Car transport
Car transport to Porto
2,010 kilometres to Porto: two hundred less than Lisbon, on the same toll system that has to be arranged beforehand.
Why this route
The first Portuguese city you meet
Porto lies about 2,010 kilometres away, two hundred less than Lisbon. That does not save a driving day, because it stays at two with one hotel night en route, but the second day is considerably shorter.
The route is the same as far as Salamanca: France via Paris or Reims to Bordeaux, the border at Irun, and then across the Spanish plateau. From Vilar Formoso the A25 runs straight to Porto, so this is the first Portuguese city of any size you meet coming out of Spain.
The toll system is the same as in the rest of Portugal, and that is why this run has to be set up beforehand. On sections signed with blue 'Electronic Toll Only' boards there are no booths: there is no way to settle on the spot. A foreign car not registered in advance gets a penalty notice posted home weeks or months later.
Your route
Netherlands → Porto
One direct drive from the Netherlands, your own car, one dedicated driver, from your door to the destination. Every other destination in Europe I drive just as readily.
direct route · 1 dedicated driver
Price indication — Porto
One-way
~ 2010 km · ~ 2 driving days
- Driver fee
- € 800
- Travel expenses (calculated up front, no mark-up)
- € 1.160
- Total (indicative)
- ± € 2.380
incl. 21% VAT · ± € 1.960 excl. VAT
Return (combi)
~ 2010 km · ~ 4 driving days
- Driver fee
- € 1.500
- Travel expenses (calculated up front, no mark-up)
- € 2.140
- Total (indicative)
- ± € 4.410
incl. 21% VAT · ± € 3.640 excl. VAT
Prices may vary slightly due to variable costs such as hotel, fuel and tolls.
Who sends a car here
Four situations where this works
Porto is cheaper, smaller and more practical than Lisbon, and draws a slightly different crowd for it.
A house in the north or in the Douro
The Douro valley begins an hour from the city and is one of the areas where Dutch buyers have been buying houses in recent years. Without a car that region is unmanageable: the roads along the river are narrow and twisting and public transport is thin. For a stay of weeks, bringing the car out costs less than hiring.
Moving or a longer stay
For many people Porto is the affordable alternative to Lisbon, and enough Dutch people now live there to make a steady stream of it. For a move, having the car brought out is the alternative to two days of driving yourself, and because no trailer is involved, whatever fits in the car simply comes along.
São João and Primavera Sound
On the night of 23 to 24 June comes São João, Porto's city festival, with fireworks over the Douro and streets full until morning. The same month brings NOS Primavera Sound at the Parque da Cidade. In those weeks hotels on both banks are booked out and parts of the Ribeira are closed off.
Collecting or returning a car
A car that was in northern Portugal and has to come home, or the other way round, one that is to winter there. I fly out, check it over, photograph its condition and drive it back.
The route
Two thousand and ten kilometres, in two days
Three countries, one overnight stop, and the tolling set against the plate beforehand.
- 01
Arranging tolls and zone access
Before departure
Portuguese electronic tolling has to be linked to the registration beforehand, via EasyToll, a TollCard or a hired Via Verde transponder. The French Crit'Air sticker also goes on the windscreen, and I check whether the delivery address falls inside the Baixa low-emission zone.
- 02
The Netherlands to Bordeaux
Day 1, ± 1,000 km
Via Antwerp and Paris or Reims to south-western France. The most toll-heavy stretch of the trip, and the fastest going. Hotel night with secured or gated parking.
- 03
Bordeaux to Salamanca
Day 2, ± 750 km
Over the border at Irun, past Burgos across the Spanish plateau to Salamanca. Empty, high and fast. This is the first part of the second day.
- 04
Down the A25 to the coast
Day 3, ± 300 km
Over the border at Vilar Formoso and then the A25 west, straight through the Beira Alta to Aveiro and Porto. A short final day, and the stretch where the Portuguese toll network begins.
- 05
Delivery and the way back
Day 3, end
I deliver to the agreed address, with the tolling arranged and photographs of the condition on arrival. The tolls actually incurred go onto the invoice one-to-one. Then I fly home from Porto, which has direct flights to the Netherlands; that ticket is in the price.
Practical points
The electronic tolling has to be set up beforehand
On the Portuguese sections signed with blue 'Electronic Toll Only' boards there are no toll booths: no barrier, no machine, no way to pay on the spot. A car on a foreign plate that has not been registered in advance therefore drives through unable to settle, after which a penalty follows weeks or months later, by then at home in the Netherlands, in Portuguese. This is not a fine you avoid by driving carefully; it is paperwork that has to happen in advance.
Three ways of arranging it
EasyToll links the plate to a bank card and is registered via portugaltolls.com or at a Welcome Point at the border. There are also the TollCard and the TollService, and foreigners can hire a Via Verde transponder for ninety days. Which suits best depends on how long the car stays in Portugal; if it stays a while, the transponder is usually the most practical. I arrange it and put the tolls actually incurred onto the invoice without a mark-up.
Porto has a low-emission zone in the Baixa
The historic centre has a Zona de Emissões Reduzidas with requirements on the emissions class. What applies to your car I work out from the registration and the delivery address. If the address is in Vila Nova de Gaia across the Douro, it usually does not apply, and that is exactly why I check per address rather than per city.
The Douro valley is on the same run
Peso da Régua, Pinhão and Lamego are one to one and a half hours from Porto and therefore on the same run; that normally costs nothing extra. The roads along the river are narrow and twisting, though, with stretches a trailer simply cannot manage. Your car is on its own wheels, so that limit does not apply.
Recurring events
São João on the night of 23 to 24 June is Porto's biggest city festival, with fireworks over the Douro and streets full until dawn; whole parts of the Ribeira are closed off. The same month brings NOS Primavera Sound at the Parque da Cidade. In those weeks hotels on both banks are booked out, so I plan more generously and agree the delivery address more precisely.
Compare your options
The same car from the Netherlands to Southern Europe, three ways, three price tags. With a trailer, watch which one you are comparing: riding along on a scheduled line from depot to depot is the cheapest there is, but a transporter making the run for your car alone charges per kilometre and bills the truck’s journey home as well. Between those two extremes sits a factor of five.
Trailer transport
€675 – 4,500 excl.
± 10 working days, or 2–3
- €675 – 850 if your car rides along on a scheduled line
- But then you take it to the depot yourself and collect it yourself on arrival, ten working days later
- If the transporter runs for your car alone, door to door, it goes per kilometre — open ± €0.95, enclosed ± €1.35 — and the truck’s journey home counts too. Utrecht–Marbella comes to ± €4,500
- Luggage in the car usually not allowed
Driving it yourself
± €0.25 per km + your time
± 2 – 3 days of your own
- You drive the whole route yourself
- Fuel and tolls come to roughly €0.25 per kilometre
- Plus a hotel night on the way and a flight back
- And two to three days of your own time
Monarch DriveDrive-it-Back
± €2,040 excl. for Utrecht–Marbella
± 3 days
- One dedicated driver drives your own car, door to door
- Half what a transporter charges to make that same run for your car alone
- On the day you choose, not the day the line departs
- Load the car with your own luggage
- 360° condition report + daily updates
Trailer prices, September 2026: the line prices from one large Dutch car transporter's own route pages, the door-to-door price from a Dutch specialist in exclusive car transport's own rate calculator. My figure is the indication from the calculator above for Utrecht–Marbella, one way. All amounts exclude VAT so they can be read side by side. Travel expenses are calculated up front and included in the fixed price, with no mark-up.
Frequently asked
What people ask about this route
On sections signed with blue 'Electronic Toll Only' boards there are no toll booths: there is no way to pay on the spot. An unregistered foreign plate gets a penalty notice weeks or months later. I make sure the car is registered beforehand via EasyToll, a TollCard or a hired Via Verde transponder, and put the tolls actually incurred onto your invoice one-to-one.
Two driving days with one hotel night en route, the second day being a short one. That night and the secured parking are in the price.
That depends on the car and the address. The Baixa is a low-emission zone with requirements on the emissions class; Vila Nova de Gaia across the Douro usually is not. Give me the registration and the delivery address at booking and I will check.
Yes. Peso da Régua, Pinhão and Lamego are one to one and a half hours away and on the same run. The roads there are narrow and twisting, but your car is on its own wheels, so that is no obstacle.
Yes. No trailer is involved, so whatever fits in your car comes along. Over 2,010 kilometres that saves a separate shipment.
By air from Porto, which has direct flights to the Netherlands. That ticket is in the price.
How I safeguard your car
Clear about cover
Your own policy stays leading. Damage caused by me: I cover the excess up to €500. What I do not have is stated just as plainly.
Signed transport agreement
Every arrangement — excess, route, planning — recorded in writing beforehand.
360° condition report
Your car's condition fully documented with photos, before and on delivery.
Reply within 24 hours
A personal answer from one point of contact, not a call centre.
Elsewhere on the site
Further into Portugal, or the rates first?
The other direction
And if your car needs to come back from Porto?
Bringing your car back from Porto costs ± € 2.160. Going out is ± € 2.380, so the return works out cheaper: the last driving day ends at my own door, with no hotel night at the far end and no flight home. I fly out and drive it back to you.
Ready to have your car transported safely?
Request your indication with no obligation. Within 24 hours you will have a personal reply.