Searching for a New Home: Family Communities Worth Visiting in Portugal

We initially decided to travel to Portugal in January 2019 — neither my partner nor I had been there, and it seemed like a good pit stop before heading West, to Canada. That was the plan initially. Maybe stay there a couple of months, just waiting for the worst cold to leave. But, we never got that far. In February we received a call telling us that Denmark was closing down because of Covid-19, and we decided to go back “home” as we had our flat there and couldn’t really be stuck in the middle of somewhere with all our things and expenses in Denmark. Fast Forward 2 years and it is January 2022. The world has slowly opened up again, and we decided to travel to Portugal again — though this time to search for a more “permanent” home.

Our choice fell on Portugal due to several reasons:

Quality of Life: This is a tough one because it is so subjective. But here is what defined it for us:

• That our children could be in nature most of the time away from the stress of the city life — ideally in Waldorf playgroups;
• That we could be surrounded by an international community of people that somehow shared our views on life and that had children the same age as our kids so they had someone to share life with;
• That we could move our bodies around as much as possible in nature — swimming, running, climbing. While exposed to fresh air and lots of sun;
• That we could eat an abundance of organic and freshly produced food for a reasonable price.
• That we could find a spacious home with a garden allowing us to hire external help in terms of cleaning and gardening so we could optimise the time that we could spend with each other and our children when not working.
• Budget: Our kids are still small and we’re not planning to send them to nurseries. So all of the above should be possible to achieve on a 1 income household budget.
• Flight connections: Lisbon has some good connections to Copenhagen Airport. My husband can work remotely, but it does require some travel back and forth — hence the airport has to be relatively easy to reach and fly from.

Portugal ticked off all of those.

So, we knew it was going to be Portugal and hence, we packed our stuff, and bought one-way tickets for the entire family. The communities we decided to visit when searching for a place to be were defined by the existence of a Waldorf/ nature kindergarten, and some sort of active international family community. During our previous stay in Portugal, we stayed in Porto, Lisbon, Cascais and Lagos. None of them were places where we would like to stay long term, so this time we decided to travel elsewhere. Lagos area/ the south of Portugal btw has a LOT of international communities that are quite well established, and multiple Waldorf/ Montessori and Nature schools/kindergartens. The travel time to Lisbon airport was a bit too far for us, so we excluded that as an option. However, I would definitely recommend checking it out if you’re considering moving. For connecting with other people there I suggest joining the telegram group “Community Portugal south with Kids” — also — on WhatsApp “Baby Group Borboleta” and “Premama & Kids Group”. All groups are quite active.

Overall, if you’re planning to move to Portugal consider joining some of these groups: Families moving and living in Portugal, Americans and Friends in. Portugal, Alternative Families in Portugal, Ecovillages with kids. On telegram, there is also Ecovillages in Portugal.

Out of the communities we visited this time, I would recommend:

Sintra region (Corales included)

Sintra was the first place to visit on our list. I had heard before about Escola Da Terra and realised to my great excitement that they also had a kindergarten. So we decided to rent a house in Colares (near ​​Praia das Maçãs), and from there visited Jardim Da Terra, which is located inside Aldeia da Praia — Antiga Colonia de Ferias da CP. This place is awesome — the kindergarten itself is supposed to expand by September 2022, so it is perhaps possible to get a spot, and their new director is a highly experienced Waldorf pedagogue. Aldeia da Praia itself is a great outdoor hub to hang out to meet new parents and children — it has a co-working space, a good playground, a yoga studio, and an eating area with many different choices.

From there on we met someone who recommended us to check out Quinta das Patas in Colares. This is an absolutely wonderful family-run farm, offering a community space with many outreach activities — such as yoga, musical concerts, Kirtan.. and much more. Furthermore, they offered supervised Waldorf playgroups for Toddlers (1.5years — 4 years) from Monday-Wednesday from 9–12 AM (Mariana is a Waldorf Kindergarten teacher, while Filipa is a forest school leader — my children felt very safe with them right away), and a Waldorf Playgroup on Tuesdays and Thursdays where family members are welcome to join. Joy, who is the creator of the playgroup is very gifted — she created a safe atmosphere with great learning activities for the children. We really enjoyed going.

Quinta das Patas in Colares

Communication mainly happens through Whatsapp — a good way to reach out and connect with the Quinta das Patas is through Instagram.

For homeschooling parents, there is an active WhatsApp group called “Lisbon Homeschooling” — Parents meet often with active monthly calendars, and, there is a telegram group called “Sintra region playdate parent kidmeet”. The Lisbon homeschooling group is the most organized I have stumbled upon so far — they plan and communicate through Discord and the activities are quite nice.

Housing in Sintra & Colares is a …pain 😂. It can take some time to find something. Generally we were unable to find 2–3 bedroom flats below 1700 EUR. The houses can cost arond 3500–5000+ EUR per month to rent. There is an internal whatsapp group for housing. It’s worth joining that one as there I have seen some really good offers (example 2br with garden for 750EUR, 15 min walk from the beach, unfortunately only for 6 months, but that could work as an option while looking for other things).

Ericeira

One of my friends connected me with her close friend who lived in Ericeira. He invited us over for a carnival celebration that was organised by his wife. This was a great way to get introduced to the expat community which is very vibrant and quite large with people coming over from all around the world. My feeling when I was there was that in Ericieria everything was about working out, eating great food and just enjoying life. Here there are even multiple different sub-Whatsapp groups: one for active “sports” mums, another general group, etc.. A very common hang out spot for families with kids is the Parque de Santa Maria. Go there if you want to connect with the local international family community.

10 minutes outside of town there is a Democratic Kindergarten and learning project — Enraizar. Enraizar follows the Escola da Ponte model, which is based on democratic learning principles. This means self-determined and community-based learning. Children aged between 5 and 12 years old learn together, in a group of about 30 children. They also have a group for younger children. We decided not to stay, but, we heard very positive reviews from all the parents that we met that had their kids there.

And, the best part — obviously surf school starts early when you live in one of the best surfing spots in the world! There was one that offered activities from when the kids are 3 years old! We spent a lot of time at Praia da Foz do Lizandro. The small river provides an awesome play area for the kids and no killer waves. Make sure to try out Barbatana Surf and Deli when there.

Generally Ericeira has become really popular for the past years making it a bit difficult to find a flat below 1500 eur. A good workaround is to find something on Airbnb and then ask if they are interested in longterm rental — keep in mind that generally June-August is high season — deals are usuaully made with one price from September-May, then another one during the high season. My best advice would be to search after the season.

Tomar Area (Espinhal included)

Tomar was actually not on our list at any point. It happened quite random that we visited it and met the community there. When driving to Benfeita (Arganil, also an area with many expat families and a democratic school project), we decided to pass through Tomar — at cafe Insensato we had one of the best vegan meals we had had in a while. It's one of those cafes where we felt at home right away — bookshop/reading/healthy food eating place and friendly staff — something crucial when you travel around with babies and toddlers. I even remember randomly thinking how lovely it would be to come here on a regular base. While there we met a mother with kids that were the exact same age as ours. She recommended us to check out Pica Pau — a Waldorf and forest school playgroup that her kids went to — located in the very beautiful and peaceful Serra area. Another mum that we met there recommended us to check out a democratic kindergarten that was situated in Tomar — called CEDRO. CEDRO is a meeting centre for preschool children based on the principles of democratic schools and nature connection. Recently Evergreen Hub opened — a democratic unschooling project for children above 5 located in Serra.

In Espinhal there is a wonderful forest school and kindergarten. And, not far from Figueiro Dos Vinhos there is a montessori kindergarten for children called Tartaruga. You can learn more about them through telegram. The folks there are trying to build a long-term community with both a kindergarten, school and comminty spaces. If you’re into rewilding, perma-culture, and open-air community kitchens — then I would definitely recommend you to check out their work.

Long story short — we checked all the places out, and connected with the rest of the expat group there... And decided to stay! The community is somewhat smaller than the one we met in Ericeira or Castelo Branco — but — we liked that. It felt very.. Close and kinda... Connected. We felt that we fitted in very well — people here come from mainly the big cities (Berlin, NYC, London), and actively chose a different life connected more to nature. So perhaps we had that in common. There’s a Whastapp group for all the mums to stay in touch. (Note: We are currently not based in Tomar).

In Tomar area it is possible to find a good decent house for around ~650–900 EUR. We were offered a beautiful newly constructed house with 4 bedrooms + garden for 650EUR. It was outside the city though. In Tomar we found a completely newly constructed townhouse for 900 EURO with a magnificent view, and we also stumbled on a house with a massive orchard, olive trees and a big pool for 1500 EUR. So it depends a bit, but you can defintely find something great for a decent amount. Generally, it is difficult to find something to rent though as it is not so common here, so there are not many options (and you’re competing with all the other families searching for something!). The best way to find something is through Facebook by joining the local groups and connecting with people. Multiple international families bought land and live in Serra. Serra is by far, according to my opinion, the most beautiful area around there.

Markets: There are multiple local markets around — make sure you go early to get the best deals and offers:

• Tomar market is open throughout the week except for Mondays — on Friday is the big market day, definitely worth coming on that day to buy your groceries for the week ahead. Make sure to try their locally produced sweet potato bread with walnuts.
• Graca Market — every second Sunday of the month
• Espinhal Market — last Sunday of the month. Both markets have a great atmosphere, a very child and adult friendly, and are very laidback. You can find vegan bakers there (Nick and Susana Smalltrees sell their cakes, buns and sourdough bread there).
• Entroncamento — this is a huge market. Saturday is their big market day. The market sells clothes, shoes, furniture, plants, animals... And random stuff that you didn't know you needed. It is a 3 min drive from the local fruit market. Just ask around when you're there. There's a really great bakery there selling the best cinnamon buns, dark and sourdough bread (we’re from Denmark, so we really needed that :D)).

Swimming: When living in Tomar you obviously spend a bit more time swimming in the lakes than in the sea — something that we actually ended up enjoying a lot. We found multiple friendly coasts for small kids, despite the massive water level drop (4–5 meters due to the dry summers and winters the past 2 years!). If you are there check out: Praia Fluvial de Vila Nova da Serra, Praia Fluvial do Agroal, Nossa Senhora das Lapas (this is a really great climbing spot as well, and if you want to sleep outside), and definitely, Dornes is a spot worth visiting.

If you feel like having a beach day then I can highly recommend Sao Martinho do Porto with kids. Literally, it feels like you're on vacation when there, and there are zero waves and a shallow beach with fine sand leaving your legs as if they are covered with sparkling diamonds. It's really nice.

Takeaways

Overall these past months have been a wonderful experience for our family — we have become more connected as a unit, and our girls have thrived traveling around and discovering how diverse and big this world is. Our 3 year old has picked up English and Portuguese words, while our 1 year old has just been making massive developmental leaps. Portugal turned out to be everything what we had expected it to be and more!

However, there were some learning points that we would like to share:

Digital Presence vs. Reality: Before arriving we did a lot of research online and found several communities and projects that looked aboslutely stunning and worth visiting. When actually being here we’ve learned that in some cases there is A LOT of great digital marketing..and nothing more than that. Make sure you visit the place before commiting long term (also applies to playgroups and alternative school projects). There were several places where people were really just half-assing it. Places we’ve found were sort of deserted, very dirty.. or just plain weird. Stuff to ask about: if there is a pool — when is it functional (ask in advance)? If there is a common space area — is it cleaned? Is it possible to use it for the kids? If there is a community for kids — how many kids do they have now, are they living there and attending regulary? How many monthly gatherings etc..

Another learning point was also to beware of scammers / people with poor intentions — within the expat community as well! We stumbled upon a dance teacher offering dance classes for toddlers that was quite insistent on making us sign a 12-months contract, before we even had tried her classes. After agreeing on a 1 month trial (she refused less), the classes turned out very poorly and unprofessionally organized, and the teacher rude. Needless to say we didn’t get the money back for the remaining class..

Lesson learned: You’ll be meeting a lot of people here with great visions, love for transformational change and generational healing & other beautiful words — however, check their recommendations, insist on trial sessions before commiting to anything long-term. Visit them. Do your home-work. If something seems off.. it probably is.

Brace yourself for self-taught Montessori, Forest School & Waldorf Experts: Everyone has different expectations towards how their children should be educated and by whom. However, please note, that buying “montessori” toys does not make it into a montessori kindergarten — and using the words “forest schoool”, “democratic kindergarten”, “Waldorf” etc. does not mean that the methodologies mentioned are in place, but merely reflected in the price that is being charged.

Questions you can ask in order to understand the actual methods in place. & what kind of place it is:

1. Does the teachers have any education in the areas mentioned? (if yes, then please ask them to elaborate). If no — where do they gain their knowledge & learning materials from? Read beforehand what Montessori schedules can be like.. and how Waldorf approches it. They are quite different in their approach, they can be successfully combined, yet require a really talented & knowledgeable teacher (often teachers are only trained in one method).
2. What are the rhythms of the week/months/seasons (I was surprised to find that some places had literally none).
3. Is it a safe space?
4. Hygeine. Ok this seems basic.. but. It’s not. I was really disturbed to find a place where no hands were washed before eating/ toilet visits/ children were left unattended to play in the bathrooms where they played with each others toothbrushes and what not.. and so on. 😔
5. Who are the kids going? Is their a core group? How long time have they been there? If the kindergarten is organized by parents that live there and have their own kids attending the kindergarten — are they inviting new children in? Have the children equal access and right to play?
6. How does the teacher resolve conflicts? Do they establish boundaries? Do they “look the other way”?
7. Are there any animals on the site? How do they interact with the children? This may again seem as an obvious question, but, sadly at one place a dog bit one of the children in the face. The owners had reassured the parents that the dog would never actually attack the children and bite for real (it was on a leash). That it was just a bit nervous and needed to get used to the children around. They were wrong.

Car rent: Renting a car in Portugal long term has turned out to be an expensive affair. Bring your own if possible, else, another way is to rent something locally from locals when arriving here. We were lucky to rent one for the first 4 months (10 eur per day), and another one in the remaining month from another private person. With all the gas prices going up it can easily become quite an expense affair if you have to pay 25 eur per day for renting it + gas. Keep in mind that if you are staying somewhere outside of Lisbon or another large city — you need a car. Especially when going away from the coast line (example there are no trains to Colares, Sintra). Here is a link for car sharing North of Portugal.

I hope that some of these points helped and wish you all the best with finding a new home for yourself! If you are living in Portugal and have some other great insights — please share!

Warmest,

Roxane