How Lisbon and Madeira (Funchal) 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.
Rent, a coworking desk, a cheap lunch on each of 22 working days, and getting around: the same four costs our budget calculator uses. The rent figures aren't always the same kind of figure (some are furnished one-beds, some are averages across every size of flat), so read the note under each.
$1,490 to $2,520£1,120 to £1,890 a month
$1,200 to $2,600£898 to £1,950 a month
Both are in Portugal, so the rules are the same.
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.
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° |
| Madeira (Funchal) | 20° | 20° | 21° | 21° | 22° | 24° | 25° | 27° | 27° | 25° | 23° | 21° |
Lisbon: seasons and events · Madeira (Funchal): seasons and events
Level 1: normal precautions
Level 1: normal precautions
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 workers who want UK time, a mild island and people to meet without having to find them. The Ponta do Sol Nomad Village gives you a free desk, a Wednesday lunch and a Friday party. In Funchal a coworking desk costs EUR 150 to 160 a month. Non-EU earners clearing EUR 3,680 a month after tax get a D8 that renews, and pay Madeira's lower regional income-tax rates once they are tax resident.
Anyone expecting cheap Portugal: Funchal one-bed listings ask up to EUR 1,850 a month, with a median of EUR 1,400. Anyone set on living in Ponta do Sol or Calheta, which have almost no long lets. Anyone who doesn't want a car or steep hills, or who will tire of a small island within a few months. And anyone moving for citizenship: since 19 May 2026 it takes ten years for British and American residents, and since late 2025 a partner usually waits two years to join you.
Most visas want health cover for the whole stay. Compare nomad health insurance · Build your trip checklist