car hire in spain and portugal

[Stewart Fishburne]

Hi all,

 

I’m looking at a trip in September to Opporto (in Portugal). We’d also like to see Santiago de Compostela and it appears there are good value flights into Opporto and back from Santiago (from an to London Gatwick). But it seems impossible to hire a car in Opporto and drop it off at Santiago Airport. Is this really impossible? If so is it something to do with the pick up and drop-off being in different countries?

 

All help and advice appreciated, as usual.

 

Regards

 

Stewart

[Roger Warwick]

Hi Stewart,

Yes, it's almost certainly down to not being able to pick up a car in one country and leave it in another. They normally don't allow that.

Roger.

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[Traveling Bug]

Hi Stewart

 

I tried to do that too. They did advise that I could pay for a driver to pick up the car and drive it back to Portugal but the price was exorbitant - kind of defeat the purpose. Took public transport in the end.

 

Elly

[Huszár Levente]

Hi Stewart,

Yes I think it`s not allowed to leave the country where you rented it.

For example this is why I rented a car in Malaga but parked in Spain when I visited Gibraltar.

Levente

2013/4/22 Traveling Bug <travel...@gmail.com>

[Roger Warwick]

Hi Huszár,

In fact it's normally no problem at all to leave the country as long as you come back in to the country to drop off the car at the end of the rental period.

Roger.

[Stewart Fishburne]

Yes, I’ve done that many times. My last trip involved flying into and out of Toulouse, but I visited Northern Spain too. Just a shame I can’t go ‘cross-border’ with the drop off on this coming trip. I’m now re-planning to fly into and out of Porto, but visit Santiago in between.

 

Which brings me to my next question. Other than Santiago itself, are there any other ‘must sees’ or ‘must dos’ in that part of Spain? As a guide to our interests we are in our 50s, love the outdoors and cultural things of most types. Oh, and Food & Drink! Mustn’t forget that....

 

Thanks

 

Stewart

2013/4/22 Traveling Bug <travel...@gmail.com>

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[Sue Gee (IP)]

Hi Stewart

We drove through that part of Spain on our very first trip (1987)- we were en route to the Algarve, Portugal, and sadly didn't do the area justice - it was raining when we reached Santiago do Compostela and we didn't even stop - a real regret now. The north coast were we camped the previous evening was ruggedly attractive and reminded us of Wales/Cornwall.

I've recently read a book that is more of a travelogue that its title suggests: 
Everything But the Squeal: A Year of Pigging Out in Northern Spain (I've include the Amazon link for details)

It too is dated - but it made me want to visit La Coruna - and Santiago of course, plus some of the amazingly wild countryside - though I think I'd advise using a GPS and not straying onto some of the roads he describes

Be warned  - this is not a book for vegetarians, although the veggie point of view is taken into account as the author's long suffering wife is one, and I'd recommend most readers to dip into it selectively. 

Do let us know how the trip goes - Portugal as well as Spain.

Sue

[Roger Warwick]

Hi Stewart,

Your post just now reminded me that I had to update this topic.

I spoke to AVIS in Lisbon and they DO allow a pick-up in Spain and drop-off in Portugal, and I suspect other major hire companies will also. They will only allow the opposite (pick-up in Portugal and drop-off in Spain) if they already have a Spanish car in Portugal waiting to be taken back to Spain, so it may be worth asking each hire company if that is the case before you rent,and accept whatever class of vehicle they have with Spanish plates, rather than asking for a particular model.

Roger. 

[Stewart Fishburne]

Roger

 

On behalf of group members. thank you for doing this research. It might be relevant for a future trip, but for the current trip my flights are now booked, into and out of Porto.

 

Thanks again.

[Maggie Melanson]

Hi Folks: I’ve been following the discussions for the last 8 months or so. My name is Maggie and I live in Ottawa, Canada. My husband and I will be in Spain in September. Has anyone stayed at the Parador in Ronda? As we leave Madrid we plan to rent a car for our Andalusian excursion. Are we better to rent from here or once there? Any favourite car rental agencies?

 

Thanks for your thoughts,

Maggie

m.mel...@rogers.com

[Stewart Fishburne]

Maggie

 

I don’t know if this will work for Canadian residents (but why shouldn’t it?), but here in the UK there is a price comparison website that includes car-hire in Spain. Have a look at

 

http://www.travelsupermarket.com/c/cheap-car-hire/spain/

 

It claims to trawl over 200 hire-car companies to find the best rate for your dates and vehicle preference. I’d be cautious with the smaller companies and would check out their websites. But it’s certainly saves time whilst you are on holiday if you’ve pre-booked.

 

Regards

 

Stewart

[rowan fookes]

Hello,

 

Going to car rental agencies direct is generally more expensive.  I rent a lot in Spain through travelsupermarket.com  I do find whatever company you go through they tend to pile on the price once you pick up the car - ie charging exorbitant amounts for petrol.

 

Haven't stayed at the Ronda parador - though have stayed at many.  Lunched at the Ronda one. It's spacious, staff helpful, perfect position in Ronda by the gorge with great views. I'd go for paradores anytime.  Check on any offers they might have - they are good with those.

 

Rowan