lisbon car rental
 

okay everyone, I'm starting to make the last of my reservations and could use your much appreciated help. After much reading, I've decided to only rent a car for 2 to 3 days instead of the entire 11. We will use public trans. the rest of the time. I won't be getting the car at the airport but probably somewhere in Lisbon? any suggestions?

You don't want to drive in Lisbon . Just pick up the car and leave. Make sure you get insurance, Portugese drivers are some of the worst in Europe. We had to take evasive action more than once when we went around a corner to find 3 cars coming towards us on a 2 lane road. My husband kissed the ground when we returned our rental after 3 weeks without an accident. We have driven all over the world and Portugal was an experience. Thus said with a car we found some incredible towns up north and inland.

Namaka, you're spreading yourself a bit thin - re post on our Lisbon thread where you have a good chance of being spotted and receiving more replies ;-) So many of the people hanging out there have hired cars and can advise you better than I.

Matt

Namaka. I wouldn't be discouraged about driving in Portugal. But, I have never driven in or out of Lisbon.

I think it might be easier to get a car from the airport. Maybe you could take a bus to the airport, since it is so reasonable, and take the car from there.Even a taxi would not me cost prohibitive.

I know there is not a high surcharge in
picking up a car at an airport location in Portugal as there can be in other countries. And airport locations seem to offer the best selection.

I looked at the company we will probably use Economy Car Rentals, and they say pick up at downtown office, but do not say where.

I am going to check the other two companies we are looking at and get back to you.

Thanks Matt and Sher. I really only need the car to visit my old haunts;school, home,etc. I figured since I'll be in the middle of downtown, there must be a nearby place to pick one up.

Weasel- believe me, I'd rather not drive anywhere ever, but there are times when it can't be avoided. I've narrowed the car rental from 11 days to 2 or 3 and will only be driving around the areas I used to live, not too much in the high traffic areas so hopefully we'll be fine.

Well, I checked Economy Car Rental and also Fast Car Hire UK. Both have a choice of downtown hotels. The streets listed on Economy car rental, I couldn't find on my map. But of course that doesn't mean much.
Here are two of the rental offices listed:
Ave Do Brasil
Ave J Crisostomo

You know the guy you are renting the apartment from seems really friendly and his English is good. Do you think he would mind if you wrote to him?

Hope someone helps.

Sherry, I will try to see if I can find where those are located and thanks for the info.

In regards to writing the apartment owner; do you mean to ask where these car rental agencies are located?

Yes, I did mean that he might be able to help you with the car rental information. Or maybe not. But if you cannot find out anything useful, he might help.
He seemed pretty nice when he answered my email.

Sherry, I tried to locate both of those addresses but could only find the one on Avenida do Brasil. It's up near the Benfica stadium area which I don't think is very near to us. I will check it out anyways though;you never know.

namaka:
If you go to the rental company pages they usually ask where you want to pick up and drop off. Here is what I found on the autoeurope page. Most other companies seem to have the same type of listings.

Lisbon Downtown Office
12 - C Av Praia Da Victoria
Hours:
* OPEN Mondays-Sundays 08:00 am-07:00 pm

Lisbon Downtown Office
Hotel Mundial
Hours:
* OPEN Mondays-Sundays 09:00 am-01:00 pm ,03:00 pm-07:00 pm

Lisbon City Office - Tivoli
9, R. Julio Cesar Machado
Hours:
* OPEN Mondays-Sundays 09:00 am-01:00 pm ,03:00 pm-07:00 pm

Lisbon Downtown
Hotel Meridien Lisboa
Hours:
* OPEN Mondays-Sundays 09:00 am-01:00 pm ,03:00 pm-07:00 pm

Lisbon Downtown Office
Hotel Marques De Pombal
Hours:
* OPEN Mondays-Fridays 09:00 am-01:00 pm ,03:00 pm-07:00 pm
* CLOSED Saturdays-Sundays

Lisbon Downtown Office
24 C-d Avda Antonio
Hours:
* OPEN Mondays-Saturdays 08:00 am-08:00 pm
* OPEN Sundays 08:00 am-06:30 pm


I had just gotten up my confidence about driving and then read weasel's post! We will keep our car but park it at or near whatever hotel we finally get in Lisbon.

Thanks for that information Barb. I will check these out as well. Now about you parking your car since reading Weasel's post. Does that mean parking it and not driving it;that would be a shame.

sorry namaka maybe gave the wrong impression.

We will drive in Portugal even if I am a nervous wreck! We arrive in Porto so will be driving all over on the way to Lisbon and back. It is just the 3 days we are in Lisbon that we will not use the car. I actually looked at dropping it off and rerenting when we leave but we would lose the weekly rate and it would be a hasle.

This all brings up another question that I know often appears in threads. I may have even asked it in past years/trips! Should we get international licenses? I have done it once but also not for other trips. But what about for Portugal?

Thanks for any opinions on this.
Barbara

Barb. I took my IDL with me because it was still valid from my last trip. My husband decided to get another since his wasn't.
I really don't feel it is necessary, but it isn't that expensive to obtain and if you should have a mishap you might feel more comfortable with people who might not speak very good English.

I haven't decided if we will get new ones this year.

Portugal does not require one.

Well I finally did it! I booked a car for 3 of our 12 days in June. I went through the AutoEurope site but booked with Budget. For the 3 days, it was 115euros. Not too bad! It includes a free 2nd driver which might be good if one of us just gets too stressed out. Another reason for this choice was that although Sixt was a little cheaper, they no longer have a Lisbon center location; only airport. I went with a compact automatic with air. I hope it works out for my 6'3" DH's long legs. Less than a month to go!

Just an update for our car rental in Lisbon.
I guess I am still a little concerned bout Economy Car Rentals as no one has heard of them.
They booked me with Thrifty Bravacar near the Lisbon airport.
Thrifty(in Lisbon) has our reservation on file and my reservation is set.
The company representative at the local office spoke perfect English and answered a couple of other questions that I had.
So I guess we still will be the test case.

Try www.autoeurope.com - we we're very happy !

dwsnyder. Auto Europe cannot price the size economy car we are getting and the next size up is almost $400 more.
Thanks anyway.

Well, I had a reservation with Carjet, which was recommended by someone online, but I checked yesterday and found a 3 day rental with Economy much cheaper (I figure Sher knows what she's doing) for only 72 Euros. They appear to be a Priceline type company and they have placed us with the company AUTO JARDIM. QUESTION: Has anyone ever heard of them? They said they would be waiting for us with a sign at the airport desk. We had planned on getting some money from Amer. Express first, and picking up some info. & transport guide schedule from the TI before getting the car, so I hope this works out.

newcomer. I called Auto Jardim and they have a desk in the airport. That is what they told me.
I should pay more attention because we have rented a car there before but being old does have its drawbacks.
As I remember, there is an area with car rental counters and Auto Jardim should be there. We rented from Budget there before (by Carjet) and didn't realy pay much attention to the other companies.
The form from Economy saying that there will be someone with a sign is a generic voucher form because one or two of the companies they place you with are off airport. But Auto Jardim is supposed to be right in the airport.

You do realize newcomer that they are going to put a hold on your credit card for the excess,(Auto Jardim that is.)

Auto Jardim may still try to sell you excess insurance but Economy tells me it is not necessary as if you have an accident they will clear up the excess put on your crecit card.

No one of course will cover your tires, glass or undercarriage. But all other expenses should be covered.

Thanks, Sher, for putting me at ease about Auto Jardim. I tend to make decisions and then second guess myself - drives my husband crazy! Yes, I knew about the credit card hold because we've run into that before. We are using a separate credit card for the auto rental. So, you won't be purchasing the excess? I really hadn't decided.