Central Portugal Is So EASY TO TRAVEL That We Tried Something Ambitious
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- Опубликовано: 3 авг 2021
- Josh and Kalie from ExpatsEverywhere along with their daughter Valencia and two other team members, G and Ami, explore a bit more of Central Portugal. They spend one day driving around to a few popular cities that are close to each other. The first stop is Leiria where they grab lunch and see what the city has to offer. They then head to Nazaré on the Silver Coast to see the infamous big waves but learn they are visiting at the wrong time of the year. Surely they will go back to see these waves! They finish up at Caldas da Rainha where they meet up with Carl from Expats Portugal, his wife Louisa who has done an amazing interview with us about life in Portugal, and their three amazing kids. Come explore the center of Portugal with us!
At the beginning of the video, Josh mentions our interviews with Carl and Louisa. Rather than putting a card, we will put the links here for you to see.
Carl: • Moving to Portugal 🇵🇹 ...
Louisa: • The UNTOLD Things Abou...
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We had a medical emergency with our eldest dog which required veterinary assistance and wow, what a difference between service in Portugal vs. service in Canada. We heard how helpful and friendly the people of Portugal are, only this was above and beyond anything we expected or even hoped for. For those old enough to remember a show called Little House on the Prairie....that's what it was like. Sincere and authentic help from a doctor that really cared. For a fraction of the cost we would have paid in Canada. Excellent service, incredible people and beautiful weather...the Caldas da Rainha region is a winner.
You're so right! We heard of another story in Setúbal where the community really got behind an expat that had a lost animal. - Josh & Kalie
I am coming there😀🤞✅
Awe, Glad you had a good experience. I have an amazing (and truly affordable), Vet in the Ottawa area. I suppose it depends on where you are…and I totally acknowledge that I was told he was fantastic!
How fantastic!!🤗
I especially loved that Cia added her plastic cup cheers! Priceless!
She loves "cheers-ing"! 😁 🥰 - Josh & Kalie
Great video. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for this ! It is so interesting to see you walk and move about in the different towns - gives the feeling we are there with you. Beautiful thanks !
Glad you enjoyed it! We'll most likely be doing a little more vlogging from Porto now that we're back. - Josh & Kalie
Fun! Nice you got to meet up with Carl and family!! We are going to Nazaré, Peniche and Obidos at the end of August! So excited to start visiting my new country and will do it with our first visitor!!!😃
Tamara, it was amazing getting to see them. They're such lovely people. They felt like we had met them in real life and they were like family.
Your trip sounds great. Peniche is a place that's on our list. - Josh & Kalie
@@ExpatsEverywhere If you have time go visit the baleal beach and the small island (in the XIX century) now a artificial peninsula call baleal.
Greetings from Portugal.
Well chosen cities, Nazaré, Peniche and Obidos are simply stunning. I also recommend the southernmost region of the Algarve and visiting the city of Évora in Alentejo.
@@jfjbiscaia Evora is also planned!
Hi Tamara, I agree… great choices. I lived close to Peniche for 3 months and fell in love with the area. Someone else mentioned Baleal… that is a definite! I’d you, anyone with you, has any interest in Dinosaurs, you should check out Lourinha.
Very informative video, if for no other reason, than it gives the viewer(s) a very realistic experience in Portugal. From the actual view of traffic and parking challenges to the uninvited ‘flying intruders’ at lunch. And the breakdown of expenses is always helpful for those of us approaching our first visit (relo-fact-finding adventure) in November. You guys are becoming our ‘go-to’ for helpful information before our move next Spring. Thx and Well Done!
Thank you very much for the sweet comment! We appreciate it very much. These vlogs were intended to give a different dimension to the other content we're creating at the moment so it's a pleasure to know we're hitting the mark for you. - Josh & Kalie
Thanks for this wonderful video.
Glad you enjoyed it! - Josh & Kalie
@@ExpatsEverywhere 😀
What a nice day! And nice people! And beautiful children, even better!
Thank you, Dan. That's a really nice comment. All 4 kids were so well-behaved. It was a nice day indeed. - Josh & Kalie
My favorite of your videos, not sure why, but thanks for the budget breakdown
Thanks, Dante! It was a real run and gun episode but we're glad that you liked it. All of these vlogs were doing on the trip (we release them once every 2 weeks) gives our cost of staying in that region awkwardly embedded in the video. 😂 - Josh & Kalie
Love your videos guys 🙌 I’m Portuguese and I lived in Leiria for 30 years! Now I’m in the cold Toronto for a few years already! Im glad u guys are enjoying what Portugal has to offer 👍
Thanks, Johnny! We're loving your country, brother. We appreciate how hospitable your countrymen are and we hope North American is treating you well. Thanks for watching. - Josh & Kalie
This is the big down of Portugal. August is a nightmare because the portuguese are on vacation and the roads, highways is pack with cars. Algarve is even worse than the center region.
People to work use the public transportation, very cheap (40€/month) and very reliable. But on vacation everyone take the car out of the garage and the traffic in August is a nightmare in small cities and beach cities like Nazaré, S. Martinho do Porto or Caldas da Rainha, but in Algarve is even worse. Only the traffic in Lisbon and Porto be a little better.
About people ask for money, dont give any, they are harmless. But sometimes if they are old i give 50 cents/1 €uro.
Thanks for adding value here to the comment section, Arte! You're a gem as always! - Josh & Kalie
Wow! A whirlwind tour to be sure, but looked great. On my trip there in mid September I was debating checking out one of the towns in Central Portugal vs. zooming straight through from Coimbra to Lisbon by bus or train. Kinda hate to give it a miss, but might give me an extra day in Coimbra or Lisbon. Advice? I'll e-mail you about this too if the answer is too long/involved.
Hey, John. Thanks for the comment. It was a whirlwind for sure. It was really relaxing though and in the end felt very rewarding in a way to spend that time with each other and the Munson family. Yes, email us and we'll give it a little more time and thought to answer you. How's that sound? 😉 Josh & Kalie
Guys, it's the wrong time of the year to see the big waves in Nazaré. For that, you must go there between October and March.
Yup! We looked it up while there, hence the let's go back in winter bit. 😂 - Josh & Kalie
@@ExpatsEverywhere You should go up to the cliffs, it has the best views and the most beautiful part of Nazare is up there too.
@@ExpatsEverywhere - Also, you were looking for the waves in the "wrong" beach. The famous big waves only happen on the Praia do Norte, the beach on the other side of the cliff. They might not be as big at this time of year but they're always bigger than on Nazaré beach. ; )
Cutest kiddo ever. Also, great video. :)
😊 thank you! - Josh & Kalie
Cia is adorable.
Thanks!
Aww, thank you very much, Carol. We appreciate the support! This is really nice of you. - Josh & Kalie
We had to travel constantly between Alentejo and Algarve for a month using the toll roads and it gets so expensive so quickly. Thankfully we are over that now and in our rental for the next year in Almancil!! But parking in Portugal!! I feel you man. We have the same issues always
Thanks for sharing, Gareth. We're going to touch on parking here in Braga because it's the first place we've seen meter maids (antiquated term, I know) everyday, but Sunday. - Josh & Kalie
To see the big waves you will need to go there in the winter and not on that beach, you will have to go to the other side called "praia do norte", also I got my wedding pictures taking at Dom Carlos park in 1989, good memories from that park.
Hi Luis, that's why we talked about going back in the winter. 😁 - Josh & Kalie
Thanks for doing the legwork for us! Can I ask who you use for phone and wifi?
You're welcome. Of course. We use Vodafone. We don't have a contract. We have a one month hotspot for €30 and every two weeks we reload our phones with at least €8.50 but usually €10. - Josh & Kalie
What a fun day! Always love to see new towns in central Portugal. Where can I find Josh's white shirt? Is that emblem USA Soccer, USA Youth Soccer or something else? Thanks.
That's the USA soccer jersey from a few years ago (2014 WC) ftw.usatoday.com/2014/03/united-states-reveals-2014-world-cup-jersey
It was a fun day for sure. 😁 - Josh & Kalie
@@ExpatsEverywhere Thanks!
Hey Josh and Kalie, another great video on different areas of Portugal. Your crew has done an amazing job over the summer documenting different areas/regions around Portugal, giving all of us viewers a better idea where one could potentially visit, live, and do life either part time or full time. We are so glad in your rental car that you added the toll transponder, it is time saver. For anyone out there looking to rent a car in Portugal and will be driving on toll roads, a transponder from the rental car company is a huge benefit. As Josh and Kalie know, we just spent a month in Portugal, put 3659 KM on the rental car (about 2300 miles for the U.S. folks) our total toll bill was €201 or $236 U.S., not bad for all that driving. Keep up the great work : )
Thanks, Thomas. We really appreciate you and your very kind words here. Was the total bill all for tolls and road tax? - Josh & Kalie
@@ExpatsEverywhere Yes, Via Verde, and also the non-Via Verde that just beeps when you pass through them. The car rental transponder was very accurate.
@@thomashawker2883 nice! Yea, that non-Via Verde was beeping at us a lot. 😆
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I love Cia saying cheers! Seems like tolls cost a lot. I am so use to driving here in FL that if I moved there I would want to drive my car to go explore cities. So the apartment cost you $315 per month? Does it include utilities- water, electricity, internet?
You're welcome. Thank you. Yeah, she loves saying cheers too. The tolls are high but get the Via Verde, it's like a SunPass
We paid €315 per unit for 2 weeks so that would be €630 per month. It's on the higher end for a T0 or T1. You can get cheaper on a longer term contract. The price we rented at was everything included. We did a video with that company. We show 3 of their units. - Josh & Kalie
Great video. I'm surprised at how short the distances were between cities. 45 minutes is nothing. I wondered about parking, sounds like it's a challenge everywhere you go. Good to see G in a video, he's been absent! And how fun to meet up with Carl and Louisa! BTW, which of those three towns did you find more appealing? Or were the trips too short to tell?
Thanks, John! It's only a challenge for Kalie. 😂 Great driver, terrible parker! 😅 She doesn't like to back into spots and can't parallel park. Parking really wasn't an issue but you just have to be patient when getting into new cities to find where the parking is. You know? To be completely honest, we would just take public transportation next time.
We appreciate that comment about G. I told him and he liked it and said it was really nice (which it is). He's just always behind the camera doing his thing so I get to catch him on these days when we shoot a run and gun vlog. No structure, none of us are really working. We're just relaxing and taking Portugal in.
It was amazing to get to meet Carl and Louisa in real life. All 3 towns are very nice and we didn't spend enough time in them to give a really solid opinion. Leiria's flies were killing us. Nazaré had amazing weather that day but we didn't walk around much but for beach side, which was spectacular, and Caldas had a very livable feel. Ultimately, yes, too short to tell. - Josh
@@ExpatsEverywhere flies are usually a problem in the summer when the greenery starts to decompose faster on hot days. It can actually get worse if it rained a few days before.
@@ExpatsEverywhere Would it be buses or trains that you would use between cities?
Sounds strange, but the videos and the chats create a sense of familiarity. I see you all a lot, and Ami is there in the videos, but G is usually busy filming I know. Yet, he has good insights and is part of the group so it's good to see him from time to time. Good to see the whole group.
It almost seems like such a compact country that it's easy to visit just about anyone, anywhere! Which is really nice and gives lots of reasons to travel.
Thanks. Where you driving from, point of origin, in central Portugal?
We drove like the maps showed from Coimbra to Leiria then to Nazaré then to Caldas da Rainha and finally back to Coimbra. We had rented the car so that we could go to Sertã for our interview with Eco and Beyond. - Josh & Kalie
Ola Josh and Kalie. Hope you are all doing well. A quick question, would love to hear your thoughts on Caldas da Rainha. Is it an area you would "Expat that"?? Obrigado =)
Hey Luis, we weren't there long enough to really get a good feel about it, but we wouldn't take it off our list due to bad first impressions. It does seem a little small but we would like to hang around for a few more days to get a better feel. There seems to be a strong expat community there. - Josh & Kalie
@@ExpatsEverywhere Thank you both. =)
@@luisrivas1097 you’re welcome.
HI Josh and Kalie, been watching all your videos never commented but today I add one that I was wanting to do, I do aknowledge that you try to see parts of some places and make first impression of the place/region for people that want to move here, sometimes I see it is a bit oversimplified has it could change a little if more area was visited and the facts of all the variable added had more data, lets say like this, sometimes your data is little (limited has you are with family/baby) that can lean to precepitated conclusions, although any viewer can guess more or less this, and of course there is another factor its your eyes and roots that describe the impressions, not saying its bad of course not but that is to take in account, saying this because the way you tell things could have a bit more this picture in the texts that you probably construct to say...
But I like your videos they are coming to be in a more "upwards" quality and general knowledge...
By the way THE BIG WAVES are not in the main beach that you see in Nazare town, they are close to the lighthouse that is more to the north of nazare, this massive was are formed by a cannion under water that goes in the direction to this lighthouse and the beach above it(north), so from the town you will never see this massive waves...well I do not know if u know this, but yes they even are not all weeks has in top of the info that has to be the perfect time for them to form.
here MOVIE youtube how and were the waves are formed
ruclips.net/video/RuN2AnKyMio/видео.html
Thanks for the comment. We're not really sure how to unpack this because there's no other way for us to create this content rather than the way we're doing it. We can't live for months in each city or we could but then it would take forever to get any of the information out that we do. Basically, we can't win. We get asked by our audience to highlight a place and then when we do we get accused of give to narrow of a perspective. Here's what we've attempted to do and especially for people like you that watch ALL or most of our videos, we try to do a city guide or overview (macro-perspective) that has our opinion at the end. Then, try to find an expat that's lived in that city that can give us a micro-perspective on life there. That gives balance because someone's experience isn't going to be everyone's experience. It also means that someone experience isn't invalid because it's opposite of someone else's experience. It's just different like all of us.
The puzzling thing is that in this particular video, we didn't give any opinions of the places we went, we just showed what we did on the day.
Regarding Nazaré, as we sat at a cafe near the town beach, we looked at the forecast for the swell on Magicseaweed and found that the Surf Point was further north but the swells were 1.0-1.3 meters on the day (very low) so we decided not to go up there to see because there was nothing to see therefor there was no film of it. This is why we included two pictures with the caption of the surf point with the lighthouse. I guess, I should have included more of those because it apparently wasn't obvious enough. So we didn't know about the wave spot until we arrived and started doing the research. We didn't research Nazaré in particular because we weren't making a video about the city, we were just simply vlogging our day. Thanks again for the message. - Josh & Kalie
Interesting. I didn’t get the impression, from this video, that you enjoyed any of the three towns. I can imagine that playing tourist, especially in Nazaré at this time of year might not be much fun. What did you think of Caldas? It’s a nice town, but I wouldn’t, personally, choose to live there.
I saw some beautiful huge waves in Nazaré… but I went in February. I’m keeping my fingers crossed you checked out more of the Silver Coast… so much to do and see! Good to see Karl and his lovely wife.
Hey Jen, we didn't give any direct impressions in this video because we weren't there long enough. It was more of us a relaxing day off and we decided to do our run and gun vlog to show how close these cities and towns in Central Portugal are. Caldas da Rainha seems like a great spot for an active but slower paced life. Nazaré seems great for people that love the beach and that lifestyle. Leiria was the place we walked the most but it still seemed a bit nondescript, good for a visit, but it's feels smaller than it is so we probably wouldn't live there.
Winter is definitely when to go see the big waves.
There wasn't enough time to see any more of the silver coast. We did go to the big Fig but was didn't shoot. - Josh & Kalie
@@ExpatsEverywhere Ahhhh, got you. And I’d agree with those perceptions. Next time you can do a proper ‘holiday’ on the Silver Coast. Make it more about enjoying the local flavour & vibes and not about Expating. Even RUclipsrs get to take a few days off, too.
Thank you for sharing your day with everyone.
I didn't know if I was going to rent a car or take public transport around central Portugal but this kind of has me leaning towards the public transport.
100% go with trains or buses. We would easily do that next time instead of driving. We basically just got the car so we could go to Sertã for our interview with Eco & Beyond. - Josh & Kalie
It's August, believe me the traffic is not bad outside August month.
Everyone is on Vacation and take the cars out of garage and cities near the water are packed with Portuguese on Vacation and not only the Portuguese that live in Portugal, lots of portuguese that come from other countries. In the roads you going to find lots of cars plates from Spain, French, Switzerland and Germany, from all the Portuguese that come to visit and be with their families. Yes they drive from their countries to Portugal, believe me in August the population doubles in the country and this year is even worst, because Covid last year with all the draconian restrictions no one come.
It's know that Portugal need to buy lots of electricity in August from the nuclear power plants from Spain and France to maintain a stable grid.
Cia is getting so big!!
She really is! FAST! - Josh & Kalie
Hey you guys. So Kalie -- Portuguese people are reputed to be pretty aggressive behind the wheel, they've told me so themselves! Have you found driving around Portugal scary at all? Is there anything in particular I should look out for or be aware of? Thanks, can't wait to be over there! :)
Kalie hasn't found it scary. When driving in cities there are pedestrians, bikes, scooters, and one-ways that you need to be aware of for sure. It becomes more intense. Also, there's a proper way to take a roundabout. Thanks for the question, Jeffrey! - Josh & Kalie
I imagine 8scary’ is relative. I found driving around Portugal to be quite easy! Highways and smaller roads.
@G B Actually it‘s very true. The very statement that "drivers expect you to drive fast or get out of their way" is proof that there are people that don’t respect road safety, that they are aggressive drivers. Almost every weekday I come across mind boggling manoeuvres, not respecting simple rules, and it’s not only on highways. And forget about people using the turn signal...
Very aggressive especially the days before and after formula 1 !
Ola, how much do they charge for the bread, olive and cheese?
It depends on the restaurant, but normally between €5 to €10 maximum.
For the couvert there, it wasn't more than €5 for the 4 of us. The octopus was €8 but I was probably the only one that was going to eat it. - Josh
@@ExpatsEverywhere 🦑Octopus sounds good to me. 😊 Enjoy it Josh and thanks for the vid.🐙
Cheese, bread and olives used to be free over 30 years ago if you order a meal....
Wow, who was it free for?
@@ExpatsEverywhere used to be free in the restaurants
to see the big waves you r on the wrong part of the beach, it s on the other side, on the lighthouse and in winter season.
That's why we showed it in the photo. We pulled up the forecast and saw there was very little swell so we just stayed around the part we were, we didn't move the car, and by the time we headed on, we were already late for dinner so we had to rush to Caldas da Rainha. The swell was 1.0-1.3 meters that day on Magic Seaweed (magicseaweed.com/ is where I pull my surf info.) - Josh & Kalie
Here is where we talk about coming back in the winter. ruclips.net/video/tmPuFEQ3M20/видео.html
This is where we show the surf spot. ruclips.net/video/tmPuFEQ3M20/видео.html
Thanks, Toni. - Josh & Kalie
Epic job to do all that with a baby 💪
Cia is the real MVP! 🙌
Thanks, Paulo! - Josh & Kalie
The "parking attendents" is Portugal's way to keep our junkie population in unofficial employment.
Might be a bit scary if you do not know the system but it generally works out well: you give them a few euros and they do make sure your car is safe as it is "their" parking lot and it is "their job" to look after it.
😊 The thing is, who are they protecting the car from? 😉 - Josh & Kalie
@@ExpatsEverywhere Good question Josh & Kalie. I first experienced “parking attendants” in South Africa a few years ago. 🇿🇦 I wasn’t expecting it and annoyed at first. I later learned this was a way for some to make money so maybe it’s okay. Not sure what the explanation in PT might be. 🇵🇹 Cheers.
Guys, wrong place and wrong season for the waves! My favorite Restaurant in Nazaré: A Celeste. Even though it's in front of the beach, the prices are reasonable. When I go there, and I go as often as I can, I always have Lulas à Celeste. Very, very good.
Next time you visit Caldas, and you want to see one of the most beautiful beaches in Portugal, visit São Martinho do Porto. But before you get to the place, first you must go to the Miradouro so that you can see all of the area.
Hey Alex, we spoke about that in the video while in the car. Did you see that bit? - Josh & Kalie
@@ExpatsEverywhere About the waves? Yes, I did. I watch all videos till the end, as one should.
@@alexandrecaldeira6694 Yes, during the video we referenced needing to go back in the winter because that's when the big waves are there and we got a photo of the surf point where the big waves are so viewers could see. We 100% know that we went during the wrong season but we didn't know until we arrived and we whipped out our phones to do a search. Thanks for watching.
@@alexandrecaldeira6694 on a separate note. Thanks for sharing your favorite restaurant. What should one get there?
@@ExpatsEverywhere Lulas (squid). To bad, I can't share photos of the dish here, but you can see it here:
facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10216859153740878&set=pb.1525377076.-2207520000..&type=3
And the Cod with Migas is highly recomended.
And it's McNamara's favorite Restaurant as well. You know.... that guy that surfed THAT BIG wave!
As for the tips, you're welcome. And thanks guys for showing my beautiful country.
You have a child called C.I.A.???
😂Is that what CC said? - Josh & Kalie
It's CIA pronounced the Portuguese way...
@@UbuTube Hmmm, well, it's Valencia but Cia for short def. not C.I.A. 😅
Check out how we pronouce CIA in Portuguese
Eu sou nasci em 1961 em Leiria não gostei...podem voltar para a terra do tio sam
You guys kinda always talk about the Portuguese house insulation, and most off then are bad and we have the PALOP countries to tank for. See we have trading agreements between us, and the brick specifications are for hot countries cause most PALOP are tropical expect Portugal. For example Spain uses normal not hollow bricks that tend to insulate better.
Yes, but we decided that, no? Saying it was their fault is deceiving, no?
Still, I don't know if that is true, but I find it interesting to know.
Hey, Cristiano. Sorry, we don't understand your comment here. - Josh & Kalie
you are so "funny"! House insulation requires more than just bricks! That is why house insulation is poor in Portugal, because most buildings didn’t use insulation materials or proper insulation techniques, like in other countries, not because of bricks. Many houses didn’t even use external double walls, even today we might get some "clever" builder that thinks it’s ok to use a simple external wall in some place for whatever reason! please...
@@ppietrap3876 british houses never used double walls until the 70s and they still have warm houses. They just used different materials, and our type of brick is designed to cool. There's more factors obviously genius but the type of brick used is one of them.
@@eduardoserrao7372 I said it was their fault as a joke, it probably was decided unanimously.