Retiring in Lisbon from Australia: costs, the D7 visa, hills and health care

Who Lisbon suits, and what to weigh up

Lisbon is a capital with mild winters, a metro and the Australian Embassy down the road. January days average about 15°C on IPMA’s figures for the city, and the metro’s red line runs to the airport. Portugal has a social security agreement with Australia, and the D7 visa’s income test is set at the minimum wage, below what the Age Pension pays overseas.

Rent is what stretches the budget. On our estimate a month in Lisbon costs a couple about A$6,090, more than our figures for the Algarve or Madeira. Smartraveller also says AIMA, the immigration agency, has a large backlog of residence permit applications.

The hills are the other thing to weigh up. Wikivoyage says Lisbon is built on seven hills, with cobbles that are slippery when wet, so where you live inside the city matters.

What a month costs

A month in Lisbon costs about A$6,090 for a couple and A$4,770 for one person, rent included. That’s our estimate from Numbeo’s Lisbon figures, updated on 15 October 2026, the same figures as our Portugal page. Numbeo was closed to us for a fresh look on 26 October 2026, so we’ll check it again after 1 November 2026.

We took Numbeo’s living costs for one person (without rent), added a one-bedroom city-centre rent, then added 30% for eating out, local trips and extras. For a couple we multiplied the living costs by 1.8. Everything is converted at the Reserve Bank of Australia’s average exchange rate for the 12 months to September 2026 (A$1 = 0.5957 euros). Health insurance is not included.

A month in Lisbon	Couple	One person
Rent, one-bedroom flat in the centre	about A$2,390	about A$2,390
Living costs (food, transport, bills)	about A$2,290	about A$1,270
Eating out, local trips and extras (30%)	about A$1,410	about A$1,100
Total	about A$6,090	about A$4,770

How a month in Lisbon compares

For a couple

Lisbon, our estimate

A$6,090

Comfortable in Australia

A$6,580

Age Pension, the most paid in Australia

A$4,040

About A$490 a month less than a comfortable month in Australia.

For one person

Lisbon, our estimate

A$4,770

Comfortable in Australia

A$4,680

Age Pension, the most paid in Australia

A$2,680

About A$90 a month more than a comfortable month in Australia.

Not built the same way: Australia's figure (ASFA Retirement Standard, comfortable, June quarter 2026) assumes you own your home and includes health insurance; our estimate for Lisbon includes rent and leaves health insurance out. Age Pension: the most paid in Australia from 20 September 2026; living overseas for good, the base rate is about A$3,710 a month for a couple and A$2,460 for one person.

Each row and the total are worked out separately and rounded to A$10, so one person’s rows add up to A$10 less than the total.

A flat costs a lot more here than on the Algarve. Numbeo puts a one-bedroom flat in central Lisbon at 1,425 euros a month (about A$2,390), against about 912 euros (about A$1,530) in Faro, the base of our Algarve page. Short furnished lets usually cost more than long-term rent. Our guide to what retiring overseas really costs sets other places side by side.

Against the Age Pension. After 12 weeks away, the most the Age Pension pays is the base rate. That’s about A$2,460 a month for one person and A$3,710 for a couple, before tax (from 20 September 2026). On our estimate the base rate falls short of a month in Lisbon by about A$2,380 for a couple and about A$2,310 for one person, before health insurance.

What costs more than you’d expect. Health cover, which our estimate leaves out and AIMA asks for. Heating, too: our Portugal page has the figures on cold homes in winter. And flights: there’s no non-stop flight from Australia.

Renting long term. Portugal’s Civil Code caps a deposit at two months’ rent. If you apply for residence, AIMA asks for a declaration from your landlord confirming your address.

Visas for Australians

Visiting. Lisbon follows Portugal’s rules, and Portugal is part of the Schengen area. Smartraveller says Australians can stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole area, so days elsewhere in Europe on the same trip count too. The Entry/Exit System (EES) takes your fingerprints and photo the first time you enter, at no cost, and Smartraveller warns of delays at airport border crossings.

Staying longer. Portugal’s D7 visa is for people living on passive income such as a pension, and it has no minimum age. A government order sets its means test at the minimum wage: 920 euros a month for one person in 2026 (about A$1,540), plus 50% for a second adult. The visa lasts 4 months, and in that time you apply to AIMA for a residence permit. Smartraveller says AIMA is working through a large backlog and long delays are common.

Our Portugal page covers the D7 in full: the documents, a younger partner, renewals and permanent residence. Portugal’s embassy or a consulate, or a lawyer in Portugal, can confirm the current rules.

Lisbon follows Portugal’s visitor rules. Our table of visitor stays for Australians sets them beside 26 other countries.

Your Age Pension and Medicare in Lisbon

Services Australia says your Age Pension can keep paying while you are overseas. After 6 weeks away the Energy Supplement stops and your Pensioner Concession Card is cancelled. At 12 weeks the Pension Supplement stops completely (since 20 September 2026). After 26 weeks, the rate can be reduced for people who lived in Australia less than 35 years between age 16 and pension age. A full 90-day Schengen stay runs just past 12 weeks.

Portugal has a social security agreement with Australia, which generally means you can claim the Age Pension from Portugal. The Australian Embassy in Lisbon lists a free number for Services Australia’s international line from Portugal: 800 861 122. Medicare never pays for treatment in Portugal, which isn’t one of the 11 countries with a reciprocal health care agreement. An Australian citizen who moves overseas can still use Medicare back in Australia for up to 5 years after leaving. See Medicare when you live overseas.

How long can you stay in Lisbon? What changes at home

Australians can stay up to 90 days in any 180 without a visa, counted across the whole Schengen area, and anything longer needs Portugal’s D7 visa. At home, the Age Pension rules change at 6, 12 and 26 weeks away wherever you are.

Ninety days covers an Australian winter in Lisbon’s warm, dry summer, or an Australian summer in its mild, wetter winter. Portugal counts you as tax resident after more than 183 days in a 12-month period. Our guide to how long pensioners can travel overseas explains each row.

Health care and insurance

Lisbon has large public and private hospitals. Smartraveller says large private medical facilities in Portugal’s major cities are comparable to Australia’s, while public facilities are generally of a lower standard, even in major cities. It also says the public system has ongoing staff shortages and strikes, so non-urgent care can mean delays.

What is where, by type. Portugal’s national health service groups its hospitals and health centres into local health units (ULS). Two of the units in Lisbon list their hospitals on their own websites:

Type	Where	Source
Public hospitals: Santa Maria and Pulido Valente	Lisbon	ULS Santa Maria
Public hospitals: São Francisco Xavier, Egas Moniz and Santa Cruz	Western Lisbon	ULS Lisboa Ocidental
Private hospital with 24-hour urgent care	Parque das Nações	The hospital’s own website

Other public hospitals and private hospitals serve the city too; this table lists only what we checked.

Getting into the public system. Our Portugal page explains how a registered resident joins the national health service, and that its waits and staff shortages apply to residents too. AIMA asks for health insurance or national health service cover before it issues a residence permit.

Emergencies. Call 112, Smartraveller says. It also says small earth tremors are often registered around Lisbon, and that high temperatures and bushfires regularly affect mainland Portugal in summer.

Your medicines. Smartraveller says some medicines legal in Australia are illegal elsewhere, and to take enough for your whole trip. Carry them in the original packs with a letter from your doctor. Our guide to taking medicines overseas covers the Australian side.

Which cover. A season away usually means travel insurance; see travel insurance for long stays. Living there means international or Portuguese private health insurance, priced on your age and health. If you’re not sure which fits how you’d go, book a free planning session on Zoom.

Where Australians live

There are no official figures on where Australians live in Lisbon. These are the districts Wikivoyage describes, plus the coast line out to Cascais.

Area	What it’s like	Getting around
Baixa	The flat centre, laid out on a planned grid after the 1755 earthquake	On foot; metro
Alfama	Winding alleys and tiled, crumbling walls on a hillside	On foot; trams; steep
Bairro Alto	A hilltop district known for its nightlife	On foot; steep
Belém	Riverside district with the city’s maritime monuments	Trams and trains
Northern Lisbon	Mostly residential	Metro
Parque das Nações	A modern district on the site of Expo 98, with a private hospital	Metro’s red line, which also runs to the airport
Cascais and Estoril	Seaside towns west along the coast	Trains from Cais do Sodré

The flatter districts are worth a close look if hills worry you. The Baixa was rebuilt on a planned grid, and Parque das Nações was built new for Expo 98. Northern Lisbon is mostly homes and is on the metro.

The historic hills, Alfama and Bairro Alto among them, are steep, with narrow winding streets, Wikivoyage says. Walk your likely street, the bus or metro stop and the shops before you sign a lease, ideally on a wet day.

Cascais and Estoril are by the sea, on the train line from Cais do Sodré. Our Portugal page sets Lisbon and its coast beside the Algarve, Porto and the Silver Coast.

Renting or buying a home

Foreigners can buy property in Portugal, and the purchase doesn’t lead to a visa: since 2023, AIMA’s investment residence permit no longer accepts real estate. The D7 depends on your income, whether you rent or own. Our Portugal page covers renting or buying a home, and the person to ask about a purchase is a lawyer in Portugal who acts for you.

Tax: there and at home

Portugal treats you as tax resident after more than 183 days there in a 12-month period, or with fewer days if you keep a home there as your usual residence. Australia and Portugal signed a tax treaty on 30 November 2023, but it isn’t in force yet.

At home, a foreign resident for Australian tax loses the tax-free threshold, and Australian income such as rent is taxed at 30% from the first dollar (2025-26). Our Portugal page explains tax there and at home. Talk to a registered tax agent in Australia and a tax adviser in Portugal before you go.

Money and banking

Your pension is paid in Australian dollars and your rent is in euros. On Numbeo’s central rent of 1,425 euros a month (about A$2,390), a 10% fall in the Australian dollar would make it about A$2,660. Bank accounts, the tax number you need for a lease and moving money are on our Portugal page under money and banking.

Day to day

Language. Portuguese is the language of landlords, the health centre and the market. Learning some makes daily life easier.

Getting around without driving. Lisbon has four metro lines. The airport is inside the city, at the end of the metro’s red line, Wikivoyage says, and the trip to Baixa-Chiado takes under 25 minutes with one change. Trains run to Cascais and Estoril from Cais do Sodré and to Sintra from Rossio, and the old trams still run on six lines. Smartraveller says strikes are common and can stop buses, trains, the metro and ferries.

Free transport over 65. Lisbon’s city council made the Navegante Urbano 3.ª Idade pass free in July 2022 for people over 65 whose tax address is in Lisbon, ECO reported, and in December 2025 voted to keep it free until 2029. It covers the city networks of Carris buses and trams, the metro and CP trains. The pass needs a Lisbon tax address, so ask the council whether you’d qualify.

Driving. Visitors can drive on a valid Australian licence, the original card rather than a digital one, Smartraveller says. The Australian Embassy in Lisbon says residents aged 60 and over must exchange their Australian licence for a Portuguese one.

Safety. Smartraveller advises normal safety precautions for Portugal (updated 16 October 2026). It mentions pickpocketing on trams in busy tourist areas, and robberies and assaults on foreigners at popular tourist spots and nightclubs in Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve.

The weather, month by month. Winters are mild and wet; summers are warm and dry:

Month in Lisbon	Average high	Average low	Rain	Rain days
January	15.1°C	8.6°C	104 mm	10
February	16.4°C	9.1°C	78 mm	8
March	18.9°C	11.0°C	69 mm	8
April	20.4°C	12.3°C	72 mm	8
May	23.1°C	14.4°C	58 mm	6
June	26.1°C	16.8°C	14 mm	2
July	28.2°C	18.2°C	3 mm	1
August	28.8°C	18.8°C	5 mm	1
September	26.6°C	17.6°C	39 mm	4
October	22.8°C	15.3°C	111 mm	9
November	18.1°C	11.8°C	134 mm	10
December	15.4°C	9.4°C	109 mm	10

Figures: IPMA, Portugal’s weather institute, for its Lisboa / Instituto Geofísico station, 1991 to 2020; rain days are days with 1 mm or more, rounded to whole days. On the same figures, August has about 10 days of 30°C or more, and the station recorded no night below 0°C over those 30 years. Our Portugal page uses older 1961 to 1990 figures.

Making friends. A weekly Portuguese class is a start, and a reason to get out of the flat on a wet Tuesday. If you’re going alone, see retiring overseas single.

Getting there and coming home

There are no non-stop flights from Australia to Portugal; BITRE’s June 2026 figures show none. There are daily flights from Dubai to Lisbon, about 8 to 8 and a half hours on Flightmapper’s schedules, and Sydney to Dubai takes about 14 hours. Flights from Doha take about 8 to 9 hours. Lisbon’s airport is inside the city, on the metro.

In our summer, Lisbon is 11 hours behind Sydney and Melbourne; in our winter, 9. For a few weeks around April and October it’s 10. Check routes from your city when you book.

Lisbon for over 50s, 60s and 70s

The D7 sets no age limit. In Lisbon your age matters more on the hills, and at 60, when a driving licence rule starts.

In your 50s

The D7 asks for passive income of at least 920 euros a month for one person in 2026 (about A$1,540). The ATO says super generally opens at 60 once you retire, or at 65 if you’re still working, so under 60 that income has to come from something other than super. A licensed financial adviser can talk about yours.

In your 60s

At 60, the Australian Embassy says residents must swap an Australian licence for a Portuguese one. Age Pension age is 67, and Portugal’s social security agreement generally means you can claim it from there. Over 65, a Lisbon tax address brings free city transport. On our estimate the base rate falls about A$2,380 a month short of a month in Lisbon for a couple.

In your 70s

The hills start to decide things now: a flat street near a metro station makes daily life easier, and the city has large public and private hospitals. August has about 10 days of 30°C or more. Fewer insurance policies reach 80: in CHOICE’s May 2026 table, 58 of 76 single-trip policies do, and 15 of 34 annual ones. Our guide to travel insurance for long stays has the age limits.

75 and over

Insurance is the hard part now, since international health insurers set their own age limits for new members. Lisbon’s winters have no frost on IPMA’s figures, but our Portugal page notes that homes can be cold.

Your first steps

One order that works, from a first visit to living there. A month or a winter away needs only some of these steps.

1. Ask for help first. Book a free planning session on Zoom, or contact our team. Once we understand your situation, we can point you in the right direction.
2. Spend part of a year in Lisbon, in a district you could rent in long term. See trying before you move.
3. Walk your likely street, the metro stop and the shops, on a dry day and a wet one.
4. Talk it over with your family early, including who would fly over if you got sick. See talking to your family.
5. Put your own numbers against the pension after 12 weeks away, with Lisbon’s rent, health cover and flights. See living overseas on the Age Pension.
6. Find out what health cover you can get at your age. See international health insurance by age.
7. See your GP, check your medicines are sold in Portugal, and get a doctor’s letter. See retiring overseas with a health condition.
8. Work out what happens to the house, and whether it counts for the pension while you’re away.
9. For a longer stay, order your AFP police check and apostille and apply for the D7 at a Portuguese consulate.
10. Get a Portuguese tax number and a lease, since AIMA asks for both, and book the AIMA appointment within the visa’s 4 months.
11. Tell Services Australia you’re going, and set up how your pension will be paid. See taking your Age Pension overseas.
12. Keep a plan for coming home: where you’d live, and how the pension and Medicare restart.

Questions people ask

Is Lisbon a good place to retire?

For a capital with mild winters, a metro and the Australian Embassy, it works. Rent is high on our estimate and the historic districts are steep. AIMA’s delays are long too.

How much does it cost to live in Lisbon?

Our estimate is about A$6,090 a month for a couple and A$4,770 for one person, rent included, before health insurance (October 2026). It comes from Numbeo’s Lisbon figures, the same as our Portugal page, and rent is the biggest part.

Is public transport free for seniors in Lisbon?

For people over 65 whose tax address is in Lisbon, yes: the city’s Navegante Urbano 3.ª Idade pass is free, and in December 2025 the council voted to keep it free until 2029, ECO reported. It covers city buses, trams, the metro and CP trains inside Lisbon.

Is Lisbon good for over 70s?

Lisbon works best at that age if you live somewhere flat near the metro. Smartraveller says large private hospitals in major cities are comparable to Australia’s, but the historic districts are steep and the cobbles are slippery when wet.

Can over 60s get a visa to live in Lisbon?

Yes, Portugal’s D7 has no age limit. It asks for passive income, such as a pension, of at least 920 euros a month for one person in 2026 (about A$1,540).

What is the weather in Lisbon by month?

Average highs run from 15.1°C in January to 28.8°C in August, on IPMA’s 1991 to 2020 figures. November is the wettest month, with about 134 mm, and July and August are almost dry.