cars/driving inEurope

Em, have you checked to make sure a train or bus isn't going where you are?

BTW--Ireland and the UK are part of Europe...however...when people here refer to "Europe," they usually mean the continent and not those two islands.

You don't drive on the left in Europe! You drive on the right just as you do in the US! But you drive on the left in the UK and Ireland, two islands not directly connected with the European mainland. And no, it's not difficult to adapt to because as a driver there you also sit on the right hand side seat of the car...

Just as Andreas said...in Europe, it's just like the US...drive on the right, steering wheel on the left.

In the UK and Ireland....drive on the left, steering wheel on the right.

The pedals are the same on all cars. No changing.

Oops. I didn't realize Europe and UK/Ireland were different. How embarrassing...

I'll be going to Ireland actually, and will probably need to rent a car (if there was a bus/train, I'd take it).
If the driver seat is on the right, where is the gear shift? Still in the middle? (i.e., you have to shift with your left hand?)
Sorry if I sound ignorant; overseas travel is new to me.

Thank you for your help.

Yep, the gear shift is in the middle, but the shifting pattern is the same. My biggest problem on my first trip to Ireland was continually trying to put my left elbow on the window ledge, like I do at home. That resulted in something akin to the Chicken Dance when it had nowhere to go.

You have received good advice. I will add my warning to you. Every time you turn right or left, the windshield wiper will come on.

That's because the turn indicator and wiper control are in reverse positions on the steering column.

Which makes for a lot of laughs for passengers.

em- Driving in Ireland can be a little bit of an adventure, but it is very doable. Every time you start out on a trip, go slow. The place where a lot of drivers get in trouble is remembering to check the road correctly before entering traffic. (This is true for walkers as well. They have actually painted signs in some places on the street corners reminding tourists to look right before stepping into traffic so that they don't get hit) Also, people will sometimes enter the wrong lane of traffic going the wrong way. The rest of it you will catch onto fairly quickly. (however, prepare to be embarrassed every time you walk to the wrong side of the car and get in on the passenger side-for some reason that is the hardest habit to break) Some of the roads are narrow and that can be a little tricky as well. Whatever you do, be sure and look your car over carefully before driving away from rental car agency (you want all previous damage to be noted) and have good insurance. Ireland is kind of known as a country where cars do get dinged up a lot.

Em, you may want to consider an automatic transmission. I know it is more expensive but it was worth it to us. Also, the roads in Ireland can be very narrow so a smaller car is easier to maneuver. Happy traveling!!

Em,

To add to the comments from the others, driving in Ireland can be very challenging at times. In the rural areas especially, not all of the roads are well marked and in some cases the English words on the sign have been spray painted over (leaving only the Gaelic words). It would be a really good idea to take both a good Map and a GPS unit!

Also, be sure to budget for and accept the full CDW Insurance. I definitely agree with a previous suggestion, that an automatic transmission would be a good idea (especially as this is your first trip). It will cost more, and you'll also need to reserve well in advance as there aren't as many rental units available with auto transmissions.

Also, check the internet with respect to driving in the U.K., for the "protocols" on roundabouts. If you're under 25 years, you may want to check with the rental firm to determine their policy on "young drivers". Finally, be sure to budget for the fuel (either petrol or diesel) which is going to be considerably more than it is in the U.S., and measured in Litres.

If there's public transportation available to the places you want to visit, that would be my first choice for getting about in Ireland (or you might consider the outstanding RS 14-day Ireland tour?).

Good luck!

Yes, a manual transmission is a bit more of a challenge in Ireland. The biggest issue I had was making a turn after stopping at an intersection. It was just way too natural to turn into the "wrong" lane. As for CDW, many will suggest using your Creditcard coverage, but nearly all creditcards, when you look into the details, do not cover Ireland. As for driving, if you notice the roads getting narrower and narrower, you are probably going the wrong way. When hedges are brushing up against both sides of the car...you are lost.

When we rented a car in Ireland, we got a little driving lesson from the rental company. Just their way of making sure we didn't ruin their car, I think.

And the roads can get VERY narrow. But some of them have places where you can pull over if there's a car coming the other way. My husband didn't use it once, and we nearly scraped a minibus, which resulted in me giving him a lecture about how the rental car was on my credit card and he'd better take care of it!

Driving on the "wrong" side was really akward for about five minutes. After that I settled in and was fine. I drove a manual, but that also came pretty quickly. I found I really needed to concentrate on turning into the correct lane and going the correct way around roundabouts because the wrong way felt right. I tried to remember that, just like at home, the driver is toward the middle of the road.

When you are out of the car, be sure to look both ways before crossing the street because the way you would normally look is not where traffic will be coming from.