Portugal / Money rules

Portugal money rules

Eight things worth remembering while you are there, each linking to the fuller explanation.

Open it, then press and hold to keep it in your photos. Works with no signal.

1. 1Use a Multibanco machine. Walk past the yellow onesPortugal has one national bank network, MB, and it charges little or nothing to withdraw. The bright yellow Euronet units carry no bank name, cluster where tourists land, and stack a fee on top of a poor rate.Telling the machines apart
2. 2Choose euros, not dollars, at every screenTerminals and cash machines both offer the switch. Saying yes is dynamic currency conversion, a rate roughly 3 to 8 percent worse than the one your own bank would have given you for free.Paying by card in Portugal
3. 3The bread you did not order is a chargeBread, olives and cheese arriving unasked is the couvert, and it appears on the bill at a euro or two a head. It is not a gift and it is not a scam. If you do not want it, say so and it goes back.What the couvert costs
4. 4Tipping is light, and cash is the way to do itRounding up or 5 to 10 percent for good service is plenty, well under the US norm. Portuguese card machines often have no tip line, so keep coins and small notes if you want the money to reach anyone.Tipping in Portugal
5. 5Get a navegante card before you ride the 28Lisbon metro gates take your own contactless card, but the famous tram does not reliably, so do not build a day around tapping. A reusable navegante costs small change from any metro machine and covers both.Paying for Lisbon transport
6. 6Buying from the tram driver is the tourist priceA single bought on board costs close to double the same ride loaded onto a card, and drivers want coins or small notes for it. On a route you will ride more than once that difference adds up fast.What paying the driver costs
7. 7Validate the tax refund before you reach the gateAsk the shop for the form, then use an e-Taxfree kiosk at the airport. Which kiosk depends on whether the goods are in your carry-on or going in the hold, so sort that out before you check a bag with them inside.How the IVA refund works
8. 8Never enter a Via Verde lane without a deviceSome motorways here have no booth at all and read your plate instead. A car hired in Portugal comes with a transponder fitted by law, but a foreign-plated one does not, and an unequipped car in that lane means a fine.Tolls, transponders and fines

These are the rules that do not really change, which is why they are worth carrying. Exact fees, rates and prices do move, so check the Portugal guide for anything current before you rely on a number.

truetripcosts.com/portugal/rules