How Lisbon and Bali (Canggu) compare on cost, visas, working hours, weather, internet and safety. Every figure comes from our city guides and tools, checked and dated there.
Dollars and pounds at today's exchange rate. Download speeds are the typical figure from each guide, which says where it comes from: some are for the city, some for the whole country, so treat a small gap as no gap.
D8 digital nomad visa
The catch. The bar is four times the minimum wage, so it rises every January. And a partner can now join you only once you have held the permit for two years.
E33G remote worker visa
The catch. One Indonesian client breaks it, and since April 2026 immigration has been running patrols across Bali for people working on tourist visas.
See where your own income stands in every country. Check your income
A 9am to 5pm day in the employer's city, shown in local time, for today's date, so it allows for the clocks changing.
Different hours or another employer city? Use the time-zone planner
The average high in °C each month, coloured by the rule on our best-time page: green is a high of 20 to 32°C with under 150mm of rain; red is a high of 38°C or more or under 12°C, 250mm of rain or more, or 33°C or more with 150mm of rain or more. Hover over a month for its rain.
| City | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lisbon | 15° | 16° | 19° | 20° | 23° | 26° | 28° | 29° | 27° | 23° | 18° | 15° |
| Bali (Canggu) | 31° | 31° | 31° | 31° | 31° | 30° | 29° | 29° | 30° | 31° | 32° | 31° |
Lisbon: seasons and events · Bali (Canggu): seasons and events
Level 1: normal precautions
Level 2: increased caution
The US level is for the whole country, as the State Department sets it, and some countries have stricter advice for particular regions.
From each city guide, word for word.
You want a European base that works for a London or New York working day, you would rather eat in a tasca than a restaurant, and you are coming for at least a season rather than a fortnight. It rewards staying: the third month is better than the first, because by then you have a market, a cafe and a couple of people, and you are no longer paying tourist prices for anything.
You are on a tight budget, or you want to work from cafes all day. Lisbon is no longer cheap — rents have gone up faster than almost anywhere in Europe and you are competing with people earning in dollars. And it is not a laptop city: the cafes tolerate you, they do not want you. If you cannot afford a desk somewhere, you will have a worse time here than the internet suggests. Come for the winter and the flat will be colder than you think.
Remote employees of foreign companies earning USD 60,000 a year or more, who can get the E33G remote worker visa and want a big community of other remote workers. People who ride a scooter confidently and hold the licence for it, and who want surf, rice fields and yoga around a working week.
Anyone planning to freelance for Indonesian clients, sell anything locally, or make paid content on a tourist visa: immigration is patrolling Canggu, uses face recognition on social media, and deports. Anyone counting on a tax exemption no official source confirms. Anyone who will not ride but expects a Grab everywhere, because village councils run no-pickup zones in Canggu. And anyone who hates traffic: 622 people died on Bali's roads in 2024, most of them on motorbikes.
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