We will be renting a car in Belfast, returning it to the Dublin airport location, next September. We’ll be heading toward the Strabane (or Londonderry) area and would prefer to rent the car in a location that won’t have us driving through the city. Using Autoeurope, which we always use, it looks like there are three possible locations in Belfast. Does anyone have an idea which might be the easiest of those locations to use?
Posted by
Colorado Springs
2815 posts
We've not rented a car in Belfast - have only driven around the city during a previous visit. From my recollection the easiest option would probably be to collect your vehicle from either the Hertz or Enterprise concession at their City Airport location. From there it's an easy exit onto the motorway and then a straight shot out of town.
There was a lot of construction going on during our visit requiring several detours along the way. That was several years ago so I don't know what conditions are now. You may want to check road conditions on Google maps beforehand so you know what to expect.
You're aware that doing this as a one-way international rental will incur a sizeable drop charge, right? ... on the order of USD$250 per the AutoEurope website.
Posted by
OP
Washington State
320 posts
Robert, thanks so much. That’s exactly the information I was looking for! And I’d forgotten about the drop fees…but in this case, they might be unavoidable. Sigh. I really appreciate your help!
Posted by
Tucson
4151 posts
Are you aware that there is a direct bus, Route 705X, from Belfast to the Dublin Airport?
It takes about 2 hours and costs about £14 per adult. Not knowing exactly how you're using the car, but being cheap, I'd do my best to return it in Belfast and take that bus.
Here's the current timetable for the 22 (!) trips per day: https://www.aircoach.ie/plan-journey/timetables/705X
And here are the current prices: https://www.aircoach.ie/plan-journey/fares/route-705-city-express-belfast-dublin-airport-and-dublin-city-centre
Posted by
OP
Washington State
320 posts
Lo, thank you. I’ll definitely look into that. We’ll have a bit of a time crunch on the day we’ll be traveling from near Derry down to Dublin, as we have an early flight out the next day. I’ll check the locations of the car rental and air coach departure in Belfast, and if they’re close, that might just work! I won’t have much wiggle room on that travel day, but fingers crossed. Thanks again!