Advice for "Get to know Portugal" Tour

Hi and Welcome.

I'd suggest before making a list of possible places to visit that you work out what type of locations you are seeking to live in.  Big busy cities, small historic towns, rustic villages, rivers/lakes, rugged coasts, bathing beaches, mountains as all these and more are available but what I look for maybe not what you look for.
This will also then work out if you need a car for the whole time as in the two big cities they can be a pain but rustic countryside there's not much choice if you want to go places when the local buses are infrequent. Pre Covid I'd pay €7 a day car hire for newish car and unlimited miles, UK driving licence.  Airbnb are useful to get local guidance and a possible introduction to the local population but less convenient if you want a quick overnight visit to check out a village festival.

I found everything takes 10 times as long to do as first thought, places vary enormously at different times of year and a lot of stuff is not on the internet so going, looking, trying and talking to people is the way to go.

Thanks. Good advice!

Hi Basha Jo,

To get answers to your questions, nothing better than subscribing this youtube channel and watching videos from a danish young couple who lives in Portugal.

Channel "Stay Classy Vlog" 
https://www.youtube.com/c/JoenRudeFalsner

They travel a lot, from North to South, mainland but also in our islands, Azores and Madeira, mostly out of touristic spots. They show us their point of view as expats. With a good sense of humor, they share their cleaver way to search for experiences and enjoy what life brings good to them, while sharing them to their subscribers,  70K actually. They have done/are doing plenty of great videos in several parts of Portugal, I should say professional videos with a stunning editing, great sound mixing, good taste music selection, awesome drone images... so please enjoy

Thank you. I will watch and learn.

In fact, watching now and the below video where they go through 10 places to retire has some very good information whether you want to retire, visit, or work remotely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbdU_LJeCaU

Can you advise whom you get car rental with for Euros 7 a day ??

almirantereis wrote:

Can you advise whom you get car rental with for Euros 7 a day ??

I'd use a "cashback site" then link to a "car hire search site" which then gave a list of 20+ companies/car hire prices. so just got the cheapest so used GoldCar, Enterprise, Holiday Autos, Eurocar, Sixt, and others  but the Covids have stopped a lot of the rental companies so no idea what they are doing today.

Well if you have used a number of hire companies are there any that were partic. trouble free ?

almirantereis wrote:

Well if you have used a number of hire companies are there any that were partic. trouble free ?

From Porto/Oporto airport all the 20ish car hire places are walking distance, all run courtesy buses from a few meters of the arrivals doors and return you to a few meters of the departures doors. They meet you within the terminal, tick your name off and explain where to wait for their bus. None have ever ripped me off, I always get the cheapest, unlimited mileage (kilometerage), full to full and a transponder for motorway tolls. The 24 hour petrol station is also within waling distance of all the car hire places. I have occasionally done stuff like getting the hire car stuck and needing to find a tow truck to get it free, having a bag of cement self destruct in the car  but never had any "extras" like damage or cleaning added to the hire after being returned.
BUT you are responsible for your own decisions car hire or others.