We're planning a trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland for 3 people in September. We plan to pick up a car at the Dublin airport. Ideally, we'd like to return it to Belfast after 3 weeks. But I have a number of questions:
1) we were told it might be less expensive to drive to Letterkenny, return the car, take some kind of transportation to Londonderry, and rent another car there for driving around N. Ireland. Any thoughts about that? I haven't had any luck on-line finding a quote for a car to be picked up in Dublin and returned to Letterkenny.
2) Should we rent a diesel or a gas car? Is diesel easily available?
3) The insurance sounds confusing, we'll check with our insurance company and our credit card company to see what's covered, but does anyone have any advise about this?
4) I have read that the smaller the car the better, but I'm wondering if we need to find a car with a trunk so our luggage isn't visible when we stop at various stops between hotels. We'll have at least 3 carryon size bags.
5) We're comfortable driving manual transmissions here in the US, but is it asking for trouble learning to shift left handed while trying to stay on the correct side of the road?
Thank you for your help.
Posted by
Fredericksburg, VA
237 posts
Janet: Last year, we rented a car at the Dublin airport and took about three weeks to drive around the island and returned the vehicle back at the Dublin airport. I can't address question 1.
Q2, from what I recall, both gas and diesel were abundantly available--chose what it most convenient for you.
Q3, we elected to purchase every insurance option that was provided--bottom line was that we spent extra money for the convenience of being able to turn in a ruined car and only paying 100 dollars or so and walking away. Please note that although there are wonderful wide roads in Ireland, we were usually on far more narrow roads than we were used to--the possibility of scratching the car or knocking a side mirror off is quite real.
Q4, we had the smallest car available--and found it was easier to negotiate the narrow roads and by-ways than a larger car. Trunk space wasn't particularly good but we managed to get our two bags and day pack into the trunk.
Q5, Though I am comfortable driving a manual and have experience driving on the left side of the road, I went with an automatic--one less thing to worry about.
Good luck on your travels, you will certainly have a wonderful time.
~Darrel
Posted by
Colorado Springs
2828 posts
Good advice from Darrel. Would only add the following:
There's usually a hefty drop charge for an international one-way rental...which this unfortunately would be. For that reason many people opt for a pickup/drop at Dublin airport for the first part of their trip, then train up to Belfast to collect another rental for the NI portion of the trip. The train is actually pretty convenient and cost-effective.
Both gas or diesel are readily available.
The matter of insurance cover is a popular topic of discussion here, and I wouldn't necessarily trust that your credit card will cover you. Trying to decipher what's covered and what isn't can be a real chore on most rental car sites. Many here recommend Dan Dooley for car rentals in Ireland - they're one of the few companies that present all charges up front at booking (insurance, drop fees, etc) so you don't have to drill down into the fine print to get an accurate comparison of costs. You might want to check with their customer service folks to see just how punishing their one-way drop fees really are. Might be more convenient for you to just pay the fee if it's not too bad.
Yep - go with a small car and automatic transmission, which you need to specify at booking. The default rental in Ireland will be a manual.
Using the street view feature on Google maps always helps me prepare for driving on the left. Having seen the sight picture in advance, along with road conditions and layout, roundabouts, signage, etc. is always a big help for me - might help you too.
Posted by
Los Angeles, CA, USA
88 posts
Having researched your first question a lot, here is what I found: the only rental in Letterkenny is Entreprise. So maybe you could pick up Enterprise in Dublin and return it to Letterkenny, without driving through Northern Ireland.
We are doing something similar but with public transport: training it from Dublin to Belfast, then to Portrush, then to Derry for afternoon, then bus to Letterkenny. Pick up car there for second week...drive to two places around Donegal for 4 nights and then return car to Letterkenny and take Expressway bus back to Dublin from Letterkenny.
Good luck!
Posted by
11 posts
ATTENTION!!!! I hope I got your attention.
1. The insurance: we learned with our last Hertz rental in Ireland that we needed "CDW" and that we had to add "super." We also decided to pay the extra $135 for 8 days so that if we came back with ANYTHING, even tire damage or a scratch, it was covered. The credit card and any other expedia voucher for insurance, is a reimbursement program, and you will still have to pay it out of pocket when you drop off the car.
Do not waste your money on cheaper "insurance" from secondary companies. Just buy it from the rental car agency at the counter.
We used Diesel, it's fine.
I was glad we had an automatic transmission as everything, including the shifting mechanism is reversed. I rented in Europe and the car had a really tight 3rd and 5th gear and it was hard to separate.