Royal Obidos Spa & Golf Resort Price From: €395,000 Region: Obidos - Silver Coast • Luxury development • 18 hole championship golf course • Superb Location	Vilamoura Golf & Garden Resort Price From: €515,000 Region: Vilamoura - Algarve • Five Star residential complex • 5 Minutes from Beach and Marina • Luxury Properties	Amendoeira Golf Resort Price From: €495,000 Region: Silves - Algarve • Luxury 3 / 4 and 5 Bedroom villas • Luxury 2 and 3 Bedroom apartments • Privileged Golf membership
Quinta do Vale Golf Resort Price From: from £888.500 Region: Algarve • free golf membership included • Severiano Ballesteros development • Luxury villas to highest specification	Fuseta Ria Resort Price From: from £148.500 Region: Algarve • Frontline sea views! • Top quality specifications • Off plan 30/70 payment terms	Tomilho´s Garden Price From: from £148.500 Region: Algarve • Small, luxurious & private • Superb location • Close to all leisure facilities
Colinas da Boavista Price From: from £151.500 Region: Algarve • Excellent property specifications • Spacious properties • 25 minutes from Faro airport	Marina Village Price From: from: £157.800 Region: Algarve • Seafront location • 5* prestigious development • 15 minutes from Faro airport	Alpinus Suites Price From: from £163.000 Region: Algarve • 5.5% Guaranteed Rental • Renewable ongoing contract • 60 days personal use
Baía Village Price From: from £184.500 Region: Algarve • Apartments with Sea Views • Five minute walk to beach • Excellent rental potential	Atlântico Plaza Price From: from £240.000 Region: Algarve • Impressively large apartments • Ideal for semi/permanent living • Central location	Residências Cerro Price From: from £296.000 Region: Algarve • 4 spacious townhouses • Communal pool and gardens • Full property management service
Condomínio do Pinhal Price From: from £339.230 Region: Algarve • Very spacious townhouses • Luxurious specifications • Private development	Fonte Santa Village Price From: from £392.000 Region: Algarve • Excellent property specifications • Only 12 townhouses • 275m2+ of living space!

Portugal

Property Portugal - Introduction 

Portugal is highly popular with tourists and overseas property investors, and it is easy to see why. The country’s rugged beauty, attractive climate and wonderful way of life combine to good effect, ensuring every visitor leaves wanting to return. Portugal’s location at the western edge of continental Europe has shaped its cultural and historical makeup like few other European nations. With a rich seafaring history, the Portuguese Age of Discovery in the 15th century brought great riches to the country, with Portugal’s Empire stretching far and wide and bringing much of the ‘New World’ to Europe. Today, Portugal has one of the lowest GDPs in Western Europe yet boasts one of the highest qualities of life in the world thanks to the clement climate and healthy lifestyle that is part of everyday Portuguese life. 

Lazy afternoon lunches sat opposite a peaceful harbour, watching today’s fresh catch be brought ashore; a leisurely round of golf set against a cloudless blue sky; fine Port enjoyed with friends on a balmy evening in the hills…these are just some of the images associated with life in Portugal; a lifestyle that is growing increasingly appealing for overworked and overstressed Northern Europeans. So much so that Portugal’s overseas property market is one of the largest and most well-developed in the world.  

The most popular location for both holidaymakers and property investors alike is the Algarve on the country's very southernmost stretch of coastline. Here, popular resorts such as Lagos, Portimao and Albufeira offer visitors fine dining, first-class sports facilities and five-star hotels interspersed with sandy beaches, concealed bays and dramatic cliffs.  

Lisbon – a beautiful and stately city defined by its hills, parks and giant squares – has all the attractions you'd expect of historical capital city, while Porto, further north, is Portugal's second city and every bit as picturesque. The stunning coastline, known as the Silver Coast, between Porto and Lisbon is now booming economically and is also extremely popular with overseas property buyers looking for low prices and high potential returns. 

Property Portugal - Geography and Climate 

Portugal is very much a country defined by its waterways, lying, as it does, between Spain to the north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south and west. The Rio Minho divides Portugal from Spain in the north, while the Tagus, on which Lisbon lies, splits the country both literally and figuratively. To the north of the Tagus, mountainous terrain is punctuated by river valleys; while the landscape to the south is much flatter. 

Portugal is one of Europe's warmest countries, with a Mediterranean climate and an average year-round temperature of around 16°C. However, like the terrain, the weather differs between north and south with the southern coastline being very similar to southern Spain, with mild winters and long, hot summers during which temperatures can reach 40°C. 

Property Portugal - Accessibility 

Although there are more than a dozen airports throughout the country, most carriers fly to just the three principal international airports: Porto which serves the north, Lisbon for the central region and Faro, which provides easy access to the south and the Algarve.  

In terms of low-cost airlines, Ryanair provides budget flights from Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Stansted to Porto, while easyJet, BMI Baby and Germanwings fly direct into Lisbon from London, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol and Birmingham. 

Faro is by far the busiest airport, however, with Globespan, Thomas Cook, Avro, Flybe, XL, Jet2 and Thomsonfly – plus all the other usual suspects – providing regular flights from 24 airports across the UK. Standard flight time is less than three hours. 

Property Portugal - Culture 

Although similar, in many ways, to other southern European cultures, the Portuguese have developed their own sense of identity and, central to that, is the national obsession with food and drink. If the Portuguese love seafood, then they are simply head-over-heels giddy about bacalhau – the dried cod that there are literally hundreds of recipes for. And what better way to wash it down than with a glass of local wine or, better still, a glass of port – the fortified wine made in the Duoro valley. 

Thanks predominantly to the Roman invasion and, later, the Age of Discovery; the country's main cities are teeming with historic and spectacular architecture, while Lisbon boasts Cristo-Rei – based on Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer – and the Expo area. 

Finally, there is the fado – Portugal's answer to Spain's flamenco. Slow, melancholy and performed with traditional instruments, it is a poignant reminder of Portugal's folk roots and, if you get the opportunity to witness a performance, it's one that shouldn't be missed. 

Property Portugal - Activities 

Although the Silver Coast and the area surrounding Lisbon both boast exceptional courses that are a delight for everyone, from amateur to scratch golfer, to play, the Algarve with its year-round sunshine and 20 top-class courses, is one of Europe's great golfing Meccas, with Vilamoura Old Course, Vila Sol and Quinta do Largo particularly popular. 

If you're not into putters and pitching wedges, the Algarve has plenty more up its sleeves. The usual attractions of swimming pools, beaches, theme parks and water parks combine with sailing, wind surfing, snorkeling and boat trips. Plus, like the rest of the country, the magnificent landscape and vast protected areas are perfect for hiking, mountain biking and horse riding. 

Having produced players of the quality of Ronaldo, Figo, Nani and Nuno Gomes, it's no surprise that Portugal is a country obsessed with its football. Porto, Benfica and Sporting are the biggest teams and watching a match in the Jose Alvalade, Estadio da Luz or Estadio da Dragao is an unforgettably Portuguese experience.