On Braga
Braga is currently Portugal’s third largest city after Lisbon and Porto, and while it has recently become more well-known for its tech companies and opportunities, you wouldn’t think it would be a great place for digital nomads. However, when I started working remotely in 2019 I had to adapt my new lifestyle to the city, and while I’ve written many things about Lisbon and even other cities, I’ve never written about my home city, so I thought I’d change this.
One thing about Braga is that with all its remaining traditional and typical Portuguese spots, you can now find some cool places where you can work from. You still have your typical padaria where an expresso costs 0.70€ and they serve the good old bread with butter, but Braga is now evolving into a modern, trendy city.
To put together a list of the best spots for remote works who are looking to get out of the house and do some work, I thought about a few aspects. For me, it comes down to whether that place has free internet, isn’t too noisy, is well-located and if it has a good variety of food options. After working from cafes in the city for the past 4 years, and having those aspects into consideration, this is what I’ve come up with:
- Méze — @meze.braga
This fulfils all aspects on my list, which is why this is probably the one I use the most. It offers free Wi-Fi, it’s located right at the city center and it’s pretty calm on week days. When it comes to food, it offers some good sweet options such as pancakes and cookies, but it also has lots of different salty snacks and a lunch menu. I tend to sit outside to do some people-watching, which usually helps with my creativity.
- Centésima Página — @livrariacentesimapagina
This is my favourite book store in Braga. It’s located in the city center, it has a great selection of books in Portuguese and the place is just beautiful. When the weather is good, I love sitting in their garden as it’s super calming and automatically lowers my stress levels. The food there is also great, with a lovely home-made feeling. If you’re sitting outside, the internet isn’t the greatest for video-calls, but inside it’s just fine so it depends on the type of work you have to do that day. - Maria Luísa — @marialuisa.brg
I’ve used this one quite a lot during the last year. I first went there with my friends for brunch and immediately thought it would be a good place to work from, and I was right. It’s probably the quieter option from the list and offers great Wi-Fi. To make it better, it’s very close to my parking spot and it has amazing brunch food.
- Nórdico —@nordico.coffeeshop
When I started working from cafes, Nórdico was definitely the one I went to the most. The food is delicious, it’s calm, in the city center and the Wi-Fi is great. Nowadays I tend to vary a bit more but Nórdico is still one of my favourite cafes in Braga. If you’re a coffee lover, you need to pay them a visit and ask more about their options.
While these four are the ones I visit the most, there are other great options such as Ape Coffee, which opens only in the afternoon, Eat Fit, located inside Gnration or Garden Braga and Maria Miguel, which are new in town.
I love going back home and see how different Braga is. I remember when I started working remotely having only two options to choose from and now I can choose a place based on my mood, the type of work I have to do and the food I’m feeling like eating. I can’t wait to see what’s next!
