On your first morning, you walk into a neighbourhood café, ask for "a coffee, please" and get a short espresso in a scalding cup, set on the counter before you have even finished your sentence. Nobody warned you, but you have just learned your first code. Living in Portugal is a series of small unwritten rules that the Portuguese apply without thinking and that newcomers discover one blunder at a time.
Here are the 25 codes we wish we had known before moving to Portugal, grouped by theme.
Coffee and meals: what are the codes at the table in Portugal?
1. A "coffee" is an espresso
In Lisbon, you ask for a bica; in Porto, a cimbalino; everywhere, um café will do. Expect to pay about €1 at the counter in 2026, a little more in tourist areas. For a milky coffee, ask for a galão (served in a glass, very milky) or a meia de leite (half coffee, half milk, in a cup).
2. Coffee is drunk standing up, and quickly
The counter is the heart of the Portuguese café. You drink your bica in two sips, with a pastel de nata if the day deserves it, and off you go. Sitting on the terrace is possible, but some places then charge a slightly higher price.
3. Lunch is a proper meal
Between half past twelve and 2 pm, neighbourhood restaurants fill up with office workers having the prato do dia, the dish of the day, often with soup, a drink and coffee. It is one of the best deals in the country. Meal times in Portugal are regular: turn up at 3 pm in a small town and the kitchen will often be closed.
4. What arrives on the table is not necessarily free
Bread, butter, olives, a small cheese: this is the couvert, and you pay for it. You can politely refuse it as soon as it is set down (não, obrigado). If you touch it, it will appear on the bill.
5. Dinner is late, but not Spanish late
Dinner is eaten around 8 pm, a little later in summer. Nothing like the 10 pm dinners of Madrid, but arriving at 7 pm will often get you an empty dining room.
6. Tipping stays discreet
There is no obligation. People round up, or leave a few coins if the service was pleasant. At a café counter, nobody expects one.
How do you stay polite in Portugal without putting a foot wrong?
7. Bom dia, boa tarde, boa noite
Bom dia until lunch, boa tarde in the afternoon, boa noite as soon as it is dark. You say hello when you walk into a shop, in the lift, at the doctor's. In Portugal, forgetting the bom dia is the most common breach of etiquette among foreigners.
8. Obrigado or obrigada, depending on who is speaking
Thank you agrees with the person giving thanks: a man says obrigado, a woman obrigada. The Portuguese notice it immediately and appreciate it when you get it right.
9. Be formal with "o senhor" and "a senhora"
Você exists, but it can sound curt, even rude, depending on the region and the age of the person you are talking to. People address each other in the third person: A senhora deseja mais alguma coisa? ("Would madam like anything else?"). Titles matter too: a graduate easily becomes senhor doutor, an engineer senhor engenheiro.
10. Two kisses, from right to left
Between women, and between men and women, people give each other dois beijinhos, two little kisses on the cheek. Between men, a handshake, sometimes a hug. With a stranger in a professional setting, a handshake is enough.
11. Whatever you do, do not start in Spanish
The two languages look alike on paper, not to the ear, and the comparison is irritating. A few words of Portuguese, even clumsy ones, open every door. Many Portuguese people, especially in families who emigrated to France, also speak very good French. To go further, our article on how to learn Portuguese gives you the methods that work.
Paperwork: how do you survive the red tape when living in Portugal?
12. "Contribuinte?": your NIF follows you everywhere
At the supermarket checkout, at the pharmacy, at the restaurant, you are asked whether you want your tax number on the receipt. The NIF is also needed to sign a lease, open an account or take out a contract. It is the very first step; our guide to getting your NIF in Portugal explains it step by step.
13. The senha, the little ticket that rules everything
At the Finanças (the tax office), at the Segurança Social, at the supermarket butcher's counter: you take a numbered ticket and wait your turn. Priority queues are compulsory for elderly people, pregnant women, people with disabilities and adults with a small child.
14. Without a marcação, you get nowhere
Many public services work by prior appointment, the marcação. Slots go quickly: you sometimes have to try several times. Always keep paper copies of your documents: you will be asked for them.
15. The Loja do Cidadão brings several counters together
The "citizen's shops" bring state services and private operators together under one roof. Practical, but very busy: go early, with patience and a book.
16. The Multibanco also pays your bills
The Portuguese cash machine does much more than hand out notes: it lets you pay for water, electricity or a fine using an entidade and a referência printed on the bill. The whole system is explained in our article on paying in Portugal, between Multibanco and MB Way.
Home and recycling: what changes in daily life?
17. Winter is spent indoors… and it is cold
This paradox surprises every newcomer: you are often colder at home in Portugal than in Belgium. Many older homes have neither central heating nor good insulation, and damp sets in quickly. A dehumidifier (desumidificador) is an essential purchase.
18. Laundry dries at the window
The estendal, the clothes line fixed under the window, is part of the landscape. Tumble dryers are rare. Mind your pegs: anything that drops down to the neighbour below is retrieved by ringing their bell.
19. The ecopontos and their three colours
Recycling in Portugal goes through street containers, the ecopontos: yellow for plastic and metal packaging, blue for paper and cardboard, green for glass. You will also find collection points for batteries (pilhão) and used cooking oil (oleão).
20. Rubbish goes out on the street
In many neighbourhoods, rubbish bags go into large shared containers on the pavement, sometimes at times set by the town hall. Ask your junta de freguesia (the parish council): the rules change from one municipality to another.
21. Tap water is drinkable
It is safe to drink in towns and cities, even if its taste of chlorine pushes many families towards 5-litre bottles.
At what pace does life move in Portugal?
22. Portuguese time is elastic… except at the town hall
A dinner with friends at "8 pm" rarely starts at 8 pm. On the other hand, a medical appointment or an appointment at a counter you have been summoned to starts on time, and you are the one who will wait. The Portuguese mentality fits into one word, desenrascar: to get by, to find a solution at the last minute. It is sometimes irritating, it often saves the day.
23. Sunday belongs to the family
The big Sunday lunch lasts for hours. Shopping centres and supermarkets are open, but small shops in medium-sized towns often close on Saturday afternoons and Sundays, and sometimes at lunchtime on weekdays. For your shopping, our guide to supermarkets in Portugal covers opening hours.
24. There is always a duty pharmacy
In the evening and at weekends, a farmácia de serviço stays open on a rota. The list is posted on the door of every pharmacy. For medical advice, the SNS 24 line (808 24 24 24) answers day and night, and 112 remains the emergency number.
25. The calçada is slippery in the rain
The pretty white and black cobbles of the calçada portuguesa turn into an ice rink on the first rainy day, especially on the steep streets of Lisbon and Porto. Smooth-soled shoes end up at the back of the cupboard after the first winter.
Living in Portugal: where do you start in your first week?
There is no need to remember everything at once. Portuguese customs are learned by practising: a bom dia as you walk in, an obrigado with the right ending, a bica at the counter, and the local café will have adopted you within a fortnight. For the paperwork, start with the NIF: the rest will follow.
What makes life pleasant here often comes down to these details: patience at the checkout, a chat with the stallholder at the market, a lunch that takes its time. What irritates – slow counters, cold houses – ends up becoming part of the scenery. Perhaps that is what living in Portugal really comes down to: accepting that not everything works the way it does back home, and discovering that some things work better.