Driving in Portugal
 

We are renting a car for a week in Evora going to Obidos, tomar,coimbra, Pinhao tour a little in the Duoro region and then dropping the car in Porto at the airport.

We both drive manual cars at home and it is cheaper to rent one in Portugal. The automatic is double the price. Will we have a problem with hills. We are purposely avoiding driving in Lisbon and Porto.

Thank you

We took a similar trip a few years ago. Driving was a pleasure in Portugal. We picked up our car on our way out of Lisbon and dropped it off on the outskirts of Porto. We had no problem with the manual. We picked s small car too. Enjoy your trip!

How do we know if you will have problems? Did they not teach you how to do hill starts?
Some cars have electronic handbrakes these days have you driven a car with that facility?
Never learn to drive whilst on vacation it could not end well.
How much extra is an automatic and are you comparing like for like sized car. Small cars are ok with little luggage, 2 people and non highway work.

Hills are hills, in Portugal or at home.

The last car rented in Europe ( VW Passat) had a hill assist clutch.

You will be fine.

You won’t have any problems. Driving in Portugal is very easy. Last 3 cars we had in Europe had a hill assist feature. If you know how to drive a standard you will have no issues.

thanks for clutch driving tips
 

Thank you all. we feel much better about driving...I have never heard of a hill assist clutch, but it sounds like it could help..thanks again

Hill assist prevents the car from rolling back.

If you rent a car in the midsize class and higher, is will most probably have
engine shut off at idle , electrically activated parking brake, factory installed and functioning
GPS.
The transmission will be a six speed, figure out the reverse gear before you drive off.

Do your research on the interweb on how this works. Or ask the staff at the pick up office to demonstrate the controls of cars for you.
But one thing is you can never be guaranteed the car you are given hill have this, even if you request it.

hill assist clutches can be very confusing, I hope you don't have one.
watch out for local drivers this country competes with Belgium for the worse drivers in Western Europe
Finding reverse early on is important
Check for local driving laws, for instance I think driving over a white line is illegal here.