Coworking in Portugal - trying out the digital nomad thing.

Sun, sea, surf + sangria whilst working away is pretty much the dream right? This was what I seeked out to find in 2022 and had the best experience trying out the Digital Nomad thing in Portugal. 

After a stint working away in Bali, a longer trip away wasn’t possible so Portugal felt like the perfect place to go for many reasons;

• Plentiful spaces for coworking and digital nomad scene

• Places I’ve wanted to visit for a long time

• Same time difference

• Not too far from home & cheap to fly to

The country was decided but how about the locations? After lots of time spent Googling and asking around, it was visiting the Selina website that decided on the locations. Selina is a chain of accommodations around the world for travellers, digital nomads and I’d say more grown up backpackers (it’s not the cheapest of places). 

Selina has 7 different accommodations in Portugal; Ericeira, Evora, Geres, Lisbon, Milfontes, Peniche, Porto. I travelled in April 2022 and booked relatively last minute, so some of them were booked up. Lisbon and Porto were places I’d always wanted to go to so I got them booked in, then after some research Ericeira seemed a great place to work & surf - locations sorted!

Here’s my review of coworking, staying and exploring in Porto, Ericeira and Lisbon:

Coworking in Porto

Staying in Porto

Selina Porto wasn’t my favourite experience but I could see it being a hit for some. The location is decent in a lively part of Porto and walking distance to everything you need. 

I stayed in a private double room (the same in all 3x Selina locations), which in itself was just what was needed; clean, enough space, decent bathroom. 

It was just the noise that was the issue as all the rooms are located around the outside bar and seating area, where there was live music most of the time. 

The place itself wasn’t the best with limited communal areas, just the outside bit which I can imagine is nice in summer but was a wee bit cold in April.

I had high hopes for the library but it was just a bit of a didgy room in the attic. Noise would have been fine if it had felt like more of a social place, but as the bar was open to the public most people hanging out were not staying there. 

Working

Selina Porto has a great coworking space. A typical coworking space; some loud people who want everyone to hear their calls, busy booths all day for calls, then completely quiet in parts with nobody at all speaking. 

It was a nice space to work for the week. Not too sociable at the time I was there but there’s a Whatsapp group which after I left saw some meetups being arranged - typical!

The outside of Selina Porto Cowork - pretty impressive building

Inside pretty cool too

Exploring

I loved exploring Porto. Running on the river in the mornings was surprisingly enjoyable (for someone who isn’t a runner), walking through the historic town and eating some nice food. 

Coworking in Ericeira

Ericeira was a place I’d never heard of but one of my fave places that I’ve visited. A lovely little beach town in between a local place and a tourist spot. It also seemed to be a popular place for digital nomads and those making a more permanent move to Ericeira. 

Staying  in Ericeira

Selina Ericeira had a very different vibe to Porto. Definitely much quieter, in fact very quiet when I was there which suited me fine. I opted for another double room here, which was spacious enough with a private bathroom. 

The social communal spaces here were either the rooftop, which was a lovely place to spend some time on an evening then a small downstairs room and some outside space by the ‘pool’. Just a little infinity pool but it was nice to dip my toes in and read a book. 

The rooftop terrace at Selina Ericeira

The little pool for some quiet time

A double, private room with ensuite at Selina Ericeira

Working

My favourite coworking space from my time in Portugal was the Salt Studio in Ericeira. A welcoming space with a mix of permanent desks and coworkers for a day/week/month. It got quite busy whilst I was there so you need to book in advance. They arrange social events and having a dedicated manager onsite on the space helped to make it a social environment - a benefit over the bigger chains I felt. 

Salt Studio Ericeira

Exploring

I loved exploring Ericiera when I wasn’t working, walks on the seafront, a few runs around the cobbled streets, visiting the quirky shops and trying out some famous Portugal surfing. If coworking / digital nomading in a cool little surf town is your thing, then you wouldn’t go far wrong with Ericiera.

Coworking in Lisbon

Lisbon was high up my list of places to visit and it didn’t quite live up to my expectations to be honest, I think mainly because I was enjoying Ericeira so much. 

Staying

I stayed in the Selina in Lisbon again (The Secret Garden). This one felt a little strange and spread out. A mix of a hostel and American hostel vibe from the look of the lift and corridors. My room was on the street side and got quite loud with noise from a bar/club which I couldn’t for the life of my figure out where it was - underground maybe?! 

The room itself was fine, just like the others really. Clean, basic and a little more spacious than the others. 

I hadn’t spoken to anyone for a while so I was looking forward to the welcome drinks, assuming that this would be a social thing, organised by a host but it was just a free drink that you got from the bar on the rooftop. Not really a welcome drink! Well technically I guess it was - a first drink on arrival, could be classed as a welcome drink but would have welcomed company for it! A nice rooftop bar though. 

The only communal areas were by the swimming pool and the upstairs bar, so it didn’t feel very social. Might have just been when I was around and better in more peak season. 

Working

Selina Lisbon had a coworking space attached on site. It was a nice space to work but it was soooo busy. Barely any desks left so worked from a sofa for most of the day which isn’t ideal for your back when you’re over 30! There were a lot of spaces for permanent workers which I could imagine this being a nice space to use with a set space to work.

The space was nice as far as coworking spaces go though. Community wise there felt like there was more going on with coffee meet ups going on outside a few times - though this is very dependent on who is there, who organises things and the manager facilitating activities. 

Exploring

Lisbon is a great city. I didn’t do too much whilst I was there but lots of walking, going to cafes and walking on the seafront. I did some of the touristy things though and ate at the Time Out Market which albeit full of other tourists (shocking) it was very good and enjoyed the experience. As with any big cities there were a lot of run down places and I didn’t feel as safe as I did in Porto on an evening (female, alone walking back to a hostel on dark side streets). 

I did take a trip to Sintra which was a really easy journey to take from Lisbon. Just take the train direct from Lisbon (two options of train stations) to Sintra. Sintra was lovely, just what I’d expected from the photos and here’s my mini collection of my faves…

My overall experience with coworking in Portugal

I had a great time and love being able to take the advantage of the perks of self employment + combine working with travelling (a dream for me). Once I got onboard with the Selina hostels not being as social or inline with coworking / digital nomads as I thought, I enjoyed it more and embraced time on my own - as well as welcoming times I did meet people but it was few and far between to be honest.

The Selina hostels worked well for coworking, but I loved the experience in Ericeira at the Salt Studio was sooooo much better.

Everyone can have a different experience when working away in this capacity and it’s very much dependent on who is there at the time but as I found most importantly was to just enjoy the experience of working away in a different environment and taking in sunny Portugal and all the good stuff it has to offer.