Scotland to Ireland with car (ferry)

You have already determined a rental car company will let you take the journey you propose?

Good point. No, we assumed that we would be able to take the rental car throughout Great Britain. Does this sound too presumptuous?

This may sound pedantic but it isn't meant to be......

Northern Ireland does not form part of Great Britain. The correct term you are looking for is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the UK for short. Some companies get a bit twitchy about Northern Ireland so it's essential that you check that you can take the car across. Also check whether you can cross the border into Ireland. You may not have any plans to do so at the moment but these could change so it's worth knowing beforehand. I can't imagine there'd be an issue but who knows what the future holds for the UK/Ireland border.

“No we assumed we would be able to take the rental car throughout Great Britain. Does this sound too presumptuous.?”

Not presumptuous but historically and geographically challenged.

Ireland is its own country and damn proud to be!

The UK is composed of Northern Ireland ( best you research the Troubles) England, Wales and Scotland.

I would rent a car for England and Scotland. Drop it off and fly to Belfast and rent a car there. You will not have problems crossing into Ireland other than you’ll notice a change in signage and there will be more roundabouts.

Take out maximum insurance on both rentals and be prepared to slow down on the small back roads.

In 2015 drove from Belfast to Dingle. Took 4.5 hours. Spent 4 nights in Dingle. It was November. No crowds. Quiet. Lovely. Had the Gap of Dunloe and Slea Head Drive to myself.

If weather is clear be sure to make the climb above the car park at Coumeenoole Beach. Grand view of the Blanket Islands.

Unless you're really sold on keeping one car for the whole trip, it might be worth it to just take a short cheap flight from Edinburgh or Glasgow to Belfast. You could spend a day or two in the city and then hire a car to see the rest of the island. It would almost certainly be cheaper and would be much easier from a logistics standpoint.

If you're trying to start in Belfast and end by taking the ferry to Wales I would go counter clockwise around the island. Leaving Belfast you could see a lot of the Antrim Coast which is absolutely stunning. Maybe stop off for a night in Derry and continue down to Galway. It's a great home base for 4-5 days. You could leave there and see the south, maybe stopping off in Cork or Kinsale for another 4 days as a home base. Cork if you like bigger cities. Kinsale if you like the more charming smaller town feel. Have fun!

If you still want the ferry details, see https://www.stenaline.co.uk/ferries-to-ireland.

We rented a car from Hertz in Scotland/England and dropped off at the port in Cairnryan because we wanted to take the ferry to Belfast rather than fly - I believe Hertz is the only car rental agency there, and it is right in the ferry terminal. We didn't want a car for our days in Belfast and this way worked out really well for us, rather than take the car onto the ferry.

We rented another car upon leaving Belfast and chose to pay the drop fee to leave the car in Dublin because it worked out better for our overall schedule.

At one time we did consider taking the car onto the ferry, and the rental website allowed a Scotland pick-up and Belfast drop off, which I canceled when our schedule firmed up. I would assume the websites would be configured to not accept invalid pick-up/drop-off combinations, but might not hurt to pick up the phone if you decide to go that route.

In May I traveled on the ferry from Belfast to Cairnryan (near Stranraer), Scotland on the Stena Line and you can certainly go the other direction. You can book the ticket ahead of time and online. I recommend getting access to the lounge. You can even get a room if you need to sleep or freshen up. It was very comfortable, interesting and relaxing and they have food and drink for the short trip. You can even order a meal if you'd like. They have other routes as well with several trips during the day.
Our small group went back to Belfast and went north, going to Giants Causeway and that area. Best to get there early, ahead of the tour buses. There are so many things to do and see. We went west and south, ending up in Shannon. You could easily go south from Belfast and see quite a few sites including the Boyne Valley and Newgrange, not far from Dublin. Powers Court is south of Dublin. You really can't go wrong, it just depends on what you'd like to see.
When we booked the ferry it asked if we had a rental car and I think we had to provide some information.
For your return, just check for other departure points for Stena. They have several.

Thank you everyone who had contributed and given us lots of info. Our research is now on all those points, and thanks to you all, we will new be able to fine-tune our trip and have a wonderful time. Our hearty thanks once again. Lloyd

I agree with jbh, Newgrange is well worth the trip. Went there in 1978 and again in 1982, after watching this on RS I have to say the place has changed a "little". This place is older than the pyramids of Egypt!

Hi Lloyd.

If you are going to keep the rental car and take it to Ireland, make sure you check with the rental company first and then i'd suggest Cairnryan in Scotland to Belfast in Northern Ireland and then return from Dublin in Southern Ireland to Holyhead in Wales.

If it was me personally, I would definitely recommend hiring a separate car in Ireland. Flights are cheap!

Mike.

And yes, Newgrange is amazing. Trim castle is also amazing and is quite close to Newgrange!

This boils down to can you take a hired car from England through Scotland into Northern Ireland, through the Republic of Ireland, and return it somewhere else from the original point of hire in England, maybe Wales.

The answer is that you can probably find one where you can do this without too much difficulty, but you are likely to be paying extra for insurance & car recovery cover etc. As an example Enterprise UK charges a flat additional £125 per rental (one that charges a flat-fee might be better than a daily one depending on length of itinerary). Check terms carefully.

Went both ways [Cairnryan-Belfast on the Stena Line] in May of 2016. Our car rental did not allow taking the car on the ferry, so we rented on each side, which was quite easy as the car pickup/dropoff is right at the ferry. The crossing of about 2 hours was very relaxed and comfortable, and the roundtrip ticket inexpensive relative to flying. And way more legroom, right? Also, no airport hustle/hassle, which is worth quite a lot. Would do it that way again if opportunity arose.