We want to rent a car for our 3 week trip but do not want to pick up in Dublin and drive it out of the city to begin our road trip. I have been advised in the RS book to not drive at all in Dublin. Is the simplest and calmest way to get out of the city require returning back to the airport after visiting Dublin for 3 days then leaving with car from airport? Are there any other options that are safe and calm that don't require a return trip to pick up at the airport? It will be our first time driving in Ireland but have driven all over the rest of Europe ..so this left hand side of the road thing is freaking me a little.
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10600 posts
We flew into Dublin and got our car at the airport. It was easy to get out of town. When we came back to Dublin to spend a few days there we returned the car at the airport. There was an express bus from the airport called Airlink, that had a stop right in front of our hotel. There was a deal we got at the airport that included the round trip bus, one day on the hop on hop off bus, and unlimited on the local buses. The deal was good for 3 days, which was perfect for us because we spent 3 nights in Dublin. You could just do the opposite of what we did.
http://www.dublinbus.ie/Your-Journey1/Timetables/Airport-Services/
Driving on the left takes some concentration, especially at first. For both Ireland and England I have rented automatics. I figure shifting with my left hand is one extra thing to worry about. A good GPS and map will enhance your driving experience.
Posted by
Colorado Springs
2980 posts
Not sure why picking up and dropping the car at Dublin airport is such an issue. By doing it that way you'll avoid having your first experience driving on the left being in city traffic...something I wouldn't recommend to anyone, experienced or not.
Departing the airport you'll immediately join the motorway, which is probably the easiest way to get your bearings and jump on the learning curve for the new experience. The whole sight picture becomes clearer in a driving environment where it really is difficult to screw things up if you're even a moderately competent driver, and you'll then be much better prepared to tackle some of the smaller roads once you do exit the motorway. To your point - starting on the motorway helps calm me down and generally gets my heart rate back down to normal levels, even after driving in Ireland numerous times over the course of the years.
I do understand the first time jitters, however (been there). What helped me was to preview my route each day by using the street map feature on Google maps. Really helped calm me down by having "driven" the route in advance, with special attention given to signage, turnoffs, roundabouts, etc. Just getting used to the view for LH driving was a great help to me - might work for you too.
Do spring for a vehicle with automatic transmission. A manual (LH shifter) is an extra fun factor that you really don't need for your first time.
And make good use of the person in your passenger seat to help with navigation, looking for signs and turnoffs, and generally reminding you to "stay left".
The airport concessions usually have a much wider selection of cars, with a much higher likelihood of having automatics on hand - an important consideration for you, I think, since the default rental in Ireland will be a manual unless you specify otherwise.
Posted by
1172 posts
We flew into Dublin, took the airlink bus to our hotel and stayed 3 night. Took the airlink nk back to the airport and grabbed the rental car and hit the road. It worked like a charm.