Moving to Lisbon for 3 months

Hi there,

I can't really help with the moving to Lisbon side of things, but I just got back from a couple of days there last night so if I can help with anything specifically city-related then I'll do my best to help What I would say regarding the commuting aspect is that if you are going to be travelling by metro I was slightly surprised at how infrequently the trains ran compared to London! Seemed to be every 5 minutes during the week, and even longer (up to 10 minutes!) at the weekend. Worth bearing this in mind, although I guess you'd get used to it (it may only have been a shock to me because I'm used to London transport!).

Belem was also stunningly beautiful and right by the River, so would certainly be a lovely place to live. As far as I recall, I don't think that area was particularly well connected to the metro, but was fine for buses and trams so again I suppose that's something to consider if you decide to live elsewhere.

Again, if I can help with anything else at all then just let me know I'm very jealous: it would be a lovely city to live in!

Thank you!

Haha, every 10 minutes even sounds pretty amazing to me- but I'm not used to city life at all. I've heard that the best way to get to and from Belem is by bus or tram, but that's okay; I guess my only concern is if I want to have a night out in the centre of Lisbon. But I'll be spending most of my time in the lab at the Champalimaud in Belem, so I *think* it's worth making the commute to work walkable since it will be daily...but perhaps I'm saying that because my current commute is a five minute walk so I'm used to being able to roll into work haha!

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it, though. Did most people speak English? I guess that's my only other concern; I really want to pick up as much Portuguese as possible but I'm starting with nothing so I'm a bit worried it might be a bit of a struggle.

Thanks again for your help!

Haha, fair enough. I'm used to the tube, where waiting 3 minutes seems a long time! And yes, I got the bus there but there were also trams running through the area. I wasn't really out particularly late, so can't really say how regular buses and trams would be if you were coming back from a night out, but I'm sure there are ways round these things!

And yeah, it certainly seemed as if most people spoke pretty good English (certainly those who were dealing with tourists). I think it would be sensible to try and learn as much Portugese as you can though: it certainly won't do any harm and I'm sure will impress the locals! If you know any basic Spanish at all, that might help when it comes to learning Portugese but don't worry if not

Have a good time!

I'm moving to Lisbon from July for a few months for work and was wondering if anyone had any advice!

My first difficulty is finding somewhere to live- I've found some nice places through AirBnB but I'm torn between living centrally (convenient for going out in the evening but a half an hour commute to work) or living in the Belem area (where my workplace is, so a shorter commute).

Does anyone have any other websites they recommend for room-hunting in Lisbon?

And any other general hints and tips for moving to Lisbon would be great! Thanks.

If you don't mind me asking is this as a result of working or how are you planning to afford this? Living in lisbon for a few months is a secondary dream of mine.

I'm currently doing a PhD and my funding body have an 'overseas institutional visit' scheme where they pay for the costs of going abroad to work at another institution for a few months to get experience working in another lab. I'm also in the fortunate position of being able to live rent-free when I'm not in my room (so I keep my room but if I'm not sleeping there for a few months I don't have to pay for it) which is also helping me be able to afford this, as I won't have to pay double rent.

I am very lucky to be able to do this (though funnily enough the choice of Lisbon itself was not my idea, but my supervisor's- not that I'm complaining!) but Lisbon does seem to be very cheap so, depending on the sort of work you do, it could be a possibility for you too!

Oh i see, that's pretty awesome, have a brill time (hoping you're not at the latter stages of your PhD)