I traveled to Portugal a couple of weeks ago to complete the next steps in the process for securing my Portuguese Golden Visa, which will enable me to acquire residency and then citizenship in five to six years.
I’ve been working with a company called the Mercan Group to help facilitate this process, and they’ve been amazing. If you want to read more about how you could get a Golden Visa for yourself with an investment of as little as 280,000 euros (which you’ll have returned to you after you gain your citizenship), read this article for more information.
We also set up an exclusive offer for TPG readers to receive 2,000 euros off the cost of your legal fees (they’re typically 6,000 euros) by using the code BK2020.
Any affiliate revenue raised from TPG readers utilizing Mercan Group’s services is being donated to Rainbow Railroad, an organization that helps LGBTQI people escape persecution and even death. And I'm proud to announce we've made a donation of $100,000 to their efforts this week — thanks to all of you!
During my brief trip, I set up bank accounts, submitted my biometric information and finalized my investment in the forthcoming Renaissance hotel in the Lapa neighborhood of Porto. But, I also fell in love with the country.
Why Portugal?
Portugal’s Golden Visa program is best suited for my needs, as it’s one of the most generous in Europe.
The country is currently not open for tourism, but I had an invitation from my lawyers that allowed me to enter on official business.
I flew round-trip on board TAP Air Portugal’s Airbus A330neo in business class, which I booked using Aeroplan miles. While the seat was a little cramped I had great flights both ways thanks to great service and decent food.
I was only there for a few nights this trip to complete necessary meetings, but I’m already planning a trip back for the summer. Portugal is gorgeous — both its cities and the countryside — and it has so much to offer from food, culture, amazing wine and so much more at fantastically affordable prices.
I spent my time in Lisbon and Porto. A few days before I arrived, Portugal had reopened restaurants for outdoor dining as well as retail stores. People were out and about once again, though just about everybody was wearing a mask and leaving space between one another.
I stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon, which was definitely one of the more outdated Four Seasons properties around. It wasn’t bad, but my bathroom was straight out of the 1990s!
In Porto I stayed at The Yeatman, a member of the Relais & Chateaux collection of hotels. I loved my time in Porto — I spent time walking around the city and traversing the many walkable bridges over the Douro River that connect each side of town. I even had time to do a little exploring (not nearly enough, though) of the Douro Valley and Portuguese wine country.
I can’t wait to return to pay a visit to the Six Senses Douro Valley, the Algarve, the Cascais area and so much more.
Tip for visiting Portugal
Unfortunately, Portugal is not currently open for tourists.
However, things may be looking up. On Wednesday, the country’s tourism department signaled that it would be open to participating in the European Union’s Digital Green Certificate program, which would allow visitors from EU member states and the United Kingdom to enter the country without a quarantine requirement or additional COVID-19 testing.
At this point, it’s unclear if that slight opening would apply to American travelers, but I suspect if the U.S. continues to make impressive progress on the vaccination campaign and infection levels begin to fall again, the ban on American visitors may change soon.
If Portugal does open to American tourists again, I highly recommend that you add it to your post-pandemic travel wishlist. It has so much to offer any visitor: beautiful, historic cities; fabulous food and wine; stunning countryside and beaches and much, much more.
Here’s some further reading on the state of travel right now: Have a great weekend, everybody! |
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