Gypsy8

Does anyone have a car rental agency to recommend for Spain/Portugal? We would be renting the car at the Barcelona airport, driving it into Portugal, and returning it 3 weeks later to same airport. Is there any oddities to be aware of renting a car here?

ribeirasacra

When driving in Portugal you have to pre purchase toll fees which are levied on some roads.
http://www.portugaltolls.com/
Use a international company so that if you have a problem with the car they can take care of it in the country where you are. Some companies which to bring back the car to base.

Michael

Use Autoeurope as a benchmark, if not as the actual broker. It has a variety of options which then can be compared to what other rental agencies offer.

Gypsy8

Thanks for the link, ribeirasacra, I am aware of the tolls.
And I checked out the rates through Autoeurope, Michael, cheaper than I thought, Thanks.
Do you know if highway travel times are similar to Canada and US? We find travel times in Scotland/Ireland are about 40% longer than here, and am curious what they are like in Spain/Portugal. Helps with planning day trips.

Robert2533

Highway speeds in Portugal tend to be faster then in most of Spain, where there are move cameras in use. Major highways, and even most secondary roads, are in much better condition then what you experience in both Canada and the U.S. Traffic around the cities can be heavy, but stills moves without all the stop and go. You'll find less traffic on toll roads in most locations.

Signage will be your biggest problem. There is no north or south, east or west on highway signs. Signs are always in the direction of, so you have to know that Salamanca or Pedraza is on the road in the direction of Burgos.

Gypsy8

Thanks Robert2533...so a good road map is a must! Altho getting lost can be an adventure in itself!

Robert2533

>getting lost can be an adventure< But it can also be a pain.

I would go with one of the Regional Maps from Michelin; Portugal Norte #591 or Portugal Centro #592. It's much easier to drive in the Algarve then up north, so typically, no map needed. If you have an iPhone, the mapping system/GPS works well.

As far as Auto Europe goes, we have been using them for a long time, without any problems.

Gypsy8

Thanks, Robert2533, do yo uptick up your map when you pick up your car at the rental agency?

tedgale

We always had WiFi wherever we stayed in Portugal.

We'd upload the map for the day before leaving in the morning -- we'd open Google Maps on our tablet and, as a fallback, the Android phone. We'd leave both "on" but dormant until needed. Plug charger into cigarette lighter to maintain the charge.

We had no data package and there were no roaming charges. Our GPS on both machines generally showed us our location on the map -- though in remote areas we sometimes lost the cursor that identified where we were.

If we ever used a map, it was a rudimentary one and we used it seldom.

ribeirasacra

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...AMichelin+maps
You can also purchase spiral bound copies of country maps which may be cost effective.
The trouble with GPS are you have to know how to read and operate it. You have to have the latests maps. If you get lost you will need a paper map as a back up.
Paper maps should also be up to date. You have to be proficient at map reading and these Michelin maps do not show all of the minor roads. Some junctions are missing too!

Gypsy8

Yes, we tend to prefer paper maps to GPS as then can highlight our preferred routes and make side notes. We use GPS to locate accommodations, restaurants and that sort of thing. Thanks for the link ribeirasacra, I see there is a Spain/Portugal edition there.