Renting a car in Ireland is the absolute best way to explore the country and take in all The Emerald Isle has to offer! Coming from the United States though, it does come with the baggage of being a total mindf*ck! In Ireland, they drive on the left side of the road and on the right side of the car. Everything is backwards and it really itches a place in your brain that you didn’t know existed. For example, you go to look in your rearview mirror and you end up looking outside the car. Or you go to shift into drive and you’re opening the door. It really messes with you, but it also was a really fun challenge! Plus, renting a car gives you a ton of freedom and allows you to see so much. Here are my top six tips for renting a car in Ireland!
Book as small of a car as possible
Everything in Europe is a little bit smaller than we’re used to in the states. This includes parking spaces and streets! You’ll want to reserve as small of a car as possible when renting a car in Ireland. Not only will it help you in towns or with parking, but it will be much easier to navigate and get around. Once you get off of the main highways and onto rural roads, the streets get really tight. So much so that you may be questioning if you’re on a one-way street. The bigger car you have, the tighter the squeeze will be when passing other cars. When booking your rental car, try to choose “Economy” or “Compact” classes. It may be tempting to book a larger SUV for some comfort, but it will only be a pain- trust me!
Insurance
Rental car insurance has always been one of those topics that I’ve never fully understood. The good news is that if you have any major credit card, the chances are high that they include some level of rental car coverage. My Chase Sapphire Preferred, Capital One Venture X, and Bilt cards all come with varying levels of coverage. When booking a rental car with one of those cards, you can decline coverage and tell the agent that you’ll be using the insurance through your credit card.
However, you’ll find that renting a car in Ireland comes with its own insurance quirks. Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) is required in Ireland, unlike many other countries. Double check the coverage on your credit cards to make sure this is included. If not, you’ll be required to add this on at pick-up for an added cost.
Be prepared for a hefty credit card hold
No matter if you buy the extra insurance or waive it, be prepared for your rental car company to place a hefty hold on your credit card! When denying coverage, they put a €5,000 hold on my card. They explained that if I had purchased their insurance it would have gone down to €2,000. Either way, those are some hefty holds (way larger than I have ever heard of!) so make sure you are using a card with a high enough credit limit to accommodate the holds plus any additional spending you plan on doing!
Specifically book an automatic car, if needed
All throughout Europe, manual cars are the norm, and Ireland is no exception! Coming from the states, we are very used to automatic cars. In fact, I could probably count on one hand the number of people I know who can drive a stick shift. It doesn’t make renting a car abroad tricky, but you will want to confirm you’re reserving an automatic car at booking. Then again at pickup, it’s always worth confirming with the agent that your car is an automatic before packing up the car. Driving in Ireland may involve many hills, so unless you’re very confident in your manual driving abilities, I would stick to automatic.
Bonus Tip: Not every car in Ireland comes standard with AC! Double check this on your reservation, especially if you’re visiting in the summer.
Highway tolls
If you plan to drive on any highway or around the city of Dublin, running into tolls in inevitable. When driving across the country, you may even run into a couple along the same highway (I think we had to pay 3 times driving from Galway to Dublin!). The good news is that they’re really easy and convenient to pay. At each stop, the majority will be cashless and you can tap your credit card at a machine. If you have cash, there is always at least one booth that has an attendant. Exact change isn’t necessary, which is always nice!
The only exception to this is the M50 highway. This highway is the only one in the country that is automatically billed to you. When renting a car in Ireland, your rental car company will be billed and then automatically charge your card on file. When I received my bill, I was charged €3,50 for each way on the highway. They will email you a receipt like the one below that has more details and breaks down the charges.
Pumping Gas
The Irish do things different than in America, and they actually… trust people! When pulling up to a station, the pumps are always on. There is no place to swipe your card at the pumps so when I went inside to prepay, they told me they are on the honor system in Ireland. Meaning you pull up, pump your gas immediately, and then go inside to pay. Nice to be trusted!
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