We fly in and out of Libson this summer on our 16 day tour of Portugal and will need to rent a car. Where is it best to pick up the rental auto? Is it best to return the car at the airport and therefore stay in that area before our flight out or drop the car in the city, stay overnight in the city and then take a cab to the airport? Our flight is at 9 am. Any suggestions on rental companies for the car? Rental Car Group and Arguscarhire seem to have the best rates - ideally we would like a GPS system included (or will pay)

Dropping the car in the city can be daunting. We managed to find, almost purely by luck (my wife says it's my sense of direction), the rental agency to drop off the car. With all the one way streets and the lack of a perfect grid, navigating the city can be trying. We needed to fill the gas tank, and the agency insisted on having someone come with us to navigate the streets.

Hi, jutzin,
I don't think that the place where you drop off the car should determine where you spend the night. Lisbon is a small, manageable city, and taxi fares from the tourist center to the airport are very reasonable, 10-14 E I think.
So, based on what you say, you should drop off the car at the point that is easiest for you. I would definitely spend the night in the city if you plan on taking advantage of the opportunity to see some of Lisbon. Cabs are easy to get at any hour of the day or night in central Lisbon (barring a world cup event or a national holiday)

The other relevant thing is that most car rentals allow a pick up in the city and drop off at the airport or vice versa, with no extra charge.

With regard to the car rental company, the companies you've mentioned will not have their own offices in the Lisbon airport. You will have to meet someone at the airport who will then take you to the car. I've used a fair number of these operators, and have never had any problems. But I recently have decided to pay a few more euros and get the ease of knowing I can drop off the car whenever the airport office is open and not have to worry about finding someone int he airport or having a specific drop off time.

Since you say you are picking your car up at the start of the trip, it is hands down easier to pick it up at the airport.

Get your car at the airport and plan on dropping it off there and I would recommend doing that the day ahead of your flight so that it's one less thing to worry about in the morning. I would not stay near the airport, but in the city center where you can enjoy being in Lisbon and walking to restaurants and shops. I've stayed at Hotel Mundial which is centrally located and you can walk to many of the historic neighborhoods from there. Tram 28 stops right in front so you'll be able to make the tourist loop around the city (beware of pickpockets on the tram). By cab, you'll only be 15 min from the airport. I always use Avis and have had good dealings with them.

renting a car in Portugal?
have you read this thread?
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...l-176190-2.cfm
Have you asked the hire company on how to pay the electronic tolls?
If so what did they say? The information would be useful for other vacationers.

If you are spending any time in Lisbon before needing a car, don't pick it up on arrival at the airport. Get it when you need it.

We used an agency that was near Marques de Pombal Square. It was easy to get to from our hotel on Avenida da Liberdade and pretty straightforward to leave town, but an absolute bear to return the car to at rush hour. It certainly would have been easier to go to the airport to drop off the car. We returned it the afternoon before we left and took a cab to the airport the next morning.

If I were doing it again, I'd pick up the car at the same place, but return it to the airport and take the Aerobus back to a hotel for the night, then cab to the airport in the morning.

We booked through AutoEurope, got the car from EuropCar (no problems with them), and rented a GPS through AutoEurope.

Thanks for your helpful suggestions and the link to a thread that I had already read and found confusing ;o) I hope that our rental agent can give us advice on what to do about the tolls which it seems we will certainly run into as we drive the coastline. We got a good deal on a car through Kayak then Europcar link. We have just calculated our accomodation costs for our 14 night stay in Portugal before heading to Spain for a couple of nights before returning to Canada. Is an average of 88 Euros a night a reasonable amount to pay for accommodations in Lisbon, Sintra area, Coimbra, Marvao, Evora, Monsaraz, Alcantarilha in prime vacation season in July?? I was hoping on paying less but still wanted a private bath! !

I have updated the post I refer to with more news.

I pretty much agree with all the oomments here. I picked up my car and dropped it off at the airport. Then took a taxi back to the city. I was happy not to navigate through the city streets. The GPS unit will be an extra charge. I was lucky enough to borrow a friend's unit that had european maps installed. As for the tolls, just make sure you go and pay at the CASH lanes. I hear the tickets are expensive for going through the automated lanes without a pass. Enjoy your trip.

demlo as far as I can tell the GPS data has not been updated with the electronic toll roads. There are no cash lanes in the electronic toll roads. Please do not confuse the roads which have been tolled since construction with the newly introduced electronic tolls. These have been introduced on what were once toll free highways.
The driver must prepay the electronic collected tolls or face costly fines.
You must ask your car hire company how to pay these electronic tolls.

ribeirasacra...no clue on what you are talking about. I drove from Lisbon to Porto to the Douro Valley down to Coimbra and back to Lisbon. Most of the time on toll roads and always paid at a booth, and mind you these were new roads. So from my experience in October that is what happened. I didn't prepay a thing.

Agree with comments about picking up and dropping off the rental at the airport. We used Budget, which has office at the airport and found to be very useful. Airport is not at all far from the city centre, so would spend the night in the city then get a cab to go to the airport. We picked the car, went to north and when we arrived at the hotel in Lisbon, the night porter loaned us his car so we could drop the rental at the airport, so while in Lisbon we didn't use the car. We had very early flight, so we just called for a cab.