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Renting car in Dublin

We are renting a car for about 3 weeks in Ireland. 2 questions. It looks like we can drive the car into Belfast and pay the rental company a fee of 34 euro. Is it easy to cross the border into Northern Ireland and come back with a rental car? Do we need international driving licenses?

Posted by
9183 posts

Don’t need international driving license. But why rent in Belfast? Are you touring Ireland AND Northern Ireland or just Ireland?

I’ve driven the entire island twice. Last trip drove from Belfast to Dingle. Stayed 4 days and drove back to Belfast where I was staying with friends.

Posted by
63 posts

We are renting the car in Dublin and visiting Belfast for about 3 days and then back to Dublin and the south of Ireland.

Posted by
2976 posts

There are no border checkpoints or restrictions for driving into NI in a vehicle rented in thr Republic, ie Dublin..
Just be aware of a few differences, like the fact that speed limits change from Kph to Mph in the north.
Don't need to worry about an IDP since they're English speaking countries.

Posted by
588 posts

Not all rental companies charge for crossing into Northern Ireland from the Republic. Our rental with Alamo didn't in 2019. The border crossing is seamless. The biggest thing you will notice is the change from kilometers to miles. And of course you will need pounds instead of euros.

Posted by
9183 posts

Rented from Hertz in Belfast. No charge or fee for driving into Ireland.