# Transportation help for Portugal



## bellesgirl (Feb 27, 2010)

We are going to Portugal in May.  We will spend a week in the south at the Four Seasons Vilamoura.  We want to rent a car in Faro for the week.  I have been looking at carjet and it seems like I can cancel or modify at no cost.  But I think I have to pay when I book the car - correct?

We are going to Lisbon for a second week.  I am trying to decide if we should drive or take a train.  We do not plan to have a car in Lisbon.  If we drive, carjet offers 3 drop off locations but, other than the airport, I am having a hard time figuring out where they are.  One is Av. J. Crisostomo and the other is Av. Do Brasil.  I would guess these are near some of the train stations.  Does anyone know where these are relative to the airport.  We have a reservation at the Corintha in Lisbon which is near the zoo.

Any advice is most appreciated.


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## Blues (Feb 27, 2010)

Heh, I remember trading lots of emails with CarJet, trying to get them to give me an idea of where these locations were.  They stonewalled me, saying they're just a broker and can't provide detailed information on their suppliers.  Huh?

Anyway, you have several things going for you:

1. The subway system in Lisbon is extensive and reasonable.  You could likely drop your party and luggage at the hotel, have one person check you in, then drop the car and take a subway back.  I see from google maps that your hotel is very near a subway station.

2. Taxis are very cheap in Lisbon.  Ditto above, but taking a taxi back.

3. Though I ended up renting from a different supplier (economycarrentals.com, which for other reasons, I don't recommend), it appears that many of these rental agencies are willing to pick up and drop off.  When I rented in Lisbon, they dropped the car off at the hotel.  When you find the name of the *real* supplier, they may be willing to pick up the car at the hotel.

That said, from google maps, it appears that Av Joao Crisostomo is reasonably close to your hotel.  Less than a mile, by the looks of it.

HTH,
Bob


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## Conan (Feb 27, 2010)

We used Autoeurope.  We landed in Lisbon, drove directly to Vilamoura where we stayed six nights (driving all over the Algarve), then drove back to Lisbon to return the car (after which we stayed the weekend in Lisbon and then flew on to Madeira).

The hard part for us was finding our way from the hotel (we were at the Sofitel Liberdade) to the return place (and we made it harder for ourselves by needing to find a gas station en route to fill up).

If I were doing it again, I'd still drive to the hotel, but after unloading I would pay a taxi to lead me to the return spot (and if it didn't take too long he could wait and drive me back to the hotel....).


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## Passepartout (Feb 28, 2010)

We rented from CarJet in Lisbon. The car actually came from Budget desk at Lisboa airport. We drove to Algarve and back to Lisbon- checked in at the Holiday Inn, returned the car and took a taxi back to hotel. Very inexpensive taxis. Airport location is easy. We didn't see frequent trains Algarve to Lisbon, and it's not a difficult drive.

Jim Ricks


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## nerodog (Feb 28, 2010)

*portugal*

First of all, Villamoura..loved  the resort... great food too if you decide to dine there... I read that others drove... I took the train from Faro to Lisbon and got off at Entrecampos Station then took a taxi to my hotel... it was a nice , relaxing journey and I love to look out the window so  it was fine.. also rented a car from Autoeurope and they went through Guerin which was fine... no probs at all.. we took a taxi from Faro airport to the train  station, very quaint and quiet area...  have fun !!! I am going back in APril  and will be doing some driving and trains....


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## bellesgirl (Mar 1, 2010)

Passepartout said:


> We rented from CarJet in Lisbon. The car actually came from Budget desk at Lisboa airport. We drove to Algarve and back to Lisbon- checked in at the Holiday Inn, returned the car and took a taxi back to hotel. Very inexpensive taxis. Airport location is easy. We didn't see frequent trains Algarve to Lisbon, and it's not a difficult drive.
> 
> Jim Ricks



Do you have to pay upfront with Carjet?  They say you can cancel with no penalty; do you have any experience here?


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## Passepartout (Mar 2, 2010)

bellesgirl said:


> Do you have to pay upfront with Carjet?  They say you can cancel with no penalty; do you have any experience here?



I recall them running the CC when we picked up the car, and since we didn't cancel, and they hadn't run the card before we got there, I doubt there could have been a cancellation penalty. I had good response from Carjet on email- allowing for the time difference, so you might ask them.

Jim Ricks


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## Conan (Mar 4, 2010)

Speaking of driving and finding the way, it took us a while to find our way to Four Seasons Vilamoura.

The trick is to turn onto R. do Brasil and follow along (its name changes to d'Inglaterra).  See below:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Caminho+dos+Golfes+100,+Loul%C3%A9,+Portugal&daddr=Rua+da+Holanda,+8125+Loul%C3%A9,+Portugal+(Hotel+in+Portugal+%E2%80%93+Hotel+Four+Seasons+Vilamoura)&hl=en&geocode=%3BFWrvNQIdKEaE_yF0ZVmKRzy8_A&mra=ls&sll=37.133173,-8.081759&sspn=0.166962,0.313454&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=16


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## JeanMc (Mar 9, 2010)

Hi there! 

I rented a car previous summer in Faro from Decode car hire faro airport. they are brokers, but they show also the companies they work with. Unfortunately I don't remember exactly which one I chose that time. But a month ago when I hired from Decode again I noticed they have kind on No booking fees campaign or something like that which means I didn't need to pay any fee when I did my booking, just the whole amount at rental desk. This is very convenient in case you need to cancel your reservation for any reason.


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## bellesgirl (Mar 10, 2010)

Thanks for the information.  Although the prices are great, the reviews I am seeing for Decode are less than flattering.  Has anyone else used them?


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