Car rental Portugal

General information and regulations

In order to rent a car you must be at least 21 years old (age may vary by car category) and have held your license for 1 year. Drivers under the age of 25 may incur a young driver surcharge.

Seatbelts are mandatory and child's seats are mandatory for children up to 4 years old. Traffic travels on the right and the speed limits are: in the city 35mph/56kph, on open roads 55mph/88kph and on highways 75mph/120kph.

Driving in Portugal with a rental car

Portugal has an excellent road network, there is a highway with four lanes (the Auto-Estrada) which leads from Lisbon to Porto. The distance is approximately 280 km. Furthermore, many cities are interconnected by roads with 2 lanes. The network covers about 69,000 km and the Auto-Estrada from Lisbon to Porto is the only toll road.

Trips to the bigger cities are easily arranged, from Faro to Lisbon as well as from Lisbon to Porto will take no more than a day. A nice trip is driving from Faro to Porto with a stopover in Lisbon. The distance of this trip is 463 km and an overnight stay in Lisbon makes it easy and comfortable.

Arriving in Funchal (Madeira airport) entails other opportunities, especially because of the forests and mountains. These are popular among hiking enthusiasts.

The Azores are located at 1,000 km off the coast of Portugal. These islands draw many tourists each year. Madeira, another Portuguese island, is known for its 'Levada's', canals for irrigation that cover 2,150 km and are spread along the entire island.

Renting a car in Portugal

The airports of Porto, Lisbon, Faro and Madeira have a wide selection of car rental companies available: Avis, Auto Jardim, AA Castanheira/Budget, Europcar, Hertz and National.

Another option is booking a car through EasyTerra. This website compares the rates of local car rental companies for your convenience.