Cheap Car Rental in Portland

Car Rental in Portland: driving The City of Roses

Once renowned as “The City of Roses,” Portland has become famous today as a city kept lively by hipsters. Regardless of your thoughts on hipster fashion and politics, this means that Portland has become the Pacific Northwest’s metropolis for excellent, independently run restaurants, cafes, and microbreweries, not to mention quirky and exciting shops and cultural activities. Portland will certainly keep you busy! But a visit to Oregon’s largest city is incomplete without exploring the nearby natural sights as well. Make the most of your visit by renting a car and heading west to the Pacific coast or east into the Mount Hood National Forest. Whether you drive the Columbia River Valley or beyond, a visit to Oregon is nothing without a road trip. Book your rental car today!

To avoid the rain, visit Portland between July and September, when summer weather makes outdoor exploration much more comfortable, whether in the city, on the beach, or in the mountains.

The de facto national language of the United States is English, which is also the native language of the vast majority of Portland’s residents. Chinook and Chinook Jargon or Tsinuk Wawa are the major indigenous languages originally spoken in the area that is now Portland.

Portland is located in the Pacific Time Zone, UTC-8.

The currency is the US dollar. Currency exchange is readily available at airports and popular tourist destinations, and credit cards are accepted at the vast majority of businesses.

Automobile hire is available in 13 locations throughout Portland, including the Portland Airport (PDX), downtown, and in eastern and northeastern Portland.

Visa Regulations

38 nationalities can enter the United States as tourists without applying for a visa, though if you are among these nationalities, you are still required to fill out the ESTA in advance. Visit esta.us for more information. Visitors to the United States will be fingerprinted and biometrically photographed upon entry. If your nationality is not included in the visa-waiver program, you will be required to apply for a B-1 or B-2 visa in advance of your arrival.

Driving in Portland

Regardless of which side of the Willamette River you decide to stay on during your visit to Portland, it’s unlikely that you’ll need a car to explore the center of the city. Still, if your hotel or residence is located outside of central Portland, a car will greatly improve your mobility, and you should absolutely plan to drive beyond the city into northern Oregon’s beautiful landscapes!

Right-Hand Driving

• Traffic drives on the right-hand side of the road throughout North America.

Speed Limits

• In the city: 20 to 25 miles per hour unless otherwise marked
• On divided highways: 55 to 70 mph
• On the interstate: 65 to 70 mph
• In order to make the most of your travel time, try to avoid driving during morning and evening rush hours, 7 to 9 am and 3 to 7 pm respectively.

Other Regulations

1. Parking is challenging to find in downtown Portland, where street parking is highly regulated and underground car parks are typically quite expensive. To avoid the traffic and limited parking in downtown Portland, consider parking in one of Portland’s more remote neighborhoods for free and commuting in via bus.
2. You can drive for up to a full year with an international driver’s permit in addition to your valid domestic driver’s license as a tourist throughout Oregon.
3. At the time of writing, there were no toll roads in the state of Oregon.
4. The minimum driving age in Oregon is 18 years, though most rental companies will require that you are at least 21 years old to rent a car, and you are likely to face young-driver surcharges until the age of 25.

Cheap Car Rental in Portland

Automobile hire in Portland typically starts at around $40 a day. Here are some of the best deals in Portland:

• Kia Rio or similar (economy class) – $44/day
• Nissan Note or similar (compact class) – $45/day
• Hyundai Elantra or similar (intermediate class) – $48/day
• Volkswagen Jetta or similar (standard class) – $49/day
• Ford Fusion or similar (fullsize class) – $51/day

Note that prices vary depending on the availability of each specific car and the season in which you rent. For the most accurate offers, use the search bar above.

Tips for Renting a Car Inexpensively in Portland

There is some seasonal variation in price for rental cars in Portland, where the price of cars rises slightly in the summer months. Still, the best way to save money on automobile hire in Portland is to rent from the Portland Airport, regardless of when you are planning to travel. Rental companies such as Thrifty and Alamo can often beat the prices of other companies in and around Portland by over $40 a day!

However, if you extend your rental period to over a week, the rental car company Hertz often drops its prices to below $30 a day, regardless of pick-up location!

You should also keep an eye out for occasional discounts of around 15% that make rental car prices even cheaper in Portland.