I'm portuguese and in the place I live in, there are hundreds of tourists every year. Cascais is a beautiful, gorgeous place with lots of the best beaches in Europe. Yet, it's a pretty cheap place for tourists. The temperatures in the summer are pretty high and there's always sunshine. Plus, there are lots of green places like parks to visit. :)

Food: well...depends on the places you eat...if you want the prettiest restaurants in tourist areas you'll have to spend more, unfortunately. but i can tell you the least you'll spend on a meal is 4/5 euro. the average cheapest prices in baixa and chiado areas (tourist parts) are like 7/8 euros i think. Transportation: --one option is to get a lisboa card, which offers free travel for consecutive 24h(17euro), 48h(28,50euro) and 72h(25euro)on the following services: Metro, Carris - Buses, trams and funiculars; CP trains, between Cais do Sodré and Cascais, and trains between Oriente – Rossio – Sintra.The card also permits free entrance to 27 museums, monuments and discounts in other museums and sites of tourism interest. --OTher option is to spend money on metro/bus tickets one by one, as you go. 1 metro ticket costs 0,80 abd bus 1,50. Romantic places: --Sintra is Very romantic, has beautiful arquitecture (castle, palaces) also, and typical food. it is near lisbon, so you can catch a fast train to visit if you want. --Cascais, a coastal town, 30 kilometres west of Lisbon (you can catch a train), is a former fishing village, one of the most popular places, because you can enjoy the beach landscape, pitoresque houses and local gastronomy. --Inside Lisbon: Centro cultural de Belém (has expositions, cafe/restaurant with view and a pretty garden) Gulbenkian (has a museum, a beautiful romantic garden and a good inside and outside restaurant/cafe). areas to walk around in lisbon: Down the Chiado and Bairro Alto, you'll find some of the trendiest restaurants and bars, streets are filled with the museums of modern art, by retailers, the art galleries, the cafes or the gourmet grocery stores that sell products.

You will most probably get ripped off. Like, 10000 USD for the college tuition seems like a fortune to me. Anyway, I live in Maia, near Oporto, a moderately expensive area. Cascais would be more expensive. Still, I have my own apartment but in 2004, when I got divorced, I moved to an apartment with one bedroom and I paid 400 € a month, which I found somewhat expensive. Maybe you can calculate from there. EDIT: That tuition thing that now seems to make no sense was about a post that has been deleted. Man, I hate it when you comment on something and later find out the post has been deleted!