We found a fantastic apartment to rent starting in February. We needed to have a rental for our visa application. We are in a neighborhood called Caxias in the Oeiras district, just west of Lisboa. It’s right on the train line that runs along the coast to Cascais.
Since we were selling our house in Massachusetts, we were advised to put on the market in the early spring. We didn’t have our visa application approval yet, but we needed to exit the house to allow for cosmetic fixups and staging. Where to live then? We decided to go to Portugal on a tourist visa and get our unfurnished apartment ready to live in. We arrived near the end of February.
Our building has seven condominiums. Our unit is owned by a foreign investor. It is modern with thick walls, sound-insulated windows, and a good energy rating — something to pay attention to when you’re looking for a property. The windows are wonderfully large. In the main rooms, they are double doors that can tilt in, or open wide.
The apartment is on the second floor (ground floor is zero in European counting). There are lovely views onto flowering trees and our neighbors’ gardens. There are narrow balconies at all the windows and a small balcony in a private nook for our clothes drying rack and our future café table and chairs. All the windows have electronic shutters that help with temperature management as well as privacy when you need it.