Vacation Homes In Europe/ Prices Are Good

[THAIPHUKET]

For hot summers, Bloomberg on European vacation homes sounds really interesting:

http://goo.gl/RUuaE

Fundamental question to TV members who come from these quoted countries/ have extensive living experience;

Where would a senior man and his much younger wife more likely to be accepted,

more generally, where would you probably feel fine, whatever fine means?

[janverbeem]

I had a holiday home in Portugal for years before they joined the Euro.These are some of the kindest people I have ever met in Southern Europe.If you not a beach goer you can go to the North of portugal which has a subtropic climate,near Coimbra, and is much cheaper then the Algarve.

However immo is very expensive in Portugal,or at least was 10-15 years ago,compared to Spain or France as they are very regulated.

Went there again about 4 years ago and was in shock about the prices for consumergoods.

Should add that immo is very expensive in Algarve but not so upcountry.

[THAIPHUKET]

Here I found something about Ireland

I live in Cork City Ireland:

ACCOMMODATION PRICES:

I live on my own in the outskirts of town and I pay 550€ a month for a one double bedroom flat in a house that also offers garden and parking space. This is considered fairly cheap given that brand new flat would easily be rented at around 700- 750€ a month without charges. Everything in the flat is mostly electrical and I usually pay around 50€ for 2 months.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION (tube, bus etc ...)

I don't use them as I have car now. But here buses are like a total nightmare as they are never on time or they sometimes don't even stop. Buying a car is dear and getting it insured is even mor expensive. I bought a 2002 Yaris earlier this year and paid 9500€ with 21100 miles on it and i pay about 800€ a year for a full comprehensive insurance (1 year bonus).

FOOD PRICES

per week, I would easily spend 100€ between groceries shopping (Tesco), meat at the butcher and fish at the market. For quality food, you have to pay the price.

HEALTH PRICES

I usually avoid going to the doctor. They are very dear (50€ a visit) and they mostly are not good. I usually have a checkup whenever I go back to France.

RESTAURANT/ PUB

Again if you wanna enjoy a good night in a nice restaurant, you have to pay the price for it. I guess you can easily spend between 30- 50€ for a full course menu (starter/ main dish/ wine and dessert). Otherwise, you can spend about 10- 15€ for pub food.

TRAVEL

Traveling from Ireland is probably the worst thing here. It is really hard to find direct flights or you have to stick unaccommodating schedule.

This would a big minus!Here another one=

Ireland is expensive, although I suppose it depends on the part of the country you live in.

accommodation prices (how much does it cost to rent or to buy an accommodation in Ireland?) A great place to get ideas of rent and sale prices is: daft.ie

> public transportation fares (tube, bus etc ...)

Again it depends on where you are, the village where I live only has one bus a week to the main town and that is 5 euro return.

The train from Sligo to Dublin is 32 euro return.

> food prices(per month, how much does it cost you?)

It varies from month to month.

Two litres of milk (cheapest is 1.49) (dearest is 2.89), bread cheapest is 60 cent right up to 2 euro.

> health prices (for those who need medical insurance)Doctors fees are between 30-40 euro per visit

> eduction prices (if you need to pay) Education is supposidly free but books/uniforms aren't. It cost me 285 euro for my daughters secondary books last year, 20 euro for each school jumper, 45 for a school skirt.

> energy prices (oil, electricity) at the moment oil is 240 for 500 litres, electricity varies my last bill was 151 euro for six weeks.

> common bills (Internet, television, telephone, mobile phone) Some places still can't get broadband, so again it depends on the area. You can get mobiles phones pay as you go, tv is mainly sky (around 30 per month), in some places cable, no idea of cost.

> prices of a good menu in a traditional restaurant

Main courses from around 15 euro plus, starters 5 euro upwards.

> prices of a beer or a coffee in a regular pub

I don't go into pubs so don't know, but it's around 2.20 for a cup of coffee in a cafe.

[craigt3365]

We spent some time in Portugal and Spain looking at places to live before we decided on Thailand. We loved it there, but did find the cost of living to be quite a bit more (except for olives and wine!!!). Health care seemed to be an issue for us (US citizens).

I love the weather in Thailand. Hot, humid, rain and all. Not sure I could take Ireland. Wifey's cousin is there now and hates it.

We have traveled all over the world and have never had problems with our age differences. Other than the few times people would make references to my "daughter".

[THAIPHUKET]

I should clarify:

I call Thailand my home now but for the rainy season I was tempted by the Bloomberg article to do some brainstorming=

Given the lower prices it may make sense to buy some property. Prices will go up again, whenever.

Use the house for own vacations and rent it out the rest of the year. Too far fetched?

[THAIPHUKET]

As a start, I looked up Coimbra on the map.

[janverbeem]

I know I should have said central Portugal but I actually meant going North of the Algarve.I had a house in Moncarapacho Algarve but spent some time previous in the area near Coimbra .

Take a look here.

http://en.db-city.com/Portugal/Viseu/Santa_Comba_D%C3%A3o

http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Comba_D%C3%A3o

http://www.propertyindex.com/sublocation/holidaysales/Properties-in-Santa-Comba-Dao/37596/

[garyk]

Been to Portugal a few times. It sucks as a vacation spot, and for living quality life as an older citizen that is a joke.

The people are kn most of the time. But mostly it is boring and women are ugly. And ugly is being kind.

[Langsuan Man]

First things first

What is your nationality ?

As an American I was told in no uncertain terms by Dutch Immigration that I could only stay in the country visa exempt for 90 days and then would have to leave for another 90 days before I was allowed back in

There were no provisions for a "retirement" visa or permission to stay

They are able to control this via the "residency permit", want to rent an apartment; show your residency permit, want to get electric service; show your residency permit, etc.

[janverbeem]

Been to Portugal a few times. It sucks as a vacation spot, and for living quality life as an older citizen that is a joke.

The people are kn most of the time. But mostly it is boring and women are ugly. And ugly is being kind.

I guess every country sucks as a vacation spot in your case.To holiday it is neccessary to spend some money,and not every country has lady's available at a price for ugly old foreigners.,

[craigt3365]

I've traveled quite extensively...and been to almost every country in Europe. I thought Portugal was fantastic. We loved it there. Great countryside, interesting seafood, great wine, lovely places by the sea. Tough to beat.

If you're looking for younger ladies, I can imagine it would be tough. But outside a few countries in the world, that is pretty much the case.

Best of luck with your research! Please keep us posted on what you find.

[THAIPHUKET]

No visa issue, I am European, not looking for company, will bring along. Have been almost everywhere else, not in Portugal. Seems to be more tranquil, more down to earth, rustic than Spain and yet has culture, which I miss.

Here no city or village has it own character, all look samesame,samesame. But the rest I love dearly.