Sintra and Cascais for Luxury Living. Fit for a King or Queen.
An apartment for those of us with a more ordinary budget in Portugal. Beautiful and well designed.
Think of any large city and just about all of them have an area not too far away where the well-to-do and wealthy tend to reside.
Perhaps the most famous example is Beverly Hills or Hollywood in the hills above Los Angeles.
However, London has the villages hidden away in the rolling hills of the Kent countryside, Paris has Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche, Cape Town has Bantry Bay – and Lisbon has Cascais and the Sintra mountains.
Neither may be as well known to summer visitors to Portugal who will head for the Algarve beaches. But, for real connoisseurs of the country, both have a history and heritage which underpin their standing.
Where royalty reside
After all, even kings and queens have made the forested hills around Sintra, a little west of the capital, their playground for centuries. Meanwhile, Cascais itself has built its reputation as the preferred summer home of the Portuguese nobility.
So, if you’re seeking the best place to live in Portugal perhaps you need look no further.
As a town, Sintra is spectacular in its own right. Perched high in a hill and with its colourful castle, it has a fairy-tale feel which is hard to shrug off. It also has much to offer as a district too – not least a national park, some spectacular Atlantic coast beaches and a well-deserved reputation for fine dining.
Cascais is a little more convenient for would-be Lisboans who prefer to be a little closer to the city itself. However, the coastline community boasts a plush marina, the casino said to have inspired Ian Fleming’s first Bond novel and the beaches at Praia da Rainha and Praia da Conceimção.
The price
As you may expect from locations with such pedigree, prices for property in Sintra and Cascais can be a bit higher than elsewhere. For example, we have villas on our portfolio in Cascais at the moment ranging from €3.5m to €750,000.
But, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for and the standard of both new and resale property in the area tends to be exceptional.
Nevertheless, it is possible to acquire homes in the area for less, particularly for buyers happy to settle for smaller apartments rather than expansive detached properties with pools and gardens. If you’d like a closer look at the homes we have to offer, feel free to drop us a line or give us a call and we’d be happy to provide you with details of properties which match your criteria.
Homework
But, as we say to all our clients, nothing beats doing your homework (if you’ll pardon the pun). Although we can happily provide particulars, we’d always recommend some first-hand experience so, if you really do want to find the best place to live in Portugal for YOU, we’d urge you to book those plane tickets and experience Sintra and Cascais for yourself.
A week’s holiday and the right questions asked could be the first steps on an exciting adventure – and, of course, we’re here to help if you need us.
Other pages on our website also offer guidance and information on how to qualify for a Golden Visa in Portugal. Also, if you enjoyed this post and think others might find it useful, please feel free to pass it on.
You can also keep up to date with all of our latest news by following our facebook page.
