We're planning a trip to Portugal in October. We're flying into Barcelona and then I'm contemplating taking a Vueling flight to Lisbon. We'll have about 12 days in Portugal. Any advice or input on car rentals? I get emails from Vueling re a $10.99/day rental. Is that BS? I was thinking about the car rental as I like the flexibility. My husband will be the driver--he's 67. Is parking an issue?
Any help/input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
You don’t want a car in Lisbon or Porto but you should have one for the rest of the Portugal.I can’t remember any difficulties finding parking throughout the country. Make sure your hotel or pousada includes parking.
I get emails from Vueling re a $10.99/day rental. Is that BS?
No. That'll be an average price for a compact car at that time of year.
That Vueling price quote is genuine, but for the smallest stick shift car. If you want or need something else, it will cost more. So, make sure the car you're renting has enough space for your luggage as well as yourselves, and if you need an automatic, be sure to get not only the correct price quote, but the pick up and drop off points allowed (smaller rental locations in Europe usually only have stick shifts available).
And just watching the driving in the old sections of Lisbon was scary - you definitely don't want a car in Lisbon or Porto!
We drove all over Portugal (excluding Lisbon and Porto) last September. Roads are in great condition and well signed. We never had a problem with parking. Be sure to get a toll gizmo in your rental so you can breeze through the toll booths. You don't need a GPS if you download Google maps for use offline. We were very glad we had a little Fiat 500 as we ended up on a very, very narrow street in one little hill town. We had spied a castle in the distance, and ended up in a maze of one way streets trying to find it. It was quite an adventure!
