A road trip is really the best way to see all that Ireland has to offer! Beautiful greenery, stone walls everywhere, and rugged coastline make it an incredible place to get in the car and just go. There are a few things that we wish we had known before doing our trip so here are our 10 tips for a road trip in Ireland!
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Before we even start with our tips we have to be honest. We really, really contemplated if we wanted to rent a car in Ireland and do a road trip or if we wanted to just take trains and buses. After traveling through Europe for 3 months with our Eurail train passes we got really used to the ease of trains. Never worrying about parking or directions was really nice. But we are here to say bite the bullet and rent the car in Ireland! You will not regret it!
- If you’re worried about driving on the left side of the road (and sitting on the right side of the car) you get the hang of it quickly! Being on the right side of the car doesn’t feel weird and once you drive for a little it all starts to feels normal. The only thing you have to remember is hug the road on left turns and go wide on right turns.
1. Get off the Highway and Take the Scenic Route!
Our biggest tip is to get off the highway and take the scenic route whenever you can! The M6 is a large highway and if you’re staring and/or ending in Dublin it’s probably the road you will start driving on. It’s a large, divided highway so you don’t have to worry about making any turns. But as soon as you can take the smaller roads even if they take more time. It is so worth it to drive along the winding roads of the Irish countryside!
The Wild Atlantic Way stretches for over 2,000 kms on the west coast of Ireland. It’s an incredibly scenic route that gives you amazing views of the coastline! We would highly recommend driving at least a section of this beautiful route!
2. Smaller Roads are Small and Usually One Lane!
If you’re going to take the scenic route you will probably find yourself on some smaller roads and there are a few things to know. Most of the smaller roads we drove on were 80-100 kph (50-65 mph) which felt way too fast for how curvy and thin they were. We always took our time and didn’t try to go too fast because honestly we weren’t in a rush.
Technically they are two lane roads but really they’re not. So if you’re driving in one direction and another car approaches in the other direction one of you has to pull over to the side to let the other pass by. Another reason not to go too fast otherwise it will make that scenario really difficult! There are a ton of little pull offs on the side of the road so we never had an issue fitting!
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3. Give Yourself Extra Time!
This isn’t really a tip but just something to keep in mind when you’re planning your Ireland road trip. Make your plan and then give yourself extra time! So much of the fun of doing a road trip is being able to stop whenever you want, get out and take pictures and explore things you would not have seen otherwise. So if it says it’s a 2 hour drive to your destination give yourself 3 hours just to be safe!
There are pull offs all over so it was really easy to park whenever we wanted to get out and see something. We did this countless times and loved it!
- We also found ourselves going slower on some of the really winding roads which made it longer getting from one point to the other.
- It’s Ireland so there is also always the possibility of rain which makes driving even slower.
4. Check if You’re Rental Car Insurance is Covered by your Credit Card!
A very common credit card benefit is rental car insurance. Through our Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card we are covered for insurance on rental cars booked with the card. When we booked our rental car it asked if we wanted insurance. To opt out of the required insurance we had to provide a CDW or Collision Damage Waiver to show proof that we actually had coverage.
The CDW is just a form from the credit card that tells the rental car company you do in fact have coverage. We called Chase and they easily took the details and emailed the form. Then when we picked up the car we gave it to the car rental company and were good to go!
- Additional insurance and coverage is of course up to you. Our point is more that you might have coverage you don’t even know about so look into any additional credit card benefits you might have!
We rented our car from Europcar. In the booking details it said to bring the CDW as well as two forms of proof of address. We’re not sure why completely but the suggestions included something that has your full name and permanent addresses such as a utility bill. We obviously don’t have a utility bill because we are traveling long term so we brought a bank statement and then they never asked for it.
- That’s not to say they never check but that was our experience. We don’t know if this is a Europcar policy or for all rental cars but it’s worth mentioning so you can do your research ahead of time.
5. Tolls Are Exact Change!
We had to go through a few tolls on the M6 highway. All but one of the tolls we went through required exact change. They were either 1.90 or 2.90 Euros therefore make sure you have a lot of coins with you on your road trip!
- A lot of the tolls were electronic so there was not an attendant there. You toss the coins in, the machine adds it up and then you proceed through.
- There is also the M50 toll near Dublin which is an electronic toll. Europcar mentioned it to us and said we should download the app to make paying it easier. Once you pass through the toll you have until 8 PM the next day to pay it or face a fine!
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6. Make Sure to Specify Automatic or Manual
When booking your rental car for your Ireland road trip make sure to specify in your booking if you want an automatic or manual transmission. If you’re okay with driving either then it’s not a big deal but if you need an automatic car you need to make sure you are reserving one. No matter what site you are using to book your car it almost always says A for automatic or M for manual.
- We actually saw a couple pulling out of the rental car depot driving a manual car. They didn’t realize that was the car they had booked and were struggling to get the hang of it.
- An automatic car is usually slightly more expensive but if you’re not completely comfortable driving a manual than spend the money and get the automatic! Driving the small roads of Ireland isn’t the place where you want to learn, especially on the left side of the road!
7. Download Google Maps Offline!
One of our biggest travel tips is to download Google Maps offline so you don’t need service or WIFI when you’re in a new place. It’s how we always navigate wherever we are without having to worry about it not loading. The country of Ireland is small enough that we were able to download the map for the whole island offline. That meant that no matter where we went on our road trip we knew we would be able to load directions! It made it a lot less stressful while driving.
- In Google Maps open the menu (the 3 lines in the search bar) and click on offline maps. You can create a custom map for wherever you need. It works best to download it ahead of time on WIFI otherwise it goes really slow on phone service.
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8. Bring a Car Charger!
You will probably be hopping in and out of the car but if you’re using your phone for Google Maps as well as taking a million pictures (like I did) you’re going to need to charge your phone. We brought this car charger and it was a lifesaver! It’s not too expensive and has one USB-A port and one USB-C port. So you can charge your phone, computer, headphones or whatever else.
If you are only doing a road trip for a few days and want something more versatile this portable battery works really well and can charge your phone (or anything from a USB) a few times before needing to be charged!
9. Double Check if Your Car is Petrol or Diesel!
Before we left the lot with our rental car we made sure to know whether it took petrol or diesel as cars take both in Ireland. You don’t want to put the wrong one in and then end up having a problem later on. If you forget to ask you can always look in the car manual before you fill up.
- It sounds silly but its one of those things where you want to be completely sure before it comes time to get gas!
10. Pump First Then Pay Inside!
We found when getting gas in Ireland that you pump the gas first outside at the pump. Then knowing your pump number you walk inside and pay for it. In the US we’re used to credit card machines in the pump but we didn’t see anything like that.
- It’s really simple and the attendant inside can help you of course if you’re struggling but it’s a little different than usual. It’s helpful to know ahead of time so when you get to the pump you know what to do!
Hopefully these tips help you have the most incredible experience during your road trip in Ireland. We can’t wait to go back hopefully soon and do it all again!
