Cost of living in Braga, the cheapest city in Portugal

Braga is considered as the most cheap city in Portugal comparing to the capital Lisbon or to Porto. Actually I could compare between Braga cost of living and the other european cities I had the chance to visit during my trips such as Barcelona, Valencia and Sevilla in Spain, Nice and Cannes in France, and much more cities I could see beside Turkey and others countries and I can say from my high level of knowledge that Braga is the cheapest ever. The prices of accomodation, nutrition, transport, and even touristic attractions are very cheap and I can assure that of studies aboard it is surely the best option we can have to avoid spending much money especially in our special case as students with shcolarships.

How much does it cost to live in Braga? Let's look at the price of accommodation

The most advantageous thing for students is renting a room near university, for Braga for example renting a room inside an apartment shared with other students cost me 210 euros only including the costs of water, electricity and internet. If we compare this price to other prices of rent found mainly in the big European cities like Paris or Madrid, it is almost impossible to find such a price for whole equipped home with a kitchen where to cook and a spacious living place, in Paris for example the mean price for renting a student room is 600 euros. While in Madrid also the prices can turn out to be very expensive and the average of the prices is between 600 to 800 euros per month. The accomodation I had is a great room with all the commodities needed for students. It was near the mean of transport, it was shared of course with other students that I could know closely, they became after some time my amazing friends, we could hang out together and discover much experiences from each other.

If you plan to spend a night in a hostel inside Braga and in the main avenue you can find prices of 10 and 11 euros the night in very beautiful places near the big mountain of Bom Jesus and in the main part of the city, while such a price could never be found in other cities where the taxes that you pay in arrival are much higher, in fact in Braga you can pay just 1 euros tax per day or 2 euros while in cities like Nice for exemple it can be almost 12 euros of taxes each night of stay so the difference is really very clear. I had an amazing stay in a hostel inside the city that is way better than airbnb homes or other ways that seemed for me more expensive and for not so good prestation.

Cost of food and nutrition

For a student having waiting for scholarship, Braga is considered a place very affordable to live in with small amounts of money and with all the necessarily conditions to spend the study period very well and in the best conditions. The transport also is not very expensive, of course for any student it is always preferable to find a home near university to be able to walk and not spend money each day but even for usual days, taking the bus to the main avenue called " Avenida central " costs 1. 5 euros only which is also amazing and much cheaper that the travel card in France which cost a monthly 75, 20 euros or 30 euros in Madrid where the transport can also be a bit expensive.

The food in Braga cost much less money than in Paris or Madrid, in fact during my internship I had the chance to try many kind of culinary specialities and I can assure that a whole plate of rice, fried potatoes, with bacalau and vegetables and accompanied by a drink cost me only 5 euros in Braga and many times I could enjoy a whole meal for 4 euros only. While this seems impossible in Paris where the mean price for a meal is 15 euros and even 20 and 25 euros in restaurants of not so high level of gastronomy meaning fast food and so on. I had also the chance of having a kitchen at home, this option of course can be the best to economise more the money for our studies, I could for example buy in the first dayof the week all the necessary things like pasta for 0, 83 euros, rice for 1, 02 euros, some dessert sweets for 1 to 2 euros and water for 1, 5 euros, and then use these ingredients to cook daily dishes at home for dinner only in that way it allowed me to economise much comparing to a student that only spend money outside in restaurants.

The free time also can be well used in Braga especially by going to the biggest commercial center Braga Parque where prices in restaurants seemed also very affordable for me, for example one big italian pizza cost to me 5 euros, a plate of rice and fried fish with vegetables cost 6 euros, the sweets also are much cheaper, ice-cream and many delicious sweets cost from 1. 80 euros to 3 euros and I can assure you it was very delicious with chocolate and vanilla. So even the extra money the student usually use for hanging out with friends will be exploited in the best way without the need of spending much at all.

Cost of shopping

The shopping also is better to do in Braga than other cities inside Portugal since many stores offers good quality and beautiful designed clothes for the cheapest prices. For example I bought amazing jeans for only 4 euros, jackets can be found for 20 euros maximum, I bought also shoes for 10 euros, teeshirts can be bought for 10 euros as well so it seemed to me very nice and affordable and it was really made of very good quality and with beautiful colours and style. Also the fact that Braga have one of the most famous commercial center that is called Braga Parque, we can find it by walking around ten minutes from the university of Minho, or the beautiful shops in the avenida central that offers great opportunities and superb discounts in the dresses shoes and jeans especially.

Hanging out with friends can turn out to be very fun especially if we can spend small amounts of money and enjoy our times to the maximum, I had the chance to go to see movies many times in the cinema in Braga in the two main commercial malls of the city and I could pay for one entry like 5 euros which is also considered cheaper that other cities also the movies are not translated to Portuguese so it is the best. But you can sometimes read subtitles during the whole movie as a form of getting more used to Portuguese language.

Cost of transport

The intercities transport can turn out to be also much cheaper than the other countries, during my travel to Spain I took a train from the south of the country Sevilla to Madrid that cost to me 87 euros which is a huge amount for a student as it was the express train with high speed reaching 275 km/h while a train took from Braga to the city Aveiro is almost 4 euros for almost 2 hours of travel. The train also that I took from Lisbon to Braga cost like 33 euros at a maximum and not more. Even Porto is cheaper than the capital Lisbon in matter of transportation, food and living but it is not cheaper than Braga. Some beautiful and astonishing monuments inside the city are also free to walk inside like the jardim Santa Barbara near a historic castle demonstrating the existence of a past kingdom, I had the chance to visit a museum that was only for 6 euros the visit with much great and amazing tours, gardens and architecture to see but the most beautiful and free place espacially is Bom Jesus, a very famous cathedrale with a nombre infishished of stairs where most of the weddings are celebrated with amazing gardens and flowers everywhere.

The monuments surround the cathedrals from outside as well giving to the place an amazing uniqueness. And outside ice-cream shops sell their best delicious products, I had for example an ice cream in Bom Jesus for only 3 euros. A group of guys playing traditional music were doing it for free also and were giving this place more magic more beauty and very charming atmosphere.

My experience in Braga was one of the best ever and I would recommend any student to try this amazing city as cost of living was very affordable for me, the cheap prices allow to economise money and exploit it to do some others trips in other countries from Portugal while having the student visa that allowed me discover many other great cities and live so much great adventures.

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