Portugal rental car or day trip tours
 

Hello, We are going from Lisbon to a wedding in Ericeira and then we planned to drive to porto so we can stop in Obidos Coimbra and maybe Aveiro? What rental car company do you recommend? I'm getting mixed reviews as to who is most professional and doesn't charge for things that were not in the agreement. Also, are we better off going by train to Porto from Ericeira and then doing day trips from Porto? We can also do day trips from LIsbon before Ericeira since we will be there 5 days in the beginning? Thanks. We are going May 13-May 31. Lisbon, Ericeira, Porto (with trips to Sintra from Lisbon and maybe driving stops if we rent a car). Thanks! Also, any advice on what to see/do/eat in any of these locations is also welcome!

I always book rental cars for Europe through gemut.com -- a brokerage company based in Oregon that works with Europcar, Hertz, and other companies. Their customer service is excellent!

Although one can visit Sintra as a day trip from Lisbon, you might want to consider an overnight there. There is more than enough to do there to fill two days, and being there early and late allows you to visit the most popular sites without the daytripping hoards.

Obidos and Aveiro can easily be visited in a few hours each. I was glad to have two full days in Coimbra.

The Michelin Green guide for Portugal is excellent.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful answer. I will look into all. I don't have time for 2 days in Coimbra unfortunately. Activity and restaurant recommendations also welcomed. I will look in the guide as well.

Ericeira is a wonderful town to visit…been 4 times and plan again in September. Look at a stop in Tomar instead of Coimbra en route to Porto.

We booked with Hertz and glad that we did as the lines in the rental car area were really long for all the discount companies and we walked right up to the Hertz counter. This however was pre-pandemic.