rental car or train?
 

Hi-<BR>Is it better to rent a car or take a train to get around the country? Don't know much about either way so would love to know any input.<BR>Thanks.

Which country?

In addition to which country, we need to know # of people in your party, and what types of things you are planning. cities? rural? All impact the answer to your question.

Without knowing any of the above, I can tell you that we always say we (the 2 of us) will take the train. Then we look into prices and find that a car rental tends to be cheaper (renting a manual transmission, vey small car).

Sorry about that- I will be in portugal.<BR>There will be 2 of us, think we want to do both rural and city, see a little bit of everything.

I would suggest that you rent a car, Portugal is one of the cheapest places in europe to hire a car, and if you shop around on the internet you will get a good deal without having to pay an airport pick up surcharge. The motorway network is really good, but some of the side roads are a bit hairy.<BR><BR>We rented a Renault Clio for 7 days for �53 in March. Excellent value.<BR><BR>Just take a good map, as the Portugese road signs are sometimes confusing, bur if you get lost it's a lot of fun finding your way back.<BR><BR>Good Luck

Portuguese drivers scare me! Other than professional drivers (taxis, etc.) they drive like they all got their driving license the same day (like yesterday) and they are not 'mature' in the 'rules of the road.' I guess it's because Portugal was the last western European country to taste prosperity and the luxury of automobile ownership. <BR><BR>Unlike more advanced European Countries that levy strict fines &amp; imprisonment for DUI, Portuguese drivers seem to think it's all right to drink &amp; drive. A few years ago Portugal had the highest accident rate of any western European country. <BR><BR>Rent a car for the countryside. You don't need one in Lisbon or Porto.

We were also just there in March. As already stated, if you are staying in the cities, you will not need a car. If you venture into the countryside, you will want one. However, unlike, &quot;Becko,&quot; I thought our rental was rather expensive. We had been in the country for a few days before getting our car. After seeing how people drove, we took every form of insurance that existed, so that did add to the cost. That being said, we had no problems. <BR>Invest in a good map!!! Most of the maps I received from tourist information sites were extremely misleading as to the steepness and/or winding-ness of a road. Roads were all well-paved and maintained. I suppose it depends on what your experience is with driving in somewhat mountainous terrain is as to how &quot;treacherous&quot; you will perceive it to be. Remember that driving into the old, walled portions of towns can be challenging too. The tollways were expensive but well worth the money in terms of time saved and ease of driving. <BR>Honestly evaluate what you are comfortable driving. I wouldn't want Portugal to be my first driving experience in Europe, but it certainly is &quot;do-able.&quot;

Irrespective of cost . . . taking the train is like looking at a brochure. You see lots of stuff whizzing by and if you want to stop and look around . . . too bad. Of course you can always get off at the &quot;next&quot; stop, but nothing takes the place of having a car to stop where and when you want. A lot of people, however, don't see driving as being any part of a vacation and will opt for the train to avoid the &quot;drudge&quot; of driving.<BR><BR>Given a choice, I'd only take a train if I couldn't afford a car.

Yes--rent a car!<BR>It's an adventure. Naturally, in any city you will not need a car--including Sintra. There are some fantastic towns/villages in Portugual; and the only way to find and explore them properly is with an auto.<BR>The southern coast is incredible--go right into South West Spain. Great hill towns!!<BR>Travel light and don't leave anything in view on the backseat. Also, we leave the glove compartment open, to show that it is empty.<BR>Once you get out of Lisbon the driving is fine. Italy is far worse.....<BR>Be well,<BR>Pete