Malaga to Lisbon car rental?

We are considering a cruise that ends in Malaga, Spain. We would like to rent a car and take several days to drive to Lisbon, Portugal , and fly home from there. We have not rented a car in Europe in decades.

So, I would like any advice on how difficult/expensive it would be to take a rental car across a border and return it to the rental agency in a different country. Also, is it easy to navigate the highways in Europe? Thank you for any advice.

While the rental itself would not be that bad, I think you are going to face hefty drop-off fees between countries. I would say about 600 euro or over $800.

I would rent in Andalucía for a period following your cruise and then do a one-way flight over or Lisbon or do the drive back from Lisbon to Madrid and then fly home from there. You should face no drop of fee if returning in Spain.

Just another tip if you decide to drive. Cameras are frequent now in Spain and any fines are charged out to your credit card left with the agency. Police in Portugal will occasionally have speed or other control stops. They have credit card machines in the police cars and any fines are paid immediately prior to being able to continue your journey. They do not return your documentation until the fine payment has cleared.

We spent several weeks traveling through Spain and Portugal by rental car.

We found that Autoeurope.ca provide the best value.

Several things to note: We were unable to get any reasonably priced one way rentals from Spain to Portugal. To get around this we did a one way rental from Toledo to Seville . We then went by bus (reserved seats) from Seville to Faro, Portugal (about a two hour trip). The bus dropped us off at the train station in Faro and we picked up another one way rental from Faro to Lisbon. This may have changed but it was our experience three years ago.

It worked out well because we did not need a car in Seville. Hopping on the bus to Faro was a snap.

The cars were all standard transmission and we certainly appreciated this in the hill towns. Automatics are more difficult to rent and considerably more expensive.

No issue with driving. We had no problems. In Portugal the rental place did emphasize that we were responsible for the radio antena. Very odd we thought. We unscrewed it and put it in the trunk as we had no intention of listening to the radio.

Both rentals were reasonable. You will need to be careful you visit the beautiful white hill towns around Rhonda (just north of Gib.) Their streets are VERY narrow so you need to remember to turn the side mirrors in or you risk loosing them!

When you leave the Algarve and enter the expressway to Lisbon be sure and get a toll ticket. You will need this ticket in order to pay when you get off. If you do not get a ticket, I think that they simply charge you the maximum.

For our money, touring by car is the only way to truly see Spain and/or Portugal. You certainly will not see much or experience much if you do it by cruise ship. We enjoyed our trip so much we want to go back.

Last year we spent time in Porto, Portugal (north of Lisbon). Rented a car and spent a week in beautiful Valley. If you have time, we would highly recommend this area of Portugal.

We do a lot of European rental car trips and can say that as a general rule one-way drop charges (between 2 countries) is usually very expensive. In many cases it will more then double the cost of your rental (especially for shorter term rentals). When we do driving trips in Europe (we will soon be back in France) we try to plan our trip so that we can pick up and drop within the same country. If planning to go to several countries we often plan some kind of circular route. As an example, consider driving from the south of Spain into Portugal and then returning by a different route to Madrid (and its airport).

By the way, do heed the warning from MadFlyer about speed cameras. This is not just an issue in Spain, but has spread across much of Western Europe. I have come to accept that my days of driving at 180 KPH is gone (except for certain places in Germany). These days one is well advised to stay very close to the posted speed limits. It is a darn shame :).

Hank

Thanks to all of you for your valuable suggestions. I now know I will need to do more research and planning than I anticipated.

So many possibilities! And so little experience! ( I am talking about myself):o

Thanks to all of you for your valuable suggestions. I now know I will need to do more research and planning than I anticipated.

 

So many possibilities! And so little experience! ( I am talking about myself):o

It is actually easier then you might expect...thanks to the internet. You can quickly check on the cost of a rental car online by checking several of the majors such as Europcar, Hertz, Avis, Budget and Sixt. You can also use Google Maps to calculate the various distances and reasonable options. Many years ago, before we had the internet, this kind of issue was truly maddening and one had to depend on a travel agent who may or may not have had a clue.

About 4 years ago we had a similar dilemma where we needed to rent a car in Italy and wanted to drop it in France. After looking at the various cost scenarios we altered our itinerary in order to drive back (from France to Italy) where we flew out of Milan. We thus avoided the one way drop fees and actually got a better deal on the air fare. But we did have to spend most of a day driving from the south of France over to Milan. It is all about trade-offs.

Hank

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Keep in mind that car rental rates are like hotel prices-they change frequently. We found this to be especially true in Europe.

We check back periodically on the rates after we have booked. It has not been uncommon for us to score a lower price and/or a upgrade subsequent to booking.

We have also found that renting from an airport location is often much more expensive-just as it is in North America.

Don't count on finding a car rental office open on Sundays (except airport locations) and some have reduced hours on Saturday.

I believe in Portugal you can get a car outfitted with a toll transponder--not sure if this is a cost-effective way of dealing with the many toll roads, but it would certainly be more convenient.

Also, get a good map, or a GPS unit. We drove around northern Portugal, and roads were great, but directional sign were sometimes confusing.

Last year we picked up a car in Porto, Portugal from a company called Guerin (Sp).

Would NOT recommend them at all. Poor service and the car was not in good condition-tires and brakes. Did not notice it until we were too far to go back.

We have a Garmin GPS that came with maps of North America and Europe (including Turkey). It has paid for itself not to mention avoided numerous arguments.

Last year we picked up a car in Porto, Portugal from a company called Guerin (Sp).

 

Would NOT recommend them at all. Poor service and the car was not in good condition-tires and brakes. Did not notice it until we were too far to go back.

 

We have a Garmin GPS that came with maps of North America and Europe (including Turkey). It has paid for itself not to mention avoided numerous arguments.

thank you very much! good to know to avoid Guerin.

and thank you to the other responders as well. Your information is very helpful. Fortunately, both my husband and I have no problem driving manual transmissions, although the tip from Hank about how to get into reverse is a good one!

And our cruise does end on a Sunday, so good to know that rental car agencies are closed that day. We want to visit Portugal after the cruise, so I am thinking of taking the bus or a train , from Spain to Portugal , and renting the car there, because of the information about cross border rentals being expensive.

Or maybe, we should rent in Spain and drive back to Spain to drop off the car and fly home. I think that I need to research airfare to find out if there is a significant difference in cost between flying from Lisbon or maybe Madrid.

We were an open jaw award ticket. In through Barcelona, then Madrid. Out through Lisbon. Bussing it from Seville to Faro was no issue whatsoever. We were glad to drop the car in Sevllle-saved paying parking fees!

I see you are Canadian. Last October, we scored a one way ticket from Toronto-Porto, Portugal for $268. all taxes included. We were looking for a one way to Rome but this was so attractive that we grabbed it. It was an Air Transat flight. The same flight, two days earlier, was $500. Go figure. Flight was half full, we each had the middle row seats to ourselves.

Last year we picked up a car in Porto, Portugal from a company called Guerin (Sp).

 

Would NOT recommend them at all. Poor service and the car was not in good condition-tires and brakes. Did not notice it until we were too far to go back.

 

We have a Garmin GPS that came with maps of North America and Europe (including Turkey). It has paid for itself not to mention avoided numerous arguments.

Your Garmin comment really made me smile. We also have a Gamin with the European maps and have sometimes posted that device might be partially responsible for saving my marriage :). When DW is the navigator it can get quite UGLY. One day we were driving somewhere in Northern Italy when I got us terribly lost. When I asked DW "where are we" her answer was "how can I find where we are on the map if we are lost.?" Soon after that incident we bought the Garmin :)

Hank

Yes. Travelling with a Garmin has been a marriage saver for us. Especially in Italy and Turkey.

Don´t forget that insurance costs are much higher when taking a car from one country to another than they are when staying in the same country. Another factor to account for in your budgetting.

also remember to check the contract & insurance rules. Some rentals only allow mainland Spain so you could not go into Portugal. Probably safer to deal with the main rental companies if you want to attempt to take a rental car into Portugal.