Driving in Ireland - Timeshare Users Group Online Community Forums

KevJan · January 25, 2007, 05:46 PM

Must I have an international Driver's license to rent and drive a car in Ireland or will my state license be sufficient? Also, does anyone know where and when the best time to rent a car in Dublin for June 2007? Thanks in advance for all your great help in making my dream vacations a reality!

djs · January 25, 2007, 06:02 PM

I was there this past summer and had no problem renting a car with my US Driver's License. I think I wound up renting through a company called "euro car" or something simular to that. The major US companies (Hertz, Avis etc.) charge a lot of money.

I wound up taking the extra insurance as it wasn't all that much, and was surely less than what we'd pay in the US.

I'd say that the toughest thing about renting the car was making sure I didn't crash it as I was leaving the lot; once I was driving for a bit I got used to driving on the other side of the road.

I would not recommend getting anything too big as once you get out onto county roads, they can be pretty narrow. Also, if you're not used to driving on the other side of the road, I'd pay the extra for an automatic.

dannhardt · January 25, 2007, 08:43 PM

We rented from Hertz in Dublin last summer and it was mandatory to purchase their rental car insurance; the credit card coverage isn't valid in Ireland. This is true for all car rental companies in Ireland but it would have been nice for Hertz to let us know beforehand since it doubled the cost of the car rental. Amazingly you get used to driving on the 'wrong' side of the road very quickly. The roads do get narrow in the country but it is such beautiful country you can forgive them just about everything. The country roads don't seem to have a lot of traffic so it really isn't intimidating.

It wasn't necessary to have an international drivers license; we had one which we had gotten from the AAA office but no one wanted it.

January 25, 2007, 05:46 PM	#1
KevJan TUG Member BBS Reg. Date: Jun 17, 05 Location: Southern Utah Posts: 386 Resorts: Dolphin's Cove, Anaheim, CA; ORE at St. George, St. George, UT; MROP	Driving in Ireland Must I have an international Driver's license to rent and drive a car in Ireland or will my state license be sufficient? Also, does anyone know where and when the best time to rent a car in Dublin for June 2007? Thanks in advance for all your great help in making my dream vacations a reality!

January 25, 2007, 08:43 PM	#3
dannhardt TUG Member BBS Reg. Date: Jul 11, 05 Location: Orchard Lake, MI Posts: 9 Resorts: Kona Coast I & II	We rented from Hertz in Dublin last summer and it was mandatory to purchase their rental car insurance; the credit card coverage isn't valid in Ireland. This is true for all car rental companies in Ireland but it would have been nice for Hertz to let us know beforehand since it doubled the cost of the car rental. Amazingly you get used to driving on the 'wrong' side of the road very quickly. The roads do get narrow in the country but it is such beautiful country you can forgive them just about everything. The country roads don't seem to have a lot of traffic so it really isn't intimidating. It wasn't necessary to have an international drivers license; we had one which we had gotten from the AAA office but no one wanted it. Last edited by dannhardt : January 25, 2007 at 08:46 PM.

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January 25, 2007, 06:02 PM	#2
djs TUG Member BBS Reg. Date: Nov 29, 06 Location: South Boston, MA Posts: 826 Resorts: Ridge Tahoe	I was there this past summer and had no problem renting a car with my US Driver's License. I think I wound up renting through a company called "euro car" or something simular to that. The major US companies (Hertz, Avis etc.) charge a lot of money. I wound up taking the extra insurance as it wasn't all that much, and was surely less than what we'd pay in the US. I'd say that the toughest thing about renting the car was making sure I didn't crash it as I was leaving the lot; once I was driving for a bit I got used to driving on the other side of the road. I would not recommend getting anything too big as once you get out onto county roads, they can be pretty narrow. Also, if you're not used to driving on the other side of the road, I'd pay the extra for an automatic.