Irish folks! I'm going to be traveling to Ireland later this week, and I'm very lightly considering renting a car.... is that a terrible, awful, stupid idea?

[Entre_Perpetuo]

Title says it all. Thoughts? I'm trying to not be tied down to bus and train schedules or organized tours.

[goose]

I rented a car on my trip several years ago and loved the freedom of it.  A couple of things, though...

 

Upon renting I had to buy the insurance or fork up a $5k euro deposit

 

Rental cars were manual transmission with left hand stick shift,  of course.  Made it fun as heck

[blueschica]

6 hours ago, Entre_Perpetuo said:

Title says it all. Thoughts? I'm trying to not be tied down to bus and train schedules or organized tours.

Ooooh, have a great time!  I have had a few good friends go there and rent cars, like three of them.  Two had small accidents (  they probably had more ingrained driving habits because they are older, though)  and they all said just get the insurance if you rent.  

Edited March 13, 2023 by blueschica

[IbanezJem]

9 hours ago, goose said:

I rented a car on my trip several years ago and loved the freedom of it.  A couple of things, though...

 

Upon renting I had to buy the insurance or fork up a $5k euro deposit

 

Rental cars were manual transmission with left hand stick shift,  of course.  Made it fun as heck

Ah, just like every car I`ve ever driven, eh? 

[condemned2bfree]

16 hours ago, Entre_Perpetuo said:

Title says it all. Thoughts? I'm trying to not be tied down to bus and train schedules or organized tours.

Good idea. There's so much to see, historical pre history ruins etc. Practical to do really,  as some areas are not served so frequently by public transport.. I did it many years ago. We only stayed a few days, trying to cram lots in. Missed out on a lot too. I was shocked though while there, on seeing the news, that Ireland has a bad accident record on the roads. One of the worst. I don't know if that's changed since. It didn't seem that bad at all when I was driving around. Upon depositing the car the guy did try it on with marks on the car that were there before renting. This probably the case in most places and not reflective of Ireland in any way. Hope you have fun whatever you choose!

[zepphead]

A few things to consider -

- Public transport is not the most reliable in Ireland (North & South) so a car would give you more freedom.

- We drive on the left side of the road.

- Depending on where you are driving, you may encounter some extremely narrow roads!! I remember talking to an American couple who were a bit shocked at some of our country roads lol!

- As mentioned earlier, the car will be stick-shift.

Other than that you should be grand! 

 

What part of Ireland are you going to?

Edited March 13, 2023 by zepphead

[Entre_Perpetuo]

9 hours ago, zepphead said:

A few things to consider -

- Public transport is not the most reliable in Ireland (North & South) so a car would give you more freedom.

- We drive on the left side of the road.

- Depending on where you are driving, you may encounter some extremely narrow roads!! I remember talking to an American couple who were a bit shocked at some of our country roads lol!

- As mentioned earlier, the car will be stick-shift.

Other than that you should be grand! 

 

What part of Ireland are you going to?

Thank you for the tips!

 

I've been reading that automatic cars are available at car rental places, but they cost more. Do you think that's false?

 

I'm going to be stationed out of Dublin all week, but I'm planning on driving out to the Cliffs Of Moher early Thursday morning and using the rest of the day after visiting the cliffs to explore a bit, I'm still not sure where yet, ha!

[Entre_Perpetuo]

10 hours ago, condemned2bfree said:

Good idea. There's so much to see, historical pre history ruins etc. Practical to do really,  as some areas are not served so frequently by public transport.. I did it many years ago. We only stayed a few days, trying to cram lots in. Missed out on a lot too. I was shocked though while there, on seeing the news, that Ireland has a bad accident record on the roads. One of the worst. I don't know if that's changed since. It didn't seem that bad at all when I was driving around. Upon depositing the car the guy did try it on with marks on the car that were there before renting. This probably the case in most places and not reflective of Ireland in any way. Hope you have fun whatever you choose!

Thank you for the tips! I'll try to take a video around the vehicle before I get in so I have proof I haven't caused any damage upon return.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

20 hours ago, blueschica said:

Ooooh, have a great time!  I have had a few good friends go there and rent cars, like three of them.  Two had small accidents (  they probably had more ingrained driving habits because they are older, though)  and they all said just get the insurance if you rent.  

That's the idea, thanks blueschica! :)

[Entre_Perpetuo]

21 hours ago, goose said:

I rented a car on my trip several years ago and loved the freedom of it.  A couple of things, though...

 

Upon renting I had to buy the insurance or fork up a $5k euro deposit

 

Rental cars were manual transmission with left hand stick shift,  of course.  Made it fun as heck

Thanks for the tips. I'm reading that you can get automatic transmission, it just costs more.

[goose]

2 hours ago, Entre_Perpetuo said:

Thanks for the tips. I'm reading that you can get automatic transmission, it just costs more.

You'll need to reserve an automatic.  The roads are crazy narrow, so be ready to have your side mirror frequently grazing hedgerows .  And watch for one lane bridges.  Trucks/Lorries won't likely yield

[J2112YYZ]

Don't forget your Irish to English dictionary 😄

[Alex’s Amazing Arpeggios]

9 hours ago, J2112YYZ said:

Don't forget your Irish to English dictionary 😄

Yeah , don’t confuse

‘ doing it for the craic ‘ … with ‘ crack ! ‘
🤣🤣🤣

[Alex’s Amazing Arpeggios]

Be sure to take along an Emerald Isle inspired playlist with lots of

Thin Lizzy

Gary Moore

Rory Gallagher

( was a good friend of Lerxst 😊)  

👍🙂😎 

[Alex’s Amazing Arpeggios]

4 minutes ago, Alex’s Amazing Arpeggios said:

Be sure to take along an Emerald Isle inspired playlist with lots of

Thin Lizzy

Gary Moore

Rory Gallagher

( was a good friend of Lerxst 😊)  

👍🙂😎 

I can’t believe I forgot to also add 

U2 my fiancée’s favourite band ! 🙃

[goose]

11 hours ago, J2112YYZ said:

Don't forget your Irish to English dictionary 😄

I found it hilarious that while I knew every word that a person was saying I often had no idea what they meant.  

 

 

[zepphead]

On 3/14/2023 at 12:50 AM, Entre_Perpetuo said:

Thank you for the tips!

 

I've been reading that automatic cars are available at car rental places, but they cost more. Do you think that's false?

 

I'm going to be stationed out of Dublin all week, but I'm planning on driving out to the Cliffs Of Moher early Thursday morning and using the rest of the day after visiting the cliffs to explore a bit, I'm still not sure where yet, ha!

Not sure about the availability of automatic rental cars but if they are available you can certainly be sure that they will charge extra.

The cliffs of Moher are pretty but the weather forecast for Thursday suggests rain so take an umbrella!! It is also quite a drive from Dublin.

Enjoy!

 

[treeduck]

On 3/15/2023 at 10:41 PM, zepphead said:

Not sure about the availability of automatic rental cars but if they are available you can certainly be sure that they will charge extra.

The cliffs of Moher are pretty but the weather forecast for Thursday suggests rain so take an umbrella!! It is also quite a drive from Dublin.

Enjoy!

 

He needed to go and see the sights of Sallynoggin!

[Blue J]

On 3/12/2023 at 6:21 PM, Entre_Perpetuo said:

Title says it all. Thoughts? I'm trying to not be tied down to bus and train schedules or organized tours.

I’m envious of you, young man. Ireland and the UK are a dream trip of mine. I look at country homes in the UK frequently, and I’d love to get one.

 

Anyway, I don’t see that you reported back about how it was! So how was it??