the Atlantic Ocean were still in the race. The location guarantees fresh waters and cool swims in the summer. To get some warmer weather also in winter you have to look further south and then there are only two countries. Spain and Portugal. We had been to Spain many times but had yet to discover Portugal.

We had narrowed our research to just Portugal and soon we discovered some attractive traits; comparatively low property prices, the prices are still rising, very attractive tax rules (NHR) and beautiful environment. The Silver Coast seemed most attractive with its sunsets in the ocean. The name stems from the sunshine in the water that sometimes looks like silver. All of this made us want to go and see for ourselves. For us, the most important part was to find a town we really liked before we bought a property. People follow different processes before deciding and for us, this made the most sense.

Portugal vs Spain

We decided on some criterion for our dream place in Portugal; genuine town, alive year round, close to an international airport, sunset into the sea and great surfing opportunities.

In February 2012 we booked a trip to Portugal to continue our research and to, hopefully, find our dream town in Portugal. If Spain did not win the competition, that is. We wanted to go in February as it is low season and it would be possible to see what the towns were like in wintertime.

We flew to Lisbon, rented a car and drove to Estoril and Cascais. It was a very beautiful and nice area. The towns are located not far from Lisbon and the airport but with that, the property prices are higher than in other places. Also, the sun does not set in the ocean. Therefore, we decided against this part.

Golf villas not for us

We continued our journey north with one night in beautiful Sintra which is a nice alternative if you don’t need to be close to the ocean, as we did, and then we drove up along the Atlantic coast.

Ericeira, Peniche, and Baleal are all great towns for surfing but do not offer much else and we continued to the lovely golf course del Rey just north of Peniche. We were invited by an estate agent to stay in a five-star hotel and to view some of the golf villas. The standard was high and the surroundings were beautiful but we were looking for more of a lively town than this golf community could offer so we continued north.

We stopped a little while longer in Foz do Arelho and also in São Martinho do on the Silver Coast and now we started to get excited. This area of Portugal was very interesting; stunning ocean, stunning landscapes and incredible views over the sea and land.

The Silver Coast, what a coast!

By now, we had found two suitable towns north of Lisbon. Was there any real point to travel even further north along the Silver Coast? Our idea with this trip was to also explore the Algarve south of Lisbon before going home again. We decided we had enough time for one more town before turning south. We took the motorway and headed to a town called Nazaré. Already, going downhill through the town towards the Margin, the name of the beach promenade I think both of us felt: this was it. We had found our place – what a town, and what a view!

We went through the town quickly; great beach – check, lovely marina – check, quaint town centre with alleyways and restaurants – check, market – check, properties with sea view, for sale – check. And there was even a cable car going to the upper part, Sitio.

Love at first sight

The cable car made it especially attractive, they are just so charming, don’t you think? We met a nice estate agent who showed us some good alternatives, houses, and flats, all within our budget and all with sea views, just what we were looking for. Since Nazaré is located on a hillside towards the west most properties enjoy stunning sea views.

We spent a day and a night in Nazaré before we drove west above Salgado and we had great views over the entire area. We concluded that the whole region, from Foz do Arelho in the south up to Nazaré in the north was a very interesting and exciting area, and for us, Nazaré stood out. But, we still had more parts of Portugal to discover.

We drove towards the south and our first stop was Setúbal. It is a holiday town close to Lisbon with lovely beaches. However, it wasn’t quite what we were looking for. And the sun doesn’t set in the ocean. We continued to Sines approximately halfway between Lisbon and Sagres on the western tip of the Algarve. Sines was too much of an industrial town for our liking and we left quite quickly.

Looking for the sunset

Next stop on our journey was the town Vila Nova de Milfontes. It is a lovely little town located at the beginning of the river Mira. The town is protected from the sea and does not offer the stunning sea views we were looking for, so we got into our car again. We headed towards Cabo de São Vicente and Sagres. Surfing is spectacular here. The location of Sagres is beautiful and there is a lovely marina but sadly no ocean sunset.

Our exploring took us further to the east. We stopped in Lagos, Portimão, and Albufeira. Sadly, many restaurants, shops, and hotels were closed in mid-February and we were looking for a place that is alive all year round so we could cross some more towns off our list. We continued to Tavira, Vila Nova de Cacela and Vila Real de Santo Antonio close to the Spanish border.

Portugal beat Spain

We had visited some of Portugal’s coastal towns from Nazaré on the Silver Coast in the north via Sagres in the southeast all the way to the Spanish border in the east. We now had lots of interesting places to compare to Spanish towns and areas. But already on the plane home, we realized Portugal had beaten Spain and we had found us a new favourite country. We liked the people, loved the scenery, and it is an added benefit that so many speak English. We also thought the prices were better compared to Spain, and of course, compared to Swedish the difference was huge.

Beautiful, surf-friendly and friendly people

We summed up our trip with these words:

The Algarve is beautiful and slightly warmer than the Silver Coast but in February we found some of the more touristy towns to be very quiet. And our mission was not to find a place for sun and beach but a place for activities, nature, culture, and sports. A place for everyday life.

We didn’t think the west coast, south of Lisbon was as beautiful and exciting as the Silver Coast. The short coastal strip from Cascais in the west to Lisbon in the east was more beautiful but was simply too pricey for us if we wanted a place close to the beach with sea views.

Our favourite turned out to be the stretch between Foz do Arelho and Nazaré on the Silver Coast. We had never even heard of Nazaré before coming into the town and it was love at first sight for both Kari and myself.

Bought a semi

Kari and I went back several times during different seasons to add to our research. I met with estate agents in Foz do Arelho and Nazaré to get a better idea of what was on offer. We found many good alternatives in Nazaré and after a few more trips Calle bought a townhouse in Sitio da Nazaré and Kari and I bought a semi-detached house close by in the autumn of 2013. We haven’t regretted it for a minute.

A year and a half ago we finally moved. We sold up and moved permanently to Portugal and our beloved Nazaré. We are really happy about all the research we did before we bought a property and we are so happy with our choice of town. Kari and I just love it here!