When we planned this trip I thought long and hard if we would rent a car. I knew Portugal was an old country and that most ofthe roads where we would be traveling would be small. My biggest worry was if I could fit in a small little foreign car. The other issue was the cost but I went with it and the car cost us 482 Euros. That was expensive but it paid off. I think we would do the same next time but I might make a trip to a few car dealers over here first to test sit some of the cars. The Audi was big once I got in but I have a long torso. I am only 5 fot 7 or so but my torso is the size of a guy 6 foot 3 or more. It was brutal to get into. The next thing is it was a 6 speed manual transmission. I haven't driven a stick since 1972. I survived and by the end of the trip I was a pro at shifting especially on hills. The Portugese driver has no concern for lanes and speed. On the major highways the speed limit was 120 kmh (75 mph). Here at home I drive on highways at 70 to 72 mph (yes 72 mph). In Portugal I did 120 kmh just to stay ahead of the guys in the slow lane. People flew past us at speeds in excess of 100 mph. They had no concern for getting stopped. I had read about the rules over here so I obeyed the speed limits. Also if I went too fast the Tom Tom GPS would bong all the time (of course it took me four days to figure out what that bong was). The other part about driving here is that they will park anywhere they can. They make South Philly parkers look like saints. The bus drivers amaze me in the city how they negotiate those ancient streets. The other thing that Portugese drivers don't respect is pedestrians. Although the crosswalks are marked if the sign doesn't say yield to pedestrians look out. In Lisbon one day we were in an island waiting to cross when we saw a person cross at another cross walk against the light. A driver was flying down the street to make the light and started beeping is horn but didn't slow down. He alsmost clocked that poor soul. They also have a lot of circles here called a rotary. So most of the intersections are these rotaries where the people in the rotary have the right of way. They are well marked and everyone expects you to follow the rules. The menace to the roadsover here is the mini bikes and motorcycles. These guys will go wherever they fit. I was stopped in traffic at a light and there was barely enough room between the car next to me and these two mopeds squeezed by. Once I saw a guy in an atv driving down the street. You do see a lot of older cars over here, much more then the states. I only saw one car that was a smoking like crazy. A lot of them have scratches probably because of the all the small parking spots. That is why the car cost so much since I took the medium coverage.