Towns in Portugal for car-light living

218 of 801 towns in Portugal meet the published rule for car-light living: grocery stores on foot ≥ 3 and (nearest train station ≤ 1.5 km or nearest bus station ≤ 1 km).

See the ranking: best towns for car-free living Set your own priorities

What we measure for car-light living

Grocery stores on foot≥ 3Number of grocery stores within the walking radius of the town centre (straight line).
Nearest train station or Nearest bus station≤ 1.5 km or ≤ 1 kmEither one is enough. Straight-line distance from the town centre to the nearest train station or bus station (for a sea beach, its nearest edge; for the coastline, its nearest point).

Every condition must hold. The thresholds come from the published rule, which has no weights. See the methodology.

Towns that fit, and why

Lisbon67 grocery stores within a 15-minute walk and public transport close byLisbon area · 517,802 people
Porto98 grocery stores within a 15-minute walk and public transport close byNorte · 252,687 people
Braga53 grocery stores within a 15-minute walk and public transport close byNorte · 193,324 people
Amadora39 grocery stores within a 15-minute walk and public transport close byLisbon area · 178,858 people
Leiria22 grocery stores within a 15-minute walk and public transport close byCentro · 128,640 people
Setúbal25 grocery stores within a 15-minute walk and public transport close byLisbon area · 118,166 people
Queluz21 grocery stores within a 15-minute walk and public transport close byLisbon area · 103,399 people
Cacém14 grocery stores within a 15-minute walk and public transport close byLisbon area · 93,982 people

The 100 biggest of 218 towns that fit

#	Town	Grocery stores on foot	Nearest train station	Nearest bus station	Population
1	Lisbon Lisbon area	67	1.4 km	2.3 km	517,802
2	Porto Norte	98	0.3 km	0.7 km	252,687
3	Braga Norte	53	1.0 km	0.5 km	193,324
4	Amadora Lisbon area	39	0.8 km	3.6 km	178,858
5	Leiria Centro	22	2.3 km	0.3 km	128,640
6	Setúbal Lisbon area	25	0.2 km	0.6 km	118,166
7	Queluz Lisbon area	21	0.4 km	4.0 km	103,399
8	Cacém Lisbon area	14	0.1 km	0.1 km	93,982
9	Aveiro Centro	33	0.6 km	0.7 km	80,880
10	Vila Nova de Gaia Norte	19	0.5 km	2.2 km	70,811
11	Faro Algarve	27	0.8 km	0.9 km	70,347
12	Algueirão Lisbon area	23	0.2 km	2.4 km	66,250
13	Évora Alentejo	19	0.7 km	1.2 km	53,591
14	Corroios Lisbon area	19	0.4 km	4.8 km	52,520
15	Barreiro Lisbon area	11	0.4 km	1.3 km	51,280
16	Rio Tinto Norte	15	0.7 km	3.6 km	49,966
17	Figueira da Foz Centro	13	1.3 km	1.1 km	46,600
18	Ponte de Lima Norte	8	16 km	0.9 km	44,667
19	Sesimbra Lisbon area	7	16 km	0.2 km	41,134
20	Guimarães Norte	26	1.1 km	0.7 km	40,604
21	Guarda Centro	10	2.8 km	0.4 km	40,126
22	Ermesinde Norte	28	0.1 km	6.8 km	39,420
23	Santo Ovídio Norte	12	0.5 km	3.3 km	38,544
24	Portimão Algarve	36	0.7 km	1.0 km	38,487
25	Cascais Lisbon area	16	0.6 km	0.6 km	36,436
26	Viana do Castelo Norte	21	0.3 km	0.2 km	36,148
27	Oeiras Lisbon area	16	0.5 km	4.2 km	35,000
28	Beja Alentejo	15	0.6 km	0.7 km	34,760
29	Esposende Norte	13	13 km	0.4 km	34,625
30	Afurada de Baixo Norte	12	1.4 km	2.4 km	34,332
31	Lagos Algarve	22	0.8 km	0.6 km	33,494
32	Castelo Branco Centro	16	0.6 km	0.6 km	33,479
33	Espinho Norte	15	0.3 km	8.7 km	32,786
34	Montijo Lisbon area	11	7.2 km	0.2 km	30,011
35	Santarém Oeste e Vale do Tejo	15	1.3 km	0.3 km	29,385
36	Olhão Algarve	26	0.2 km	0.0 km	29,239
37	Póvoa de Varzim Norte	25	19 km	0.7 km	29,044
38	Marinha Grande Centro	11	1.3 km	0.1 km	28,916
39	Póvoa de Santa Iria Lisbon area	9	0.2 km	4.2 km	28,901
40	Gondomar Norte	16	4.4 km	0.9 km	27,691
41	Águas Santas Norte	7	1.5 km	6.5 km	27,686
42	Caldas da Rainha Oeste e Vale do Tejo	30	0.4 km	0.4 km	27,378
43	Canidelo Norte	7	1.1 km	4.1 km	26,431
44	Sintra Lisbon area	9	0.2 km	0.2 km	26,193
45	Paço de Arcos Lisbon area	13	0.2 km	5.6 km	25,974
46	São Mamede de Infesta Norte	8	0.3 km	3.8 km	25,940
47	Torres Vedras Oeste e Vale do Tejo	28	0.4 km	0.7 km	24,443
48	Quarteira Algarve	20	5.4 km	0.2 km	24,420
49	Estoril Lisbon area	19	0.3 km	1.9 km	23,700
50	Pinhal Novo Lisbon area	9	0.1 km	6.8 km	23,510
51	Monte Estoril Lisbon area	19	0.3 km	1.2 km	23,375
52	Arcos de Valdevez Norte	8	25 km	0.6 km	22,847
53	Moscavide e Portela Lisbon area	27	0.3 km	1.3 km	22,488
54	Portalegre Alentejo	9	11 km	0.4 km	22,368
55	Valadares Norte	6	0.7 km	5.8 km	22,322
56	São João da Madeira Norte	10	0.5 km	0.5 km	22,079
57	Lavradio Lisbon area	13	0.9 km	2.9 km	21,877
58	Bougado Norte	9	0.4 km	0.5 km	21,680
59	Azambuja Oeste e Vale do Tejo	6	0.3 km	12 km	21,422
60	Valongo Norte	9	1.0 km	6.4 km	21,328
61	Arouca Norte	4	21 km	0.8 km	21,146
62	Trofa Norte	11	1.0 km	1.1 km	20,692
63	Carcavelos Lisbon area	8	0.4 km	3.2 km	20,366
64	Entroncamento Oeste e Vale do Tejo	13	0.8 km	6.1 km	19,887
65	Paredes Norte	13	0.7 km	0.6 km	19,834
66	Monção Norte	3	1.2 km	0.8 km	19,738
67	Algés Lisbon area	22	0.5 km	0.4 km	19,327
68	Tomar Oeste e Vale do Tejo	13	0.5 km	0.4 km	19,168
69	Barcelos Norte	21	1.0 km	0.6 km	19,085
70	São Tiago de Custoias Norte	12	0.4 km	4.3 km	19,000
71	Ovar Centro	7	0.9 km	12 km	18,452
72	Vila Franca de Xira Lisbon area	10	0.3 km	0.2 km	18,355
73	Loulé Algarve	14	4.8 km	0.5 km	17,930
74	Moita Lisbon area	7	0.8 km	6.2 km	17,795
75	Sacavém Lisbon area	22	0.8 km	2.8 km	17,718
76	Covilhã Centro	14	0.3 km	1.0 km	17,610
77	Chaves Norte	7	59 km	0.6 km	17,535
78	Pombal Centro	16	0.2 km	0.2 km	17,355
79	Parede Lisbon area	13	0.4 km	0.5 km	17,212
80	Condeixa-a-Nova Centro	10	9.2 km	0.3 km	17,078
81	Vila Real Norte	19	16 km	0.6 km	17,001
82	Palmela Lisbon area	6	2.5 km	0.4 km	16,934
83	Fafe Norte	11	10 km	0.3 km	16,868
84	Cabeceiras de Basto Norte	4	27 km	0.2 km	16,710
85	Feira Norte	14	0.6 km	5.1 km	16,376
86	Leça do Bailio Norte	5	0.6 km	5.7 km	16,103
87	Alcobaça Oeste e Vale do Tejo	13	5.0 km	0.3 km	15,800
88	Peniche Oeste e Vale do Tejo	11	18 km	0.7 km	15,662
89	Tavira Algarve	20	0.6 km	0.4 km	15,133
90	Torres Novas Oeste e Vale do Tejo	11	5.9 km	0.6 km	15,002
91	Vilar do Paraíso Norte	6	1.4 km	4.8 km	14,727
92	Areosa Norte	15	1.0 km	3.3 km	14,500
93	Costa de Caparica Lisbon area	9	5.4 km	0.6 km	14,231
94	Valenza Norte	5	0.4 km	0.7 km	14,172
95	Santo Tirso Norte	10	1.0 km	5.8 km	14,021
96	Costa da Caparica Lisbon area	9	5.3 km	0.2 km	13,968
97	Abrantes Oeste e Vale do Tejo	13	1.4 km	1.3 km	13,646
98	Esgueira Centro	10	1.1 km	1.0 km	13,431
99	Alhos Vedros Lisbon area	8	0.4 km	4.8 km	13,384
100	Montemor-o-Novo Alentejo	9	17 km	0.2 km	12,854

Only values precise enough for a verdict are used. Regional values never count. Every town page says whether the town meets this rule.

Visit in more than one season before you decide

A town can feel very different from one month to the next. The month pages show the average high, low and rain days for each month.

What our data can't tell you

Residency and visa rules: check the official immigration service.
What a particular home costs: the rents and prices here are medians for the whole municipality.
Access to public healthcare as a foreign resident.
How a neighbourhood feels: visit, ideally more than once.

Questions about towns for car-light living

Which towns in Portugal suit car-light living?

218 towns meet the rule. The biggest are Lisbon, Porto and Braga.

What does a town need to be listed?

Every condition must hold: grocery stores on foot ≥ 3 and (nearest train station ≤ 1.5 km or nearest bus station ≤ 1 km).

Why is a town I expected missing?

A town is listed only when every value the rule needs is known and precise enough. Regional values never count toward a rule.