An Expat's Guide to Living in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal

Caldas da Rainha Thrives on Creativity

Caldas da Rainha is known as the Cidade Criativa, and there's a good reason for that. Within Portugal it's probably best known for its traditional ceramics - the louça das Caldas - and it’s out of that tradition that this city has become one of Portugal’s artistic hotspots.

Alongside the kitschy 19th-Century cabbage-leaf dishes, you'll find plenty of eclectic artists adding to the town's rich cultural scene. There's even a creative hub called Silos - so named because its 70-odd creative studios are built in what used to be a grain factory.

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Where to Live in Caldas da Rainha

Because Caldas da Rainha is quite a small city, the choices are simple - the city center, the outskirts, or the surrounding villages of Caldas.

Praça da Fruta & Parque Dom Carlos I

The Praça da Fruta - the Fruit Square where Portugal's longest-running daily fruit and vegetable market takes place - is the heart of Caldas da Rainha. Living close-by means you can simply step outside and do your shopping any day of the week.

Parque Dom Carlos I, which is just a street away, is another much-sought-after area. If you manage to find a place by the park, you'll have views of the natural beauty that stretches out along the city's south-eastern edge.

📍Before moving to Caldas da Rainha sight unseen, I recommend staying a few nights in a hotel or vacation rental to get a feel for the area. Consider booking a stay at:

• Budget Stay: Nova Delpa AL: Located just one minute from the fruit market, this simple hotel covers the basics at an affordable price.
• Mid-Tier Stay: 19 Tile Ceramic Concept: Enjoy a slightly more upscale stay at this quirky boutique hotel located right nearby the other.
• Luxury Stay: Artist’s Corner: Get more space at this 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom. While farther from the market, you'll be close to the train station.

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Other Towns on the Silver Coast

Just a short drive from Caldas da Rainha, you have:

• The medieval town of Óbidos
• Foz do Arelho and Peniche with their beautiful beaches
• Nazaré, famed for its record-breaking waves

There's plenty of traffic between those places and Caldas da Rainha, and of course, each has its own culture and community, with Caldas being the hub that connects them all.

Although not on the Silver Coast, Cascais and Setúbal are other smaller towns in Portugal that are great for expats.

Cost of Living in Caldas da Rainha

Compared to larger Portuguese cities, Caldas da Rainha offers a significantly lower cost of living. Rent prices for a two-bedroom apartment might be somewhere between €600 and €850, whereas buying might be in the €250 000 range.

Shopping at the fruit market is the most economical place for produce, and frequenting small local taverns can get you a hearty lunch or dinner for around €10. Plus, as a very walkable city, there are no transport costs!

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Visa Options for Foreigners

As a European passport holder, I'm lucky enough to have a golden ticket for living in Caldas da Rainha without issue. But if that's not your case, don't worry. Portugal is generally very welcoming to foreigners.

There are few ways to gain residency in Portugal, but the best way to start is to come in on a four-month residence visa. During those four months you'll need to apply for residency, which you can do as on a work visa, a digital nomad visa, or a passive income visa.

All these have contract, accommodation, or income requirements though so make sure you read the fine print!

I recommend looking into the D7, D8, and Golden Visa.

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Things To Do in Caldas da Rainha

For a relatively small city (around 35 000 people), Caldas da Rainha offers a lot of activities, in great part thanks to the local arts university which builds on the town's rich cultural heritage.

On any given day, I might start with a writer’s workshop in What The Folk cafe, attend a murder mystery party at Infinite Roll board games store, follow up with a life drawing class at CHOCA Arts House, and end my night at a concert in the Centro Cultural. There are even the thermal springs famed for their healing properties, which the town is named after (Caldas da Rainha translates to Queen's hot springs).

That said, most of these cultural events and activities dry up by nightfall, leaving the Caldas streets entirely empty. So if you're looking for nightlife, you might be disappointed; at least for most of the year...

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Caldas Late Night

This is by far my favorite thing about living in Caldas da Rainha. Back in 1992, students from the Polytechnic Institute (the local arts college) opened up their homes and studios to showcase their artwork to the general public. 

Since then, Caldas Late Night has evolved into a city-wide festival of arts, music, performance, and design which takes over the town for three days every summer. The best part about it? It remains entirely grassroots! It’s still organized by the students and is free to attend, making it one of the most interesting events the Silver Coast has to offer.

That said, if you’re looking for peace and quiet, you won’t get it during CLN, especially if you live in Caldas da Rainha's city center. Keep that in mind when you’re choosing a place to live!

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What I Wish I'd Known

Portugal, for all its sunshine and laid-back easiness, can be a tricky place to integrate. While Portuguese people are generally very friendly, it can be a struggle to break through the pleasantries and form real relationships.

The language barrier plays a huge role in that but luckily the local authorities offer subsidized language lessons. Learning Portuguese goes a long way in feeling more a part of the local community! It also pays to become a regular at Portuguese-owned businesses, and to have patience for the relaxed pace of life here. All part of embracing your new local culture!

Depending on your goals, I recommend these apps/platforms for language learning:

• Drops: Use the free version of this app for 5-minutes of vocab lessons a day. This is good for improving vocab but little else.
• Mondly: If you want to have a little bit more practice, this app is similar to Duolingo but has less silly prompts and more realistic phrases and sentences.
• Babbel: Babbel is similar to Mondly but also teaches cultural tidbits during the language lesson.
• iTalki: If you're more serious about learning to speak the language, this platform allows you to have 1:1 or group lessons with native teachers.

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Pros & Cons of Living in Caldas da Rainha

Pros

There really is a lot to love about living in Portugal, including:

• The weather - Unlike other parts of Portugal, the weather never gets unbearable in the hot summer months. In fact, it's regularly 10ºC cooler than Portugal's capital just an hour away!
• The people - As long as you make an effort with the language (and honestly, even if you don't) the people in Caldas have been friendly and welcoming across the board. It's a very easy place to live.
• The cultural scene - For a town this size, I feel like Caldas da Rainha is amazingly progressive and has plenty to do. It's not hard to find something you'll like.
• The pace of life - If you can get used to it, there's a lot to be said for the slower pace life integral to Portuguese culture.

Cons

But, as I mentioned before, it's not all sunny days. A few of the downsides you might face are:

• The weather - This all depends on your personal preferences of course, but while I love the mild climate, others struggle profoundly with the weather here. Especially the humid summers and wet winters. My advice? Invest in a dehumidifier and some mold spray.
• Lack of job opportunities - If you don't have a guaranteed source of income, you'll be hard-pressed to find a job here. Plus Portuguese wages are tough to live on, even for the locals.
• The language - Portuguese is an incredibly rich and nuanced language, but it's not the easiest to learn as an English-speaker. If you're expecting to pick up a few phrases and be done with it, you'll likely find yourself struggling.
• The bureaucracy - Getting anything done here is always more complicated than I expect, partly because of the language barrier, partly because I don't know what I don't know until it's too late, and partly because the system itself is rarely predictable. Be prepared to spend a lot of time in waiting rooms.

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Will I See You in Caldas da Rainha?

There's so much more to say about living in Caldas da Rainha, but if what I've already told you sounds good, maybe it's time to discover it for yourself!

Caldas fast became one of my favorite towns in the world, and as an avid traveler that's saying a lot. If, like me, you want the vibrant cultural scene of a bustling city with none of the stress, Caldas might be just the place you're looking for.