Rental car in Portugal

We rented a car for 23 days when were in Portugal October of 2019. We flew in and out of Lisbon. We used Drive on Holidays for our car rental. We met them at the airport and then they drove us and others to their rental location not far from the airport. We returned the car and then were taken back to the Lisbon airport. The car was equiped with a transponder for toll booths and the cost of tolls was just added to our bill. We were happy with the car.

We did not have any issues driving in Portugal. We avoided driving in big cities and made sure we had lodging that had a parking lot/garage. We did brush up on the rules of the road for Portugal. It was critical for us to have cell coverage so we could use Google Maps for navigation (which did occasionaly lead us astray) so the navigator always had to be on their toes. We enjoyed the flexibility with the car to see some of the more remote sites.

Enjoy Portugal.

Pam

We’ve been using Enterprise on recent trips. Before it we used Avis. It’s really a personal preference. Reserve directly from the rental company and not a 3rd party site like Expedia, TripAdvisor, Orbitz, etc. if you reserve through a 3rd party that’s who you will need to go through if something goes wrong with the reservation.

We found driving in Portugal to be about the same as in the U.S. Once off the interstate type roads there are plenty of speed limit changes and seemingly never ending traffic circles. The speed limit drops to 50kph/30mph when entering towns and there are plenty of those. Once you know which towns you’re going to stop in, look up free parking lots in them. We bookmarked them to Google maps and it took us straight to them.

On our recent trip (rented a vehicle in Spain) we used rural roads most of the time since we weren’t in a hurry, distances between our stops were short, and it cut down on tolls. Most interstate type roads are toll roads. The Portugal tolls website explains them. Since you’re renting in Portugal the rental company can provide you with everything you need to know along with a transponder.

For Portugal, I used Avis, but I also got a corporate rate, when I was still working, that was better and included insurance and roadside assistance. Since then I have tried Auto Europe, but usually wind up using Europcar. For some reason I do not see much difference between booking through Auto Europe vs booking direct, so I book direct using the app.

We used ZestCarRental.com and found that they had the best prices and features compared to the others.

We used Sixt and it was fine. Be prepared to be up sold. We don’t usually rent a car and we were appalled by the lack of information about the car. Ask questions before you leave. Get a car with a transponder for the toll roads and know which lane to go through, the farthest left.

Thank you so much for all the replies and recommendations. Very helpful tips indeed!

Only thing I'd add is to pick up vehicle when you are leaving Porto, and drop off right when you enter Lisbon. I don't recommend driving that first day.

We've had good luck with Hertz, and the Lisbon location at 72 Rua Castilho, is right off Avenue de Liberdade and easy to catch a taxi to your lodging.

We always pick a small car, especially for when you visit the smaller towns. Parking can be inside the old town walls or gates, even just dodging the parked cars, I've always been happy with a Fiat 500 or something similar. Rented cars on five visits without incident, driving is easy. Don't get in a hurry, and stay in right lane on the toll roads except when passing, and you'll be fine. PS- you don't have a passenger, but a navigator, especially for when to exit a traffic circle. Have fun.