My Conclusion: Canadians Should Bowl in Portugal

On Saturday my wife and I leave Portugal to go home to Toronto to await the Canadian spring. We have been here since the beginning of January. We rented a condo in Vilamoura in the Algarve- the southernmost region, on the ocean. We have played regularly at both the Vilamoura and Valverde lawn bowling clubs. Even though people who have spent more than ten winters here say that 2016 has been colder than normal, we can testify that bowlers who are comfortable in Canada playing in the early weeks of May or the beginning of October will find Portugal acceptable.

There are many properties for rent during these months and you shouldn’t have to pay more than 700-800 Euros per month with heat, water, electricity and internet access all included. It is really a renters market during these winter months. If you want to rent a car, get something on-line for a week or two when you just arrive and then investigate further when you get here. The prices quoted on=line are ridiculously high compared to what you can get with a bit of local help. When you are in Portugal, your landlord or people at the bowling club can connect you to better deals. Once again it is a renters market during these months. There will be plenty of cars available.

Food is cheap and restaurant food is great value. The supermarkets devote aisle upon aisle to Portuguese wines at amazing prices. Water is almost as expensive as wine!  Vilamoura has public bicycles at many locations. Ask your landlord to purchase cards to access the system and put money on them for you. I used one of these bicycles to travel from our condo to Vilamoura LBC, whenever my wife had other plans for the day.

In the Algarve, you absolutely don’t need to know any Portuguese language. Everyone you are likely to interact with speaks English- good English. At the bowling clubs you will be unlikely even to hear Portuguese or meet anyone who is Portuguese. English, Scots, Irish plenty- all the accents. The bowling competition is also quality. You won’t meet many novices here. If you also play golf well then you are truly in heaven. Actually Vilamoura devotes more space to golf courses than anything else. There are all kinds of places that rent clubs- even the first shop you see arriving at the Faro airport.

Finally you can use your location in Portugal to travel around; however, get a European GPS and program it not to use the toll roads. These government gouging devices are the relatively most expensive thing you will find in Portugal.

My wife and I found that the cost of the return flights Canada-Portugal-Canada was easily recovered from the much lower cost of everything else when compared to going to the southern USA so long as you stay 2-3 months. We have already arranged our accommodation to winter 2017.