subject: Is it worth hiring a car for a stay in Lisbon [print this page] Is it worth hiring a car for a stay in Lisbon
The rental of a hire car allows for limitless travel, without the constraints of public service transport or the reliance on the expensive Lisbon taxi system for night travel. If your stay is based around the centre of Lisbon (Rossio and Baxia), Belem and Expo do not hire a car there is no point, the public transport for these areas is good value and reliable. If your holiday will include day trips to local cities then the hiring of a rental car is recommended, but please read the semi warning towards the end of this article; car rental in Portugal is not always as cheap as it seems with the hire companies levying additional "optional cost".
Renting a car for stay in central Lisbon is not recommended because the metro runs past midnight and all historic sites are connected either via the metro network or the tram network.
Trying to find a place to park in central Lisbon can be exceedingly tricky, though not as congested as many capital cities there just is not enough decent car parks and it is easy to spend a substantial amount of time hunting for a place to park.
Short distance trains provide an excellent service to the west of Lisbon connecting to the historic city of Sinatra and the coast towns of Cascais and Estroil. If you holiday plans to include these cities and towns there again is little point to rent a hire car. The use of a car becomes invaluable if you are wanting to explore central Portugal and using Lisbon as a base to explore. The connections from Lisbon to the larger cities e.g. Evora, Setbal, Fatima and Odimarda
These cities are connected by the extensive and cheap bus service but some routes tend to involve long journeys which can be completed in a fraction of the time by car. The roads unlike the centre of Lisbon are generally empty and safe. As much of the highway network is tolled you pass only a handful of cars on a journey, not because of lack of cars but the savvy Portuguese would rather save a couple of Euros and spend that on petrol stuck in a traffic jam on a secondary country road.
So in summary if your holiday entails
Majority of time in Lisbon Do not even consider hiring a rental car.
Soaking up the sun at one of Lisbon beaches consider hiring a rental car for remote beaches.
Touring the centre of Portugal only hire a rental car for the time not in Lisbon.
Under 25 don't even bother as there are so many additional charges to hire a rental car in Portugal.
Please consider if you really need a hire a rental car in Lisbon, and remember the Portuguese drivers have the highest traffic death rate in Europe for a reason.
