car hire for two australian girls for travel in ireland , england and scotland

Phil

I never rent cars so I'm not much help, but to gently chuck in a spanner your girls should know that most car hire agencies don't like their cars crossing water on boats. They may find that they need a different car on both sides of the water.

Do the girls not like train travel? At least in England often trains can be much less expensive than a car (Advance tickets from as low as £6 per) and trains in England are very comprehensive, going all sorts of places.

Any idea of an itinerary?

By the way - 3 weeks seems sort of short for a typical Aussie walkabout.

Following on Nigel's comment on separate cars needed for Ireland and the UK--- I suggest they consider the hire car for Ireland only. Train service around England, Scotland, and Wales is excellent. And a car is a major headache in the larger cities.

See https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/ireland/itinerary for some notes on the trade offs between driving and public transport in Ireland. Rick's Ireland guidebook will summarize public transport options (mostly bus) for the destinations it covers; see also www.buseireann.ie for most schedules in the Republic of Ireland.

Long-term rentals of Peugeot or Renault cars from France, also called "leasing," are available for drivers age 18 and over. But since it's a French program, there's a fee for pick up in a neighboring country and only place you could pick up and drop off the car would be London Heathrow Airport. (I did this once and it worked fine.) See http://www.autoeurope.com/go/peugeot/ and http://www.renaultusa.com/. In this case, the car actually belongs to you for three weeks or more, so you can take it on ferries between Britain and Ireland.

For trains in Britain, see a summary of rail pass and discount-ticket options at https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/britain-rail-passes.

Cars are the ultimate tradeoff, you gain flexibility but also responsibility/liability. Unless the gals are going far, far off the beaten path, I have to think training in the UK makes much more sense. In Ireland and/or Scotland, perhaps buses or local tours?