Surviving Driving in Ireland
By Rick Steves
My family and I traveled to South Ireland a few years ago, and took a tour of Waterford (of crystal fame), historic Cobh and Kinsale, and the scenic Ring of Kerry. When you're traveling with three or more, as we did in south Ireland, renting a car is the best way to experience Ireland's far-flung rural charms. Providing you're over 25 (younger drivers typically pay stiff premiums) and younger than 75 (Ireland's maximum age limit for renting), all you need is your U.S. license, and you're ready to roll.
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| Don't let the curvy roads throw you for a loop! |
Here are some tips for smooth cruising:
Touring Ireland by car is cheapest if arranged in advance yourself from home. Call various companies, look online, or arrange a rental through your hometown travel agent, who can help you out if anything goes wrong during your trip. Rent by the week with unlimited mileage. You can pick up and drop off just about anywhere, anytime. Note that you can no longer lease a car in Ireland.
For a trip that covers both Ireland and Britain, you're better off with two separate car rentals rather than one rental (because of high ferry costs). You can drive your rental car from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland, but be aware of drop-off charges ($75-150) if you drop it off in the North. You'll pay a smaller drop-off charge ($25-50) for picking up the car at one place and dropping it off at another within the same country (even picking up in downtown Dublin and dropping off at Dublin Airport). If you pick up the car in a smaller city, you'll more likely survive your first day on the Irish roads. If you drop the car off early or keep it longer, you'll be credited or charged at a fair, pro-rated price.
In recent years, Ireland has run neck-and-neck with Portugal for the most traffic accidents in Western Europe. For peace of mind, I spring for the Collision Damage Waiver insurance (CDW), which limits my financial responsibility in case of an accident. Unfortunately, CDW now has a high deductible hovering around between $1,000-1,500. When you pick up your car, many car-rental companies will try to sell you "super CDW" at an additional cost of $10-30 per day to lower the deductible to zero.
If you opt instead for credit-card coverage, there's a catch. You'll technically have to decline all coverage offered by the car-rental company, which means they can place a hold on your card for the full deductible amount. In case of damage, it can be time-consuming to resolve the charges with your credit-card company. Before you decide on this option, quiz your credit-card company about how it works and ask them to explain the worst-case scenario.
Buying CDW — and the supplemental insurance to buy down the deductible, if you choose — is the easiest but priciest option. Using the coverage that comes with your credit card is cheaper, but can involve more hassle.
Your U.S. driver's license is all you need to drive in Ireland. Driving in Ireland is basically wonderful — once you remember to stay on the left and after you've mastered the roundabouts. Traffic in roundabouts has the right-of-way; entering traffic yields (look to your right as you merge). It helps to remember that the driver is always in the center of the road. But be warned: Every year I get a few cards from traveling readers advising me that, for them, trying to drive Ireland was a nerve-racking and regrettable mistake. To get a little slack on the roads, drop by a gas station or auto shop and buy a red "L" (new driver with license) sign to put in your window. An Irish Automobile Association membership comes with most rentals (www.aaireland.ie). Understand its towing and emergency-road-service benefits.
Gas (petrol) costs about $6 per gallon and is self-serve. Some pumps are unleaded. Seat belts are required by law. Speed limits are 30 miles per hour in town, 75 miles per hour on the motorways, and 50 or 60 miles per hour elsewhere. Be very careful with alcohol...the Garda (police) set up random checkpoints, and if you drink more than one pint, you're legally drunk in Ireland.
Car travel in Ireland is not fast. When planning your itinerary, estimate your average speed at 40 miles per hour (roughly two-thirds of a mile, or 1 km, per minute). Give your itinerary a reality check by finding distances between destinations online at www.viamichelin.com.
Note that road-surveillance cameras strictly enforce speed limits. Any driver (including foreigners renting cars) photographed speeding will get a nasty bill in the mail. (Cameras — you'll see the foreboding gray boxes--flash on your rear license plate in order not to invade the privacy of anyone sharing the front seat with someone they shouldn't be with.)
Parking is confusing. One yellow line marked on the pavement means no parking Monday through Saturday during business hours. Double yellow lines mean no parking at any time. Broken yellow lines mean short stops are OK, but you should always look for explicit signs or ask a passerby.
Even in small towns, rather than fight it, I just pull into the most central "disk" or "pay-and-display lot" I can find. Disks can be bought at nearby shops. You buy one disk for each hour you want to stay. Scratch off the time you arrived on the disk and put it on your dashboard. I keep a bag of coins in the ashtray for meter/voucher machines (no change given for large coins). These modern pay-and-display machines are solar-powered and placed regularly along the street (about six feet tall, look for blue circle with white letter "P"). Signs along the street will state whether parking disc or pay-and-display laws are in effect for that area.
Study your map before taking off. A spiralbound Ordnance Survey Irish road atlas (sold at gas stations and bookstores) is $15 well spent and much easier to deal with than a huge folding map. Know the areas you'll be lacing together since road numbers are inconsistent. Road signs are infrequent and confusing, some giving distances in kilometers and some in miles. Many place names are given only in Irish; look in the back of the Ordnance Survey road atlas for translations. Avoid driving in big cities whenever possible — use the modern ring roads to skirt the congestion. The shortest distance between any two points is usually the motorway. Miss a motorway exit and you can lose 30 minutes.
The best thing about driving in Ireland is stopping and talking to locals. On the Dingle peninsula, I asked an Irishman, "Were you born here?" He thought for a second and said, "No, it was about six miles down the road." When I told him where I was from, a faraway smile filled his eyes, and he looked out to sea and sighed, "Ah, the shores of Americay." I asked him if he'd lived here all his life. He said, "Not yet."
Updated for 2008. For lots more information, check out our best-selling Rick Steves' Ireland guidebook — or join us on one of our free-spirited tours in Ireland.