Porto guide for Digital Nomads

Portugal is a beautiful country full of opportunities, and Porto is one of the best places for digital nomads in the country. Why is it so good? What opportunities are we speaking of? And how can you get to Porto and enjoy a few months living in this town? Read on and find out. But first, a small introduction. Porto is a town of some 250 000 inhabitants in the northern part of Portugal’s western coastline.

It may seem small, but the whole metropolitan area has around 2,4 million people living in it, commuting to Porto for work or visiting it regularly. The entire area is one of the most industrialised in the whole country, but this doesn’t mean that Porto doesn’t have some truly stunning sights and natural beauties to enjoy. Porto is also a very safe place to live. According to the 2019 Global Peace Index, Porto is the third safest place out of 163 areas surveyed in the world.

Since Porto spans a reasonably large area with its metropolitan agglomeration, the climate varies depending on how close to the coastline a given place is. The city itself is the warmest between June and September when the average high temperatures are around 23 °C and 26 °C and the coldest between December and February with average lows around 6 °C and 5°C. In short, don’t expect snowfall and make sure to buy sunscreen.

Like many other places in Portugal, Porto is a very affordable city, certainly more affordable than most places in western Europe. Take food, for example. A meal in an inexpensive restaurant is about €7, and a big three-course meal for two is roughly €36. A half a litre of a domestic draught beer is about €2, and a regular cappuccino only €1,50. This also translates to everyday groceries. A fresh loaf of bread from a bakery, a kilo of rice, or a kilo of bananas costs around €1 and a dozen eggs and a kilo of apples or potatoes around €1,50. So as you can see, this part of your expenses won’t see any dramatic increase.

Another big part of anyone’s budget is accommodation. Porto also excels here. A small apartment for one person outside of the city centre will be around €500 while a three-bedroom apartment for a family in the centre is only about €1200. Considering that the rent in Portugal’s capital, Lisbon, is around 20% more expensive across the board, this is an excellent deal. You can use Flatio for rentals from 14 days to 6+months. All apartments advertised on Flatio are fully furnished and equipped, and the monthly price already includes all utility bills.

Lastly, a considerable portion of anyone’s budget in Portugal will be transport, internet, and other smaller bits. A monthly pass for the local public transportation is around €35 (before any discounts), and a litre of gas is only €1,50. Similarly, 60Mbps internet for your home is approximately €32. A basic energy bill (including electricity, heating, cooling, water, and garbage removal) will cost around €120, but this depends on the actual usage. Overall, one of the big reasons ex-pats love Porto is its international vibe and affordability, which are rarely seen side by side.

There are tons of places you can work in Porto, whether it’s your new and comfortable mid-term rental or it’s the local café. But sometimes, you need to buckle down and work in a space made for concentration and efficiency. One of those places is Porto i/o, one of the most popular coworking spaces in Porto. Renting a spot in this space for either €12,50 daily or €130 monthly gets you 24/7 access to the building, a preferred workspace, showers, a shared kitchen and a reservable meeting space.

Another great option is the Typographia Cowork. It mainly offers a beautiful open office space with an inspiring view of Porto while being situated in its centre. For the price of €70 per month, you get a lounging area, a shared kitchen and a terrace. Lastly, there is the Cru Co-work space, one of the most affordable in the city. Its unique concept is that it is half coworking space and half a shop. For €55 per month, you can get a shared table here, right in the city centre.

One of the essential parts of any digital nomad’s stay in any country is networking. No article nor thorough google search can give you the same opportunities as being in the right place at the right time with the right people. There are two Facebook groups for digital nomads: Porto Digital Nomads (by DigitalNomads.pt) and Digital Nomads Porto. But there are also meet-ups where you can talk to people face to faces, such as Porto Startup Coffee, Founders Founders, or Porto Digital Nomads Meetup.

On the more relaxed side of things, it is often best to take it easy and meet new people. Networking is all well and good, but without a good social network of your own, you will soon stare down the barrel of burnout. So be sure to come down to the Creative Mornings Porto event for any creatives out there or Geek Girls Portugal for meeting your fellow women in the tech industries. Overall, Porto has a vibrant community around just about anything. So make sure you go out and meet people with the same interests.