We've done some research into car rentals in Portugal and for a fee you can drive it into Spain but Rentalcars.com and Discovercars.com both only allow you to drive into Spain and not France. Has anyone come across this problem?
We would like to rent for 6 weeks starting and returning in Lisbon but we will be touring just over the border into France for a few days.
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
6527 posts
See what you can find out using Auto Europe.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6788 posts
You need to read things and choose your words carefully...
"Drive into" as opposed to "drive into and drop off in..."
I've never heard of the two companies you mention.
In my experience, most major car rental companies really don't care if you take their rented car into (most) other countries - there are certainly exceptions, but among most continental EU nations, they're usually fine with that - but that's assuming you will be driving that car back to the same country you rented it from, and return it there. For "one-way" rentals - pick up in country #1 and return it in country #2, some companies will let you do that, too, but they'll charge you a very large fee for doing so (which is pretty reasonable, as they will probably have to pay someone to bring it back).
Short answer: ask the rental company, and be clear about exactly what your plans (or hopes) are, and be sure you both understand each other.
Posted by
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
4117 posts
I've never done it, but for that long of a trip, look into leasing a car. Here's an article about options. https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/car-leasing
Posted by
Lake District, England
5838 posts
Rentalcars.com and Discovercars.com are both comparison websites. By all means check rates with them, but then book direct with the relevant company, if need be using such results to get a better rental rate. That way you should lose such niggles about geography, or at least not be sowing potential confusion by gong through a 3rd party.