Source
r/PortugalExpats•
virtuallymixed

Small city, lots of traffic?

Hi! I want to buy an apartment in Portugal to basically emigrate here and was invited to stay here for a week before I make the decision. Everything is nice, even perfect, huge balcony, fitting price for what is offered, I love the people here, so down to earth and friendly what I'm really missing in my home country. All is perfect for me except for one thing: The apartment is located next to the main road and basically every car driving in or out of the city drives by and it kind of makes the nice balcony less nice. The city is not big at all, 3500 inhabitants, a mountain city in the middle of the country, again perfect for me. But basically every other minute, or at certain times more a car zips by and you can hear that one car for around 10-15 seconds quite loudly because of how the street layout is made and the apartment is placed. The seller said after the summer there will be much less traffic, because now people are visiting their families, going out on vacation, etc. And my buyer agent says this happens all over Portugal. I have only been to quite resorts up until now so I ask myself: Is this true, will there really be a significant traffic decrease after the summer? Is this a thing in Portugal, even with relatively minor mountain cities with some even smaller towns in its vicinity? If yes, what kind of reduction can I count on? All my life I stayed at quite places in Germany and the Netherlands so this traffic situation really is new to me. I would really love an answer from a native. Thank you so much in advance!

Posted Jul 18, 2023, 1:30 PM UTC

138
Aruk22•

In my humble opinion in the interior traffic tends to be higher in summer in the interior of Portugal just because the share amount of immigrants we have out there that come to see friends and family mostly in July, August and September. So you might not ear much of difference in that specific road probably.

But you can always upgrade windows and walls to be sound proof and even transform the balcony in a marquise maybe(?).

Any way, hope you feel comfortable enough to live here.

Cheers.

1
virtuallymixedOP•

No, inside there is nearly no noise, it's the balcony atmosphere that suffers from the traffic. How do you mean marquise? I am already looking for soundproof barriers to shield off some of the noise.

1
raviolli_ninja•

You seem heavily invested in having a quiet ambient around your home. I'd pass on this particular opportunity and try to find another one that better fits your needs. Otherwise, you'll end up frustrated. Better safe than sorry. And remember: your realtor will say whatever to unload the property to you.

3
virtuallymixedOP•

Hi, thanks, well yes, especially as I have never lived near such amounts of traffic - which of course isn't even Porto or Lisbon. But some also say you get used to it eventually? No idea whether that's true. Or better yet true for me. But we looked so long for this and everything else fits so nicely...... always gotta be some catch I guess huh 🤷

1
ihavenoidea1001•

Could you maybe rent that place for like a year before commiting to buying?

Then you'd know for certain how it is like to live there for an entire year and you'd be in a better position to judge if it actually suits you or not.

1
Aruk22•

Apparently is called marquee, basically seal the balcony.

2
virtuallymixedOP•

Yes, I'd rather not. Currently, I'm hoping for the traffic decrease outside of summer. My wife and daughter love it, even though they have to learn Portuguese and aren't as keen on learning other languages as I am. I'm pretty sure I'll pick it up quickly. However, as an auditory learner, I tend not to filter out many sounds, which exacerbates the issue with the traffic noise again as my theory goes..

2
Pinhal•

“Auditory learner” 😄 Spoken Portuguese is immensely difficult to manage so at least you can look forward to hours and hours of headphones on blocking out the traffic noise as you ask yourself WTF did they just say? Not that they speak Portuguese in the mountains, its Guardense or something.

But srsly, don’t buy a flat that’s in a sound tunnel. Even if you get down to 10 vehicles per hour in February, one of them will be a moped that takes 10 minutes to come and go and peaks at the same noise as a F16.

No shortage of property for sale in that area and it will take you a year to fully explore it so rent and take your time.

1
VerityasDragon•

Yes, you are not being lied too. The interior is almost empty during the year except in summer, due to a lot of portuguese native population working outside of Portugal and coming back to enjoy the summer here.

I won't guarantee 0 traffic, but expect a 40-60% reduction once summer is over

1
virtuallymixedOP•

Thank you very much, good to know.

1
RezaJose•

Hello,

Could you be less cryptic on the location?

That would help us provide you with focused feedback instead of a generic response.

1
virtuallymixedOP•

Hi, sure the apartment is in Manteigas and my parents checked into a hotel in Gouveia and report the same. So both I think in Guarda region.

1
NanaC24•

Manteigas sees lots of traffic during the winter months, when it snows in Serra da Estrela.

2
virtuallymixedOP•

Hi thanks, but natives also said it doesn't snow a lot anymore? Which isn't necessarily a good thing I guess but well, at least in this case not only negative.

1
Suofficer•

Natives?

1
PedroMFLopes•

Yeah in the summer months you get the wanna be racers migrants showing of on the streets.

Manteigas will have less Traffic on the other seasons.

See if there is no other offers not on a main road.

And most likely the road surface Is cobbled stonned even more tire noise.

Other tip, on the main side of manteigas you Will have a alot less sun time than on the other side of the mountain in front

1
RezaJose•

Manteigas is as calm as you will ever get. Too calm for my taste. I grew up in the region :)

And if you are looking for something bucholic you have a great deal.

There will be some seasonal dynamics as mentioned by other users.

Go for it!

1
lestat01•

I'm from a small town up north (2k people) and I'm one of those people coming back in the summer months. August will be much worse than now.

Now it's hard to tell you details without knowing where you are but usually small towns in Portugal are built along a main road, meaning there are mainly 2 ways in or out of town. That road will calm down out of the summer months but will always have a reasonable amount of traffic. If it's a national road not only you get the traffic of those 3 and a half thousand people you get everyone from the towns around driving to and from anywhere.

Additionally I can tell you from experience that people that work in agriculture get up with with the sun and don't care a single bit about not making noise because it's 6am. Also 30 year old pick up trucks are very noisy and are plentiful. So are tractors if you're unlucky.

Hope you have a good time.

1
virtuallymixedOP•

Thanks good to know. Ok, August will be worse. And from where do you come back to Portugal from if I may ask? Spain or much more further out?

1
kUr4m4•

Most will come from France and Switzerland

2
Cojemos•

This is dishonest, "my buyer agent says this happens all over Portugal." My experience with agents here (finally gave up) was that they never listened to what I wanted. Always taking me to a property they need to unload hoping I'd be that one person. Do agree that summer could be influencing the amount of traffic, but can most certainly be similar in other seasons. Invest in what will make you happy. They're will be other frustrating issues to deal with.

1
virtuallymixedOP•

In this case we pointed her to the apartment while we were still in the Netherlands. But we also know she is anxious to get paid......

1
Cojemos•

I see. My experience with the agents was unpleasant to the point I decided to rent. Lost trust in the process.

2
Cherino3•

It’s a Portugal thing. I live in the central region in a small village on a small street. Cars and motorcycles are constantly zipping by here.

1
virtuallymixedOP•

I understand. And is that much worse in the summer? By how much, can you quantize it?

1
raviolli_ninja•

It won't make any noticeable difference.

1
kUr4m4•

Depending on the city, it will absolutely make a huge difference. Compare traffic in the Algarve between the summer and other seasons, its like day and night. Same with town where a huge portion emigrated abroad like Figueira da Foz or smaller towns in the interior north. Traffic can drop by as much as 90%.

1
luckynar•

Population of small villages can double in August in certain parts of the country. Guarda is one of them.

1
ZaGaGa•

Traffic noise (and worse the traffic air pollution) is a very common well known problem in Portugal. It's somehow more common to have problems with 2 cilinder motorbike waking everyone in small towns in the middle of the night than in the cities.

1
gybemeister•

This is simply not true, there many, many places that have very few cars going by and there are also thousands of cul-de-sacs with no car noise at all. Keep looking for a better house and go see other agents as that one is set on a quick sale, not on you finding the house you need.

I once lived in a place like you describe but in London and it was terrible. I quickly moved and spent many years living in big cities after that without the same problems just by being careful in choosing the location.

1
Nexus_produces•

The interior of the country, specially small villages and towns, usually have a lot more traffic during the summer (and specially late july and all of august) since that's when all the avecs come back from their jobs in a french speaking countries for vacation.

You can spot their car by the foreign plates or the symbol of the portuguese football federation in vinyl (like so: https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vJ6vn60eIyQ/UD81GWIPmAI/AAAAAAAACrc/u9b_1VU4lXw/s1600/DSC06656.JPG)

1
Old-Change-9555•

There are some amazing quite places here, sometimes way to much insolated, no much to do around,extremely quite..but that's depends..for some people is a good thing ,not for others.. there are 700.000 houses empty in Portugal and 1.2 Millon in Spain..I could go on, don't let me started with Croacia and that beautiful beach cheap houses . Mate if you have second thoughts..just keep looking ,you may find your perfect place. ;)

1
TheNight-Watcher•

If you don't like it, don't come. Simple.

If you don't come is one less car zipping around. Perfect.

1
shanksta1•

being on a main road was ok for me at first. but little by little it chiseled away at my patience to the point that I couldn't stand it.

I moved and am now in a much quieter place but city's a city.. sunday is motorcycle day when the weather's good

1
virtuallymixedOP•

Hi, thanks! Was there also a seasonality involved or was it kind of constant? Big or small city? And the place you moved to, was it so much smaller than what I'm describing or why is it so much less noisy?

1
shanksta1•

it was pretty much constant. I was close to a tram line and bus stop, near an intersection. big city but elsewhere in Europe. I couldn't hear the tv well with the window open when the street was wet, I watched with subtitles.

now in Porto, "big" city in relative terms. Still in the city, still cars going by but nothing like before. I'm not on a main road anymore. Being just a couple blocks from one makes a huge difference. Quality of life is so much higher.

I see lotsa apartments with balconies towards a main road and never ever see anyone sitting there. I see them used more for storage than anything else. Must be the noise.

1
[deleted]•

[removed]

1
Global_Chocolate7008•

I hear you but I think your only option is moving to a more secundary area without a main road or just get used to it. That should be a very quiet area, honestly... But you can always drive around and see if a nicer place shows up. Ofc there are many "ghost towns" more to the inside but you're gonna lose so much quality of life

1