Digbydog

So excited to be planning a trip to Portugal after canceling our 2020 trip. We plan to pick up a car in Porto to drive to Guimaraes. How difficult is it to drive out of town from Campanha station? Or should we pick up the car at the airport?

cdnyul

Are you planning on staying in Porto?

xyz99

We used the airport location, very easy.

VANAARLE

Personally I would not find it difficult.
https://goo.gl/maps/Zw2kV4rcS85zvP4T8
As to the question would you that is dependant on your experience in driving in Portuguese cities and in Portugal in general.Are you able to quickly adapt to driving a car with which you are not familiar with?
Also will you have some sort of navigation, GPS or navigation app on your phone?
I find having a confident copilot is very helpful

Maribel

We've used both the airport location and Campanhã rail for our pick ups. We've found the exit from Campanhã to the motorway relatively easy, but the return more challenging, especially if we hit rush hour traffic.
So.. for our rental car return, we use the airport location, as we have very easy signage, the airplane icon, directing us to the airport from the motorway.
The car rental agencies at the airport are all located in a separate building and keep longer hours. And they have a larger selection of vehicles. We've found them fairly well-staffed.

For us driving out of a city to a major highway is simply easier than driving in.

You may want to keep in mind that both the Europcar and Avis offices at Campanhã do close mid-day, from 1-3 pm.

millie2112

I used the train station for pick up and it was super easy.

Digbydog

Thank you all very much for your helpful replies. We are flying into Porto and staying for 2 nights before picking up the car to drive around Portugal for around 2 weeks, dropping the car at the Lisbon airport. We’ve never been to Portugal before but have driven all over Europe and the UK.

I have a car rented for pickup at Campanha but started having second thoughts after reading about the difficulties of driving in Porto. It sounds like the consensus is that we will be okay getting out of the city. We have driven out of Rome, so I imagine we can do it. Thank you!

Maribel

Yes, you will be ok getting out of the city from Campanhã, as the rail station is not far from the autoroute (AP 20). It was getting back in that was our problem once, mistakenly taking the wrong exit from the autoroute during rush hour and poor signage when then lost in the urban maze (no sat nav).

Imo, the pick up at Campanhã would be easier than the rental agencies north of Porto's Bolhão market in the heart of the city.
The airport pick up is also easy, especially if headed north to Guimarães/Braga (slightly closer) or east to Peñafiel or the Douro.
For us, it really depends on where we can get a better rate for the compact, manual vehicle we need.

And the Lisbon airport drop off has been easy for us, coming in from Alentejo (Evora).

We've rented from AutoEurope for the past 25 years w/o complaint. Recently the consolidator has arranged our vehicles with Europcar, but we've also had Avis vehicles in the past in Portugal.

Digbydog

Maribel,
Thanks for your reply. We have rented a car with Avis through AutoEurope. We also have always had good luck with them.

The airport location is approximately the same price as Campanha. Since we are heading to Guimaraes, would it be better to pick up the car there?

Maribel

Yes, it's closer to Guimarães. You'll be headed north in the right direction. From the airport, you can be on the autoroute in minutes and avoid all in-city traffic. If it's the same price, I would pick up at the airport.

Enjoy your time in very pretty Guimarães. It's one of my favorite towns in the Minho (along with Viano do Castelo).

Digbydog

Thank you, Maribel! Your posts on this forum have been so helpful to me in planning my trip. I appreciate the time you take to help us all.