Car rentals and travel via car from Ireland to Scotland

When renting a car in Ireland, can you take the rental on the ferry from Ireland to Scotland and drop the car in Scotland?

MAYBE. You will need to ask the rental agency.

Even if you can find an agency that would allow it (good luck with that, especially post-Brexit), I'm pretty sure you will decide you would rather not. Because doing so would cost you an arm and a leg and perhaps several additional appendages.

Regardless of whether or not you could, why on earth would you want to do this? There are car rental places on either end of that ferry. Rent one car for Ireland, leave it there before you walk on the ferry. Rent another on the other side. Don't throw away money on paying to bring a car on a ferry (very expensive) and then throw away even more for the privilege of picking up a car in one country and leaving it a second (very expensive, too).

IMHO, not a wise plan. At. All. You might as well just set a big pile of money on fire...

Thanks! I didn't know that there were car rentals directly off the ferry on either side. That is good to know.

To be clear: I do not know if there are rental agencies just steps from either ferry terminal (their might be, maybe not - I have not checked). But the ferries do not drop you on some lonely, remote rock - there are connections to the rest of the world's infrastructure right there...because most people on the ferry will not have a car, they need to get somewhere when they get off the ferry.

There are rental agencies all over the place on Ireland and Scotland, and worst case if you have to make your way a kilometer or three to get between a ferry terminal and your car, there are taxis and a dozen other cheap, easy, convenient ways to accomplish that.

The alternative of renting a car in Ireland and returning it in Scotland (assuming you can find an agency that allows that) could very easily cost more than your plane ticket to Europe. I suppose you could strike lightning and find a no-dropoff-fee rental (very unlikely, but anything's possible); you might start by just checking the cost of bringing a car on the ferry for starters...that might be enough to put you off even without the one-way drop-off fee. The world's a big place and anything can happen, but I'd expect the cost of this to be stunning.

Both countries are lovely and have large areas that are best done by car, and driving in general is great. I'd just suggest you do that with two separate cars to avoid the sticker shock.

There are no ferries between Dublin and Scotland - you would have to cross from Belfast or Larne in Northern Ireland or cross from Dublin to Holyhead or Liverpool.

Chances are you will not be permitted to take a hire car on a ferry and if you could, the one way drop fee would be astronomical, as the car would have to be repatriated to Ireland, which would involve someone spending 2 days driving it back.

The Irish border is a major sticking point in the Brexit negotiations, but at present, no one knows what the outcome will be. Taking a car across May add an additional complication.

Flying Dublin to Glasgow/Edinburgh etc would be the simplest option.

Thanks for the info! And just to be clear, I do know that there is not a ferry in Dublin, that is just the starting point of the trip. :)

I am planning a similar trip. We are taking the ferry from Belfast to Cairnryan Scotland. There are buses there in Cairnryan to several place. We will be going to Edinburgh and using public transportation at first and they renting another car there. I hope that helps.

When are you going?

There are bus services from Belfast to Glasgow & Edinburgh, see http://www.translink.co.uk/Services/Ulsterbus-Tours/cross-channel/

Taking a car on the ferry is not cheap, and paying to take someone else's car seems an unnecessary expense, even if the hire company permits it in the first place. If you're visiting cities first, you likely won't even need a car so why not take the bus or fly and then hire a car in Scotland?

Personally, I can't see paying extra to drop the car in another country PLUS the cost of taking a car on the ferry.

It's really cheaper and likely easier to drop the car, ferry over, pick up another car and continue on.

In terms of where to rent. I generally shop all offers including places to pick up the car. It will cost 30 euro extra to pick up at the airport. If you don't need it right away, pick it up on your way out of town at the most convenient location. Public transportation is more useful in town than a rental car and you won't have to pay to park the car.