TL;DR: A recon trip done well takes 10–14 days, covers both Porto and Lisbon, visits schools during term time, looks at rental properties in the neighbourhoods you’re actually considering, and spends at least one full week living like a resident rather than a tourist. Done badly, it tells you nothing useful except that Portugal is nice in the sunshine. This guide covers how to do it properly — with a day-by-day framework, the questions to ask at each school visit, and what most families miss.
We did a recon trip before we moved. In hindsight, we did parts of it well and parts of it badly. The things we did badly — staying in the wrong part of the city, visiting schools without a list of questions, not talking to any other expat families — cost us real time and money after we arrived.
A recon trip is not a holiday. It’s a working visit with a specific job to do. The families who get the most from it are the ones who treat it that way from the start.
When to Go — and When Not To
Timing matters more than most families realise.
Go during school term time. This is non-negotiable if you have school-age children and are considering international schools. Schools will not show you around during the holidays, and the “feel” of a school — its community, its atmosphere, how children interact — is invisible when the building is empty. Portuguese school term runs September to June, with breaks at Christmas, Easter, and half-term periods. Avoid July and August entirely for school visits.
Avoid peak summer for the neighbourhood assessment. Porto and Lisbon in July and August are genuinely different cities — full of tourists, elevated prices, unusually warm. Foz do Douro in August tells you almost nothing about what Foz do Douro feels like in November. If you can only go in summer, go — but know that what you’re seeing is the best-case version of the city, not the year-round reality.
The best windows: late September to November, or February to April. You get term-time schools, real weather (Porto in November is wet — better to know this than to be surprised by it), and a realistic sense of daily life without the tourist overlay.
How Long You Actually Need
Most families book a week. Most families wish they’d booked two.
The minimum viable recon trip for a family seriously considering a move is 10–14 days. Here’s why: you need time in Porto, time in Lisbon (if you’re genuinely undecided on city), time for school visits in both cities if applicable, time to view rental properties, time to recover from the jetlag and tourist mindset and actually sit somewhere for a few days before you can assess it properly.
A week goes like this: two days adjusting, two days tourist mode, two days of actual useful assessment, one day travelling between cities. That’s not enough.
If you genuinely cannot take two weeks, prioritise depth over breadth. One city properly is more useful than two cities quickly.
Where to Stay — and Why It Matters
This is the mistake most families make. They book a central Airbnb or hotel because it’s convenient for sightseeing. They spend a week in the tourist centre of the city and leave with beautiful memories and no useful information about where they’d actually live.
Stay where you’re thinking of living. If you’re considering Foz do Douro or Matosinhos in Porto, stay in Foz or Matosinhos — not in the Baixa or Ribeira. If you’re considering Cascais or Alvalade in Lisbon, stay there. The point is to walk the streets you’d actually walk, shop in the supermarkets you’d actually use, find the parks your children would play in, and notice what the neighbourhood feels like at 8am on a Tuesday when it’s raining.
Airbnb and Booking.com both have good options in the family neighbourhoods. For Porto, search Foz do Douro, Matosinhos, and Boavista specifically. For Lisbon, search Alvalade, Campo de Ourique, and Parque das Nações depending on which area you’re considering. Book somewhere with a kitchen — you want to do at least some of your own cooking and shopping to get a real sense of the supermarkets, prices, and daily rhythms.
The School Visits: What to Do and What to Ask
School visits are the most important single item on the recon trip agenda and the one most families under-prepare for. Email schools at least 4–6 weeks before your trip — many have structured tour days, and popular ones (OBS, CLIP, St Julian’s, CAISL) get a lot of enquiries. Don’t assume you can just turn up.
Questions to ask at every school
- Waiting list reality: “Is there currently a place available in Year [X] for September?” Don’t accept vague answers. “We always have places” and “there’s usually availability” are not the same as “yes, there is a place for your child’s year group.” Press for specifics.
- How non-English-speaking children are supported: Even at English-medium international schools, children from non-English-speaking families need support. Ask what it looks like in practice.
- Staff turnover: High staff turnover is a warning sign at any school. Ask how long the current head has been in post, and how long the typical class teacher stays.
- What the typical family profile is: Long-stay expats or short-stay corporate postings? This shapes the community — high turnover of families makes for a less stable social environment for your children.
- Extracurricular availability: What happens after school? What sports, arts, and activities are on offer? For many families with active children this matters as much as the academic programme.
- The exam pathway: If your children are approaching GCSE or IB age, ask specifically which qualifications are offered, what the results have been in recent years, and whether there’s a sixth form. Not all international schools in Portugal go to 18.
- Fee structure and what’s included: Registration fees, annual tuition, lunch, transport, uniform, activities — get a total annual cost figure, not just the headline tuition fee. The difference can be 30–40%.
- For state schools: Ask whether there is a PLNM (Portuguese as a non-mother tongue) teacher, how many hours per week, and how many other non-Portuguese-speaking children are currently enrolled.
What to observe, not just ask
Ask to walk through the school during a normal school day if at all possible. Watch how children interact with each other and with staff. Notice whether the school feels calm or chaotic, whether there are children who look disengaged, whether the physical environment feels cared-for. These are things no brochure or website will tell you and they matter.
If you can, wait near the school gate at pick-up time and talk to other parents. Ask them honestly: how long have you been here, would you recommend it, what’s surprised you? Parents who’ve been at a school for two or three years will tell you things that the admissions team won’t.
The Property Viewings
Book property viewings in advance. Portuguese estate agents (imobiliárias) are generally responsive to enquiries from overseas — use the contact forms on Idealista and Imovirtual to identify properties and then email or call to arrange viewings during your trip.
Don’t just view properties you think you can afford — view one or two above your budget and one or two below. This calibrates your sense of the market quickly. A property that looks spacious on photos often isn’t. Portuguese apartments frequently have smaller rooms and lower ceilings than equivalent UK properties, and the natural light situation — how a flat faces, whether it gets afternoon sun — varies enormously and is impossible to assess from photos.
What to check during viewings:
- Heating: how is the apartment heated? Many older Portuguese properties have no central heating — electric panel heaters or air conditioning units for heat only. Ask what the electricity bill looks like in January.
- Hot water: is it instant or tank-based? Tank systems can be slow in large families.
- Internet: what’s the fibre situation? This matters enormously for remote workers. Ask the agent, then verify on the provider’s website — coverage is excellent in most urban areas but worth confirming for the specific address.
- Noise: visit at different times of day if possible. Ground floor flats in Porto can be noisy at night in areas near restaurants and bars.
- Storage: Portuguese apartments often have minimal built-in storage. If you’re shipping belongings, factor this in.
- School run: stand in the property and think through the school run. How far to the school? Is there parking nearby? Is public transport practical with young children at 8am?
You are unlikely to sign a lease on a recon trip and shouldn’t feel pressured to. The point is to calibrate what your budget actually gets you in the neighbourhoods you’re considering.
The Expat Community: Find Them
This is the part most families skip, and it’s arguably the most valuable thing you can do on a recon trip.
Before you go, post in the relevant Facebook groups — “Expats in Porto”, “British Expats in Portugal”, “Americans and Friends in Porto” — explaining that you’re visiting on a recon trip and would love to have a coffee with families who’ve made the move. You will almost always get responses. Expat families who’ve been through the same research process are generous with their time, partly because they remember how useful a candid conversation would have been before they moved.
Ask them: what do you wish you’d known? What would you do differently? What’s harder than you expected? What’s better? How long did it take to feel settled? What do your children think now, a year or two in?
One honest conversation with a family eighteen months into their Porto life is worth more than ten hours of online research. They will tell you things — about specific schools, specific neighbourhoods, specific bureaucratic headaches — that no guide will.
The Practical Errands: Do Some of Them
If you have time, do at least a few of the practical things you’d have to do when you move. Visit a Centro de Saúde and ask about SNS registration — you’ll get a feel for the process and the language barrier. Go to a Finanças office or the AIMA service centre and observe the queue. Try to do one errand that requires speaking Portuguese with no English fallback available. Not to complete anything formal, but to recalibrate your expectations of what the bureaucratic reality is actually like.
It’s easy to read about Portuguese bureaucracy and think “that sounds manageable.” Actually standing in a queue at a government office with a number and no certainty of when you’ll be called adjusts the picture usefully.
The Daily Life Test: Build in Ordinary Days
At least two or three days of your recon trip should have no agenda. No school visits, no property viewings, no tourist attractions. Just: wake up, make coffee, take the children to school drop-off time at the local escola (just to watch the rhythm of it), go to the supermarket, have lunch at a local tasca, go to the park, come home, cook dinner.
These days are the most revealing of the whole trip. They’re when you find out whether you find the pace relaxing or frustrating. Whether your children are excited by the novelty or anxious about the strangeness. Whether you and your partner have the same gut response to the place. Whether you can imagine doing this — not on holiday, but on an ordinary Wednesday in February — and feeling good about it.
If the answer to that last question is yes, that’s more useful data than any amount of research.
Porto vs Lisbon: Should You Do Both?
If you genuinely haven’t decided between the two cities, yes — do both. Porto to Lisbon by train takes about three hours (Alfa Pendular service, bookable on CP’s website) and costs €25–€40 per adult. Split your time: seven to eight days in Porto, four to five in Lisbon, or vice versa depending on where you’re leaning.
If you’ve already narrowed it down to one city — which most families have by the time they’ve done serious research — spend all your time there. Depth beats breadth on a recon trip.
→ See our full comparison: Porto vs Lisbon for Families: An Honest Comparison
A Suggested 12-Day Framework
This assumes Porto as the primary focus, with three days in Lisbon. Adjust to your situation.
| Days | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1–2 | Arrive Porto. Decompress. Walk Foz do Douro and Matosinhos. No agenda. Adjust to the pace. |
| 3 | School visit 1 (OBS or CLIP — whichever is your priority). Afternoon: walk the school’s neighbourhood properly. |
| 4 | Property viewings in Foz and Matosinhos. Three to four properties across your budget range. |
| 5 | School visit 2 (second school, or a Portuguese state school visit if that’s in your thinking). Coffee with expat family met via Facebook group. |
| 6–7 | Ordinary days. Shop, cook, park, café. Let the children lead some of it. Notice how you all feel. |
| 8 | Boavista neighbourhood — walk it, visit CLIP if not done already, property viewings if considering this area. |
| 9 | Travel to Lisbon (train — 3 hours). Afternoon arrival, settle in to accommodation in your target neighbourhood. |
| 10 | School visit in Lisbon (St Julian’s or CAISL if American curriculum). Neighbourhood walk. |
| 11 | Property viewings in Lisbon target area. Practical errands — Finanças, supermarket, local café. |
| 12 | Final morning in Lisbon — last look at the city, gut check conversation with partner. Travel home. |
Before You Go: The Preparation That Makes It Worthwhile
- Email schools 4–6 weeks ahead to book tour appointments
- Post in expat Facebook groups 2–3 weeks ahead to arrange coffee meetups
- Set up Idealista and Imovirtual alerts for your target areas so you arrive knowing the current market
- Contact two or three estate agents in advance to arrange property viewings — agents who know you’re visiting specifically are more likely to line up a good selection
- Download key apps: Uber (works well in both cities), CP (train tickets), Google Translate (camera mode is genuinely useful for menus and signs)
- Get a local SIM card at the airport on arrival — a Portuguese number makes it significantly easier to arrange viewings and meet people
- Bring your children’s school reports to school visits — admissions teams sometimes ask for them
What Most Families Get Wrong
- Staying in the tourist centre and never seeing the residential neighbourhoods where they’d actually live
- Visiting schools without questions prepared and coming away with brochure information they could have found online
- Not talking to any existing expat families — the single most correctable mistake
- Going in summer and experiencing the best-case version of everything
- Treating it as a holiday with the recon bolted on, rather than a working trip with some enjoyment built in
- Not testing the school run — standing at the property and actually thinking through the logistics of 8am with two children and school bags
- Leaving without a clear yes/no — the recon trip should end with a decision or a clear list of what information is still missing before a decision can be made
The Question the Trip Should Answer
Not “is Portugal beautiful?” You already know the answer to that.
Not “could we live here?” Almost anyone could live anywhere for a year.
The question is: can we imagine doing the ordinary, unglamorous parts of this — the school run in the rain, the bureaucratic queue, the supermarket on a Thursday evening, the winter when the novelty has worn off — and still feeling like this was the right decision?
If you come back from the recon trip and the answer is yes — not enthusiastically yes, just a quiet, grounded yes — that’s the signal to move forward. That’s what a good recon trip is for.
School contact details, train prices, and property market conditions change. Verify current information directly before your trip.
Planning the move seriously? Our free family relocation checklist covers everything from visa timelines to your first 30 days on the ground — a useful companion once the recon trip has given you the green light.