Few countries feature more prominently on my real estate beat than Portugal.
I’ve scouted it extensively, bought property there numerous times myself, and negotiated exclusive off-market deals there for members of my Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) group.
My scouting in Portugal has taken me far beyond the country’s best-known destinations.
Most international property buyers who come to Portugal follow a familiar trail.
They look to Lisbon…the Algarve…or Porto.
But travel just 45 minutes north of Porto’s international airport and you’ll find a very different destination.
Here, a small historic city sits at the mouth of the River Lima, with the Atlantic in front of it and the forested hill of Santa Luzia rising behind.
It has a charming Old Town…long beaches…vast waterfront parks…and the kind of walkable, small-town atmosphere that has disappeared from many better-known destinations.
The city has been quietly gentrifying for more than two decades. Yet international tourists, expats, and second-home buyers are only beginning to discover it.
And real estate still costs a fraction of what you might pay in Portugal’s major cities.
I’ve just released my video deep-dive on this destination in the new episode of The Ronan McMahon Report.
Click below to watch it now. And when you’re done, share your thoughts or questions in the comments. My team and I read them all.
In this new destination deep-dive on my YouTube channel, I take you to a small coastal city that’s quietly gentrifying, but which remains virtually unknown to the millions of foreign tourists, expats, and second-home owners who flock to Portugal each year. Click to view…
The place is Viana do Castelo.
For generations, Portugal’s most northerly coastal city was a hard-working center of shipbuilding and fishing. Today, its historic core, waterfront, and Atlantic beaches are drawing a growing number of visitors and real estate buyers.
But Viana still feels more like a town than a city.
Its wider metropolitan area has fewer than 90,000 residents, while Viana itself is home to just 36,000 people.
What makes Viana interesting is not simply that it is cheaper than Porto. It is the stage the city has reached in its transformation.
Viana has not been remade as an international resort. It retains the scale, character, and everyday life of a small Portuguese city.
At the same time, new development along the riverfront suggests Viana is beginning to move into the spotlight.
Watch my new video to learn:
- Why I consider Viana Portugal’s last undiscovered coastal city—and how it compares with nearby Porto…
- What it costs to own here today—from new riverfront condos commanding well over €1 million to compact €255,000 Old-Town apartments…
- What growing awareness of Viana could mean for occupancy, nightly rates, and rental yields…
It’s all in my new video.
Watch my full deep-dive on Viana do Castelo now.
Wishing you good real estate investing,

P.S. Don’t forget to follow The Ronan McMahon Report on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.


