VW Vortex - Volkswagen Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

Anybody ever driven in Ireland?

3 reading
Jump to Latest
1 - 20 of 32 Posts

TexinKC

· Registered
2009 Lincoln Town Car Signature Limited
Joined
·
7,361 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
My amazing mother is taking all of her kids, and their spouses, to Ireland next summer for an adult family vacation. She surprised us with this news yesterday at dinner. She's been tracing her lineage for many years now and has learned that her grandfather was off-the-boat Irish. So while we will be taking a round-the-country tour bus, I told her I'd really like to experience at least one day driving over there.

Which brings me to the big question. What has to happen for me to be able to drive while in Ireland? I'll be 46 years old by the time of the trip (June of next year) and I would probably want to rent something big enough for 4 people (wife, 2 brothers, myself).

Yes, I know I can Google all this but I figured someone here must have first-hand experience. Thanks in advance for any help.
 
#2 ·
I did a whole-family trip to Ireland during the pandemic. My parents rented an automatic Jetta, but when we showed up they gave us a 6MT Skoda. I rejoiced, I got to be the chauffeur. RHD 6MT was interesting. There were 4 of us in the car including all our luggage. it wasn't actually overly tight. We flew into Dublin, and drove southwest to Kenmare, literally traversing the whole country. A-roads, B-roads, C-roads, and whatever you would call the roads where you'd have to look ahead as far as possible and make sure you pulled off wherever you had the chance so an oncoming car could pass you, because they were 1 lane with rock walls on both sides, but traffic went both directions. There were a lot of those. Head scratcher for sure.

Nothing has to happen for you to be able to drive. You just rent a car. Your license from America is accepted.

One thing you'll notice is many cars are damaged on the left side from sideswipes. All around the country.

You will probably make the mistake of naturally turning into the right lane aka the oncoming lane a few times. It happened to me a few times. It's very hard to unlearn the muscle memory of LHD.

The food is definitely not very great. The people are definitely very nice. It's a beautiful country, if a little drab. I had an amazing time.

Also, all the meats and SPECIFICALLY the cheeses at the grocery stores are so much better than they are in America. the cheeses were all artisan-level, or seemed as such to me.
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
#6 ·
ctunnard8593 said:
I did a whole-family trip to Ireland during the pandemic. My parents rented an automatic Jetta, but when we showed up they gave us a 6MT Skoda. I rejoiced, I got to be the chauffeur. RHD 6MT was interesting. There were 4 of us in the car including all our luggage. it wasn't actually overly tight. We flew into Dublin, and drove southwest to Kenmare, literally traversing the whole country. A-roads, B-roads, C-roads, and whatever you would call the roads where you'd have to look ahead as far as possible and make sure you pulled off wherever you had the chance so an oncoming car could pass you, because they were 1 lane with rock walls on both sides, but traffic went both directions. There were a lot of those. Head scratcher for sure.

Nothing has to happen for you to be able to drive. You just rent a car. Your license from America is accepted.

One thing you'll notice is many cars are damaged on the left side from sideswipes. All around the country.

You will probably make the mistake of naturally turning into the right lane aka the oncoming lane a few times. It happened to me a few times. It's very hard to unlearn the muscle memory of LHD.

The food is definitely not very great. The people are definitely very nice. It's a beautiful country, if a little drab. I had an amazing time.

Also, all the meats and SPECIFICALLY the cheeses at the grocery stores are so much better than they are in America. the cheeses were all artisan-level, or seemed as such to me.
Click to expand...
Spot-on description of the experience. 😎

I'll add that whatever you think is big enough for your Texas/KC family is waaaaaay too big for Irish roads. The wife and I honeymooned in Ireland and drove the entire outer ring of the island in one of these:

Image


A Suzuki Alto is hilariously small for US roads, yet right sized for Ireland. Quite a few times I'd see a "huge" car coming down the road the opposite direction, only to realize it was some standard crossover you'd see everywhere here. Seeing an oncoming tour bus will pucker you right up.

That said - easily one of my favorite trips of all time and I'm dying to go back. Ireland is absolutely gorgeous, as are its people. 🇮🇪
 
#7 ·
When I went to Norway awhile back, I got a 5-speed Mondeo hatchback - it was interesting to compare the similarities and differences (some common parts) with US Fords. I think it had a 1.8 which was fine given the fuel prices.

Image
 
#8 ·
I went for a 2 week trip to Ireland a couple of years ago. It was my first time driving on the left side of the road. I was totally fine driving an automatic as I was there to get from A--B, not explore the limits of adhesion. So we had a hybrid Qashqai which was great. Get ready for the round-abouts---like 5 in a half mile distance. It wasn't an issue for me, but many people in the US seem to lack familiarity with this piece road design.

As far as being able to drive, I don't recall anything out of the ordinary. They handed me the keys at the counter and proceeded to have a very tense 10 mins getting used to a new vehicle on the other side of the road. But things got exponentially easier after leaving Dublin.

Oh and I had to deal with a flat tire right as we were pulling into Tullamore Dew. Which was a fantastic tour/experience.
 
#9 ·
TexinKC said:
View attachment 517827
Click to expand...
It's absolute garbage. Don't get a Sandero lol.
It was shockingly easy to adapt to right hand drive/left side lane driving. The hardest part was the absolutely insane layout of roads in any city. Google maps genuinely struggled in navigating the cities.
Outside of the towns, the roads are beautiful but insanely narrow and a bit intimidating as people drive 40-50 mph as we would on our roads. The good news is people in Ireland actually seem to care about others so they don't have their faces planted in a phone while doing makeup and instead, pay attention to driving.
We spent a total of 24 days (so far, multiple trips) in the British aisles and have not seen a single car accident.
The very first time I drove, I just followed a random car (sorry dude, I hope I didn't scare you lol) just to get an idea of road rules.
It's a ton of fun overall. Best of luck!
 
#10 ·
We did it in 2022 with a two year old in tow. Aside from being hyperfocused for the first hour or so to re-learn the rules and movements, it was pretty much a non issue and lots of fun.
 
#11 ·
My wife and I went to Ireland for our Honeymoon and it was the greatest trip I've been on. Everything said about the secondary roads is completely true and it will certainly keep you on your toes. I reccommend doing the Ring of Kerry but go the opposite direction of the tour buses for less congestion. We had two cars because the first one broke down. That is a whole other story.. An Opel Insignia and an Astra. Both were manual which you will adjust to but it is an interesting feeling at first.

From my recollection, there was nothing special when it came to renting the car from a license standpoint.

Some photos for fun:

Image


Image


Image


Image


Image


Image


Image
 
#12 ·
We had a Citroen C6 for Republic of Ireland and I kinda wish we got those cars in the states. It was genuinely really nice to drive.
 
#13 ·
Yeah nothing special. Make sure your insurance covers foreign rentals.Use a credit card that has PRIMARY rental car coverage. Most are secondary now. A lot of the rental companies LOVE to just try and stuff you with their insurance and BS fees because they think you don't know better. So look it up before you are standing there and have some paperwork.

Aside from that, drive on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road and remember that when making turns. Also speed cameras are everywhere, so cool it do other things you shouldn't.

If you go way out of towns, animals on the road is a thing.

Gas is expensive and the price is in liters or imperial gallons. Most cars are manuals. The roads are super narrow and the older cities were designed for horse carts not cars. The cars are usually also smaller, for that reason. If you rent a giant american sized car it can get tough getting around, and parking. Learn to love roundabouts.
 
#14 ·
Also something that happened to me when I was there, my rental Skoda was a 1.6T gasser.

When we were heading back to Dublin from Kenmare, we filled up the tank. The gas station I went to, the DIESEL pump was BLACK and the GASOLINE pump was GREEN.

I accidentally put about $10 worth of DIESEL in the car before realizing. Filled the rest with gasoline. We made it to Dublin with no sputtering, no noticeable issues with driveability. Not sure if the same can be said for the next person who used that car.
 
#15 ·
I haven't driven in Ireland, but have in Australia and New Zealand. Driving on the left side actually isn't that bad, because you're always on your best behavior remembering what you need to do. The problem is when you get back and relax being back to normal drive on the right; you still have that drive on the left muscle memory so it's a bit easier to get confused.
 
#16 ·
It's good that you'll be 46 by then, because 46 is the minimum driving age for tourists in Ireland.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: ctunnard8593, TexinKC, Mike! and 2 others
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#17 ·
TexinKC said:
My amazing mother is taking all of her kids, and their spouses, to Ireland next summer for an adult family vacation. She surprised us with this news yesterday at dinner. She's been tracing her lineage for many years now and has learned that her grandfather was off-the-boat Irish. So while we will be taking a round-the-country tour bus, I told her I'd really like to experience at least one day driving over there.

Which brings me to the big question. What has to happen for me to be able to drive while in Ireland? I'll be 46 years old by the time of the trip (June of next year) and I would probably want to rent something big enough for 4 people (wife, 2 brothers, myself).

Yes, I know I can Google all this but I figured someone here must have first-hand experience. Thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...
Born in Waterford City and lived there for 35 years. To drive in Ireland, all you need is your US driving licence and also get an international driving licence as some car rental companies like Avis, Hertz etc may ask for it. Make sure you have car insurance that covers third-party damages. We drive on the left side of the road and use RHD vehicles and a lot of our cars are stick shift so if you are not used to that, then make sure you order an automatic. Summer time is farming season so be careful if you are on B-roads as you might be driving on one and suddenly you may wander on a herd of cattle being moved from one field into another or you may encounter a tractor and trailer wider than the road you are on, so be prepared. We drive fast on these roads too.
Other than that, the scenery is just stunning and yes, it's very green and we go about life in a much slower fashion. You will enjoy it and I miss it a lot. If you need any more help, hit me up
Oh, bring rain gear too, its green there because it rains a lot, then its sunny and humid the next.
 
#18 ·
Wife and I were supposed to go to Dublin for her cousin's wedding in 2020 but Covid ruined that. Her cousin wound up getting courthouse married and we still haven't made it over to Ireland. Planning on visiting this fall or spring since wife's had severe FOMO ever since. This thread has lots of good info, thanks everyone.
 
#19 ·
Watch the extra fees. Many rental companies will want to see proof of primary coverage either from your own insurance or your credit card. If they don’t see it they may force you to pay for their insurance. Other than that it’s pretty similar to the US.

RHD is interesting with a manual. You’ll figure it out. Lots of great roads out there.
 
#20 ·
If you can manage it, try to carve out a few days for Isle of Man. There is a ferry that goes out from Belfast and I think Dublin has one too. Utterly amazing. Last photo is from a plane.
Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
 
1 - 20 of 32 Posts
About this Discussion
31 Replies
26 Participants
Last post:
VWestlife
VW Vortex - Volkswagen Forum
posts
85M
members
1.5M
Since
2001
A forum community dedicated to all Volkswagen owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, builds, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, new releases, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
The Car Lounge Golf IV & Jetta IV Golf III & Jetta III Golf II & Jetta II Golf IV/Jetta IV Parts