Car rental Lisbon-porto-madrid

I'd suggest doing Porto - Lisbon and the night train to Madrid.

Don't do a rental car - the one-way drop-off fee for renting in Portugal and returning in Spain is horrendous. Hertz's, for example, is 900 euros.

Lynn, call Auto Europe at their offices in Maine and they can help you. It used to be that you could get the quote on their website...but no more. The reason: this usually incurs a large fee, and it depends on the rental agency. One of the firms that AE uses, and that allows this, is Europe Car; and the fee is around $500 US! It's better to take a cheap train trip (or book a cheap flight on one of the lo-cost inter EU airlines...... find on Whichbudget.com) to the next country, and pick up another rental car there.

Thanks..I was actually hoping to go from Porto to salamanca, then Segovia then end in madrid....is the bus my only option? thanks.

Travel between Portugal and Spain is still tough. They are old enemies... The only good train connection is the Lisbon-Madrid night train. You can get from Porto to Santiago de Compostela by train without TOO much hassle, but Porto to Salamanca either takes forever, or gets you in after midnight. See bahn.de for schedules (you want Porto Campanha, not the central Sao Bento station). Even the bus can be problematic - have you found a bus between Porto and Salamanca?

No..haven't found one exactly...just a quick internet search that said there was one..but would take5-7 hours of travel time though.

If you want to have a car in Spain, rent it in Salamanca & you'll avoid the one-way drop-off fees. There is no train from Porto to Salamanca. Bus takes 5 1/2 - 6 hours. Bus info: http://www.alsa.es/portal/site/Alsa If you use the Alsa website, put in "Oporto", not "Porto".

"There is no train from Porto to Salamanca." There is no DIRECT train from Porto to Salamanca. There are three train ROUTES from Porto to Salamanca. The best requires one change in Coimbra and takes a little under six hours. The other two aren't worth considering but do exist.

who operates the train through coimbra..I will check into that one...

http://www.cp.pt/ You will need to do some digging around on the site. First get to the English language section, then the Porto-Coimbra leg will be on the main page, but you'll have to go the international section and look for the Sud Express for the Coimbra-Salamanca leg. I originally found the train on the bahn.de website, which is the best place for European rail timetables. You might also spend some time on seat61.com, which has the link to the Portuguese railways website.

thank you for all of your help...I will look into it. Has anyone done the Ryanair flight between Porto and Madrid by chance?

We did Ryan Air from Frankfurt Hahn into Faro, and we have used Ryan Air for other flights in the EU. You need to read all of the fine print, and make sure exactly what airport they use. (Many times it is a small airport far removed from the main town; but there is always transportation available.) When they say you can carry on only one item they mean ONE, and one only. Size and weight restrictions can be quite tight, by our standards. But if you follow their rules you get a super cheap flight. You will find that most of the lo-cost inter EU arilines have restrictions almost as tight as Ryan Air. (check Whichbudget.com to see what other airlines ply the route that you are considering.