Work From Anywhere: Cities and Countries That Suit Remote Workers

I have answered work emails from a rooftop in Tbilisi, and I can report that the glare makes the screen unreadable and the pigeons are no respecters of a spreadsheet. The photograph looks wonderful. The working day happened indoors, at a table, like everyone else's. So when you choose a city for remote work, ignore the view and look at four dull things: time zone, internet, monthly cost and whether you will have anyone to talk to by Thursday.

The four things that matter, in order

• Time zone. This decides your daily life more than anything else. If your team is in the UK, work out exactly how many hours you will overlap and whether your calls fall at a tolerable hour. A four-hour gap means a late finish. A seven-hour gap means your UK afternoon is your night.
• Internet. Citywide averages tell you little, because what matters is one flat. Ask the host for a recent speed-test screenshot before you book, and keep a local data SIM as a backup. Video calls are comfortable at around 20 Mbps or so, as long as the connection is stable.
• Cost. Look at a monthly let plus a desk, not a nightly rate. Monthly rates are often far lower, and a coworking desk typically adds roughly £80 to £200.
• Community. Working alone in a foreign flat gets lonely faster than you expect. A city with regular meet-ups and shared desks makes it much easier to find company.

Six cities compared

Costs below are rough monthly figures for one person, at the time of writing: a one-bedroom flat on a monthly let, food, local transport and a coworking desk. They move quickly, especially rents, so treat them as a way of comparing cities rather than as a budget.

City by city, honestly

Lisbon and Valencia: the easy choices

Lisbon is the simplest option for anyone on UK hours, with no time difference at all and a short flight home. It is also no longer cheap, and rents have climbed sharply. Pack for the winter: many older flats are damp and poorly heated, and the hills are real. Valencia is cheaper and flat, with a long riverbed park, good cycle lanes and a city beach you can reach by tram. Avoid August unless you enjoy working in a heatwave.

Tallinn: great in June, dark in December

Tallinn is orderly, compact and extremely well connected, and summer evenings seem to go on for ever. In midwinter you get around six hours of daylight, and the cold is serious. Go between May and September, or go knowing what you are signing up for.

Tbilisi: cheap, lively, a little rough at the edges

Your money goes a long way, the food is excellent and mountains are close: our Caucasus road trip will give you ideas for long weekends. Expect uneven pavements and heavy traffic, and check the connection in any flat you rent. On UK hours you will work roughly noon to 8pm, which suits night owls.

Chiang Mai and Medellín: only if the hours suit

Both are good value, but neither is easy for a UK team. In Chiang Mai, keeping UK afternoons means working into the night. Also avoid the burning season, roughly February to April, when smoke can make the air quality very poor. Medellín has a mild climate all year thanks to its altitude, and your morning overlaps the UK afternoon, so you get only a few shared hours. Read the FCDO travel advice for Colombia before you book, including what it says about drink and drug spiking.

The best city for remote work is the one where your 10am meeting happens at a civilised hour.

The admin nobody mentions

This is the dull part, and it is the part that can cost you real money. What follows is general information, not advice. Rules change often and your circumstances matter, so take professional advice and check official sources before you go.

Visas

Being allowed into a country as a visitor is not the same as being allowed to work there. Portugal, Spain and Estonia are in the Schengen area, where UK passport holders generally get 90 days in any 180, and the EU's digital entry and exit records make an overstay easy to spot. Whether working remotely during a visit is allowed varies by country, and is often unclear.

Many countries now offer longer-stay routes for remote workers, including Spain, Portugal, Estonia, Thailand and Colombia, usually with an income threshold and paperwork. Georgia has long been generous with visa-free stays for UK passport holders. Check each country's embassy website and the FCDO pages on GOV.UK, because all of this can change.

Tax

Leaving the UK does not automatically end your UK tax position, and there is no simple 183-day rule that settles it. HMRC uses the Statutory Residence Test. Meanwhile, a long stay can make you tax resident in the other country too, and double taxation agreements do not always remove the need to file. Your National Insurance record may also be affected, which matters for your State Pension. Speak to an accountant with cross-border experience before you leave, not after.

Your employer

If you are employed, get written permission. Your working abroad can create tax, payroll and insurance issues for the company as well as for you, so many employers cap the number of days or restrict the countries. Ask your IT team about data rules too.

Insurance and health

Annual travel policies often limit each trip to somewhere around 30 to 60 days and may exclude working abroad, so read the wording or look at a long-stay policy, and check whether your laptop is covered. A GHIC gives access to state-provided necessary care on temporary stays in the EU, but it is no substitute for insurance, and it will not help you in Georgia, Thailand or Colombia. A travel clinic can advise on vaccinations for longer stays.

Test it before you commit

Don't give up your flat for a city you have only seen in photographs. Book a week first, on a normal working schedule, and treat it as an experiment. Run a real video call from the flat in the first 24 hours. Try one shared desk. Notice how you feel at 4pm on Wednesday, which is what your life there will actually be like.

If that goes well, take a month, and resist any long lease until you have seen the neighbourhood in the rain. Pack a laptop stand, proper headphones and a spare charger: the packing checklist covers the rest. And stay long enough to get the benefit, because the whole point of working from somewhere else is to be there: our notes on slow travel apply just as much on a working week.