Real Cost Of Living In Portugal As Digital Nomad

Planning to go to Portugal and wondering about various prices and how much money you may spend there? We were also thinking about that and were really curious if sites like numbeo.com are telling the truth. Spending about โ‚ฌ1100 per month without rent wasnโ€™t looking very encouraging. Actually, it seemed overpriced, especially since Portugal is considered one of the cheapest countries to live in Europe. In this post, youโ€™ll discover the real cost of living in Portugal, come!

We lived in Portugal for 4 months and now we can show you the prices and tell you what the costs of living really look like from the perspective of a digital nomad. Weโ€™ll share with you how much money we spent on average while living in Portugal.

Important notes. This post was written mostly for digital nomads / slow travelers staying for longer in one place. The prices used in the post are valid for the period February โ€“ May 2022.

Real Cost Of Living In Portugal In As Digital Nomad
Happy Little Traveler Authors

Created by Sonia & Wojtek

One day, we packed our lives and slowly rushed into the unknown with smiles on our faces. Weโ€™re full-time digital nomads traveling in Europe who inspire to live, travel, and discover differently. Sunny coastal destinations are what we love most. We share travel guides, tips, and know-how to make planning your next trip a piece of cake. Real human experience and verified facts only!


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Real Cost Of Living In Portugal As Digital Nomad

Accommodation in Portugal

We used Airbnb to find our temporary homes in Portugal. As digital nomads, we have specific requirements that each place must meet:

  • a whole place for ourselves,
  • fully equipped,
  • with great Internet,
  • with a place to work,
  • a parking spot is a must too, as we are traveling by car.

All of this translates into a higher price we have to pay for a place.

In Portugal, we were staying at Albufeira in Algarve & Ponte da Barca in Alto Minho region.

Our average monthly accommodation cost: โ‚ฌ850

Of course, the price will depend on various factors. For example, youโ€™ll pay much less if youโ€™ll be satisfied with renting only a room in someoneโ€™s place, or if youโ€™re traveling alone.

Other possibilities to look for accommodation in Portugal are Idealista, good old Booking or Agoda. But if you arenโ€™t planning to stay for a really long time, we donโ€™t recommend Idealista, as youโ€™ll probably have to pay a high deposit.

Costs of living in Portugal as Digital Nomad
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Grocery prices in Portugal

We do our shopping in supermarkets. In Portugal, youโ€™ll find stores like Continente, Inter Marche, Lidl, Pingo Doce, or Aldi. We did our grocery shopping mostly in Lidl and Continente.

Our average monthly groceries cost: โ‚ฌ335

Itโ€™s the price for vegetarian groceries as we donโ€™t eat meat (there was quite a good choice of vegetarian/vegan products).

Below we leave sample receipts and photos from stores so you can see the prices of various products.

Costs of groceries in Portugal - receipt
Costs of groceries in Portugal - receipt
Costs of groceries in Portugal - receipt

Cosmetics prices in Portugal

In Portugal cosmetics are mostly sold in supermarkets, so look for them there. From our observations, prices are very similar to those in Spain, but the selection is quite poor.

Our average monthly cosmetics cost: โ‚ฌ20

Going out in Portugal

  • Restaurants in Portugal

You can find a wide variety of restaurants, and bars, and hence a wide variety of prices. As for us โ€“ we usually paid about โ‚ฌ50 for one dinner out for two.

Here are some examples of prices.

  • Cinemas in Portugal

We love going to the cinema so weโ€™ll mention it here too. We usually paid about โ‚ฌ7-8 per person. Cinema set (popcorn + drink) cost about โ‚ฌ10. Compared to cinemas in Poland, itโ€™s a really high price, but compared to Spain โ€“ very similar. A huge plus for Portugal for playing movies in the original language (VO).

Our average monthly going out cost: โ‚ฌ100

Cost of transportation in Portugal

Weโ€™re traveling by car so the only thing we need is gasoline. On average we paid โ‚ฌ2/L (95), but we could see that prices were steadily going up during the last weeks. In February 2022 we paid about โ‚ฌ1.9/L, and in May 2022 we paid about โ‚ฌ2.1/L.

Prices vary a lot depending on the gas station. From our observations of โ€œmajor playersโ€ Galp is the cheapest, then Repsol, and BP is the most expensive. Local small gas stations were always the cheapest (like ones near Inter Marche stores).

Costs of transportation in Portugal - gas station
Real Cost Of Living In Portugal - Gasoline prices
Costs of transportation in Portugal - gasoline price

When traveling by car, you also need parking. We always look for free ones. During 4 months in Portugal we only paid 2 times for parking โ€“ on average it cost us about โ‚ฌ1.5 per 1 hour (in parking lots not in the city center).

If youโ€™re traveling by plane we advise you to rent a car as itโ€™s a very comfortable way of discovering Portugal. You can use websites like rentalcars.com or look in local rental offices. The cheapest options weโ€™ve found cost about โ‚ฌ1500 per month, of course, plus fuel.

Another option is public transport, but here we also canโ€™t say anything from the experience. For example, according to rome2rio.com, a train from Porto to Faro will cost โ‚ฌ45- โ‚ฌ65, and a trip from Lisbon to Porto โ‚ฌ23 โ€“ โ‚ฌ35. You can also choose to travel by bus, which will take you to many more places than trains โ€“ Portugal is well connected by them. For more information check out the rede-expressos website.

Our average monthly transportation cost: โ‚ฌ150

Tourist attractions prices in Portugal

Prices depend on the place. In our opinion entry fees are quite cheap. We usually paid around โ‚ฌ3 per person.

Here are some examples of prices for one adult:

Some attractions like Tavira Castle, Lindoso Castle, Santuรกrio de Santa Luzia in Viana do Castelo, Archeological Museum in Barcelos, or Bom Jesus do Monte Sanctuarium in Braga are free to enter.

Our average monthly tourist attractions cost: โ‚ฌ10

Real Cost Of Living In Portugal In 2022 - Costs of tourists attractions
Sand City (Lagoa)
Real Cost Of Living In Portugal In 2022 - Cost of tourists attractions
Santuรกrio de Santa Luzia (Viana do Castelo)

Going to the doctor in Portugal

Fortunately, we didnโ€™t have to use any doctorโ€™s services in Portugal. If youโ€™re from one of the EU countries (and insured in your residential country) you can use a free EHIC card (European Health Insurance Card) to receive treatment in another member country for free or at a reduced cost, if that treatment becomes necessary during your visit.

But EHIC doesnโ€™t cover a lot of things so more important is to have travel and/or health insurance. Its prices may vary a lot depending on your country and your needs. Weโ€™re using one offered by a Polish company, which cost us about โ‚ฌ70 per month for two people. We highly recommend buying good insurance as you never know when youโ€™ll get sick or something bad will happen. Also, you probably wonโ€™t be happy with paying thousands for hospitalization, treatments, etc.

You can take a look at special insurance for digital nomads:ย WorldNomadsย orย SafetyWing. Prices start from $42 per month.

Internet costs in Portugal

We already mentioned at the beginning that we always look for a place with a good Internet connection. Outside the apartments, we use roaming data plans (in very small amounts). Another popular option is to get a local prepaid SIM card. Hereโ€™s what weโ€™ve found about the prices from some providers in Portugal

Also, to stay safely connected while traveling, donโ€™t forget about a good VPN. We recommendย Surfsharkย orย NordVPN.

What can you save on while traveling?

Looking for savings during traveling? Weโ€™ve prepared a whole post where weโ€™ve listed tips on how to save money while traveling. Check it out: ๐Ÿ’ฐ๐Ÿ’ฐ 20+ Tips On How To Save Money While Traveling ๐Ÿ’ฐ๐Ÿ’ฐ

Summary of the real cost of living in Portugal as a digital nomad

Looks like the cost of living in Portugal was almost the same as in Spain. At the very beginning, we noticed that groceries and gasoline are more expensive โ€“ and these two things definitely translate into a higher final amount. Just keep in mind that we cannot compare it to 1:1 as the war in Ukraine changed a lot recently (especially the gasoline price).

To sum upโ€ฆ Our average monthly cost of living in Portugal was about โ‚ฌ1500.

For us, it was an acceptable price. For us, people who lived in Wrocล‚aw, one of the biggest and most expensive cities in Poland, the costs of living in Portugal are still attractive and very similar. And for sure the costs could be different for different people. Everyone needs something different and has different requirements for daily life, but weโ€™re sure everyone will find something for every budget.

Oh, one more thing! For us living in Portugal was twice cheaper as numbeo.com claims. So always take this kind of information with a grain of salt.

We hope you found this post useful and that it will help you plan your expenses or even convince you to start your own journey shortly.

Real Cost Of Living In Portugal In As Digital Nomad

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