Getting around Ireland

Is anybody away of a decent budget car hire company? All of the majors are sooo expensive for Ireland?

Any other suggestions? I have to get from Belfast-Dublin however have about a week and would like to see other places in Ireland...
How easy is it to get to places by bus/public transport?

Have you tried Enterprise car rentals,know quite a few people that have used them here in Dublin.

Check Auto Europe, a consolidator that finds you the best rate from among the companies with which it has contracts.

Try the Aircoach from Dublin Airport/ or from the City Centre...

Or

from Belfast to Dublin Airport and change at Dublin Airport for the City!! very reasonable!!

I used and was satisfied with Auto Europe, did not even charge me for the lost hubcap !
But no matter what company you use, renting a auto in Ireland is expensive !!
Even more so spending USD's !!
Having an auto is the best way to see Ireland, especially with just 1 week !
ONE LOVE !!
Mike

The basic rental charge is usually quite low, it's the insurance that doubles the cost. As others have said, Ireland is an expensive country for tourists.

I get emails from Budget Rentacar (to my general annoyance), but thought their current offer sounded reasonable.

You will also need cross-border insurance if you intend taking car from NI to Republic. Ensure that is included in your quotation.

Alternatively good train service Belfast to Dublin and hire in Dublin.

R

Hi -- I am currently renting a car from Irish Car Rentals, at 300 euro for 18 days. That was for a manual, but when I picked up the car at Shannon Airport he upgraded me to an automatic for free! That was much appreciated. They were the cheapest I found. Be careful driving though -- blowing tires from hitting rocks and other road hazards is common, and I hear it can be very expensive to repair. I'm about to find out as I blew a tire in Connemara a few days ago. Make sure you also know how to change your own tire! All in all driving is the only way to see the really cool out of the way place.

Have fun!
Marcie

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>Make sure you also know how to change your own tire!<hr></blockquote> And that can be interesting these days when proper replacement tyres aren't supplied. The last car I rented from Hertz (Honda Civic) didn't even have a spare wheel but some kind of pump contraption that (I think) pumped something into the damaged tyre. That assumes that the damage isn't to bad or then you're in trouble!

I don't understand the thinking behind this trend for smaller (or non-existent) spare wheels. I've been told that it gives more space in the boot, but if your boot is completely full of luggage then what do you do with the damage wheel? Just a thought ;)

I've found it quite easy to get places by bus; just check the schedules beforehand because depending on where you're going there might only be one or two buses a day. On the other hand traveling by bus takes significantly longer than by car. So if you want to visit a lot of places during that week it's worth it to rent a car. If you decide to visit a couple of places for a couple of days each, than the bus is fine.

Wow -- I guess I was lucky to have a full size spare tire included! That would be a good thing to check for at the time of rental.

We recently rented from the Enterprise Rental Car at the Dublin Airport. We chose them mostly due to the fact that I could use American Express points to pay for the base fee of the rental (although we had to pay for fees/taxes separately). They were great to deal with and I was very pleased with the overal experience. We had bought a separate insurance policy from TravelEX but due to the fact the paperwork didn't actually say it covered us in Ireland the rental car company insisted we also get their insurance, but the weekly rate wasn't that bad and we felt it was added protection. Basically we had a Toyota Avensis (automatic) that handled very well and we had no problems at all with the car. Typically I would have shopped around more for a better deal on the car, but the fact that I could use AMEX Rewards to pay for it was a big seller in my book.

mysterychix

Hi There,

I used this site before. www.reservacar-dublinairport.com It includes the major companies. they aren't expensive.

Hi,

Wondered if anyone can offer myself some advice. I am flying into Dublin and flying out of Belfast in April. I plan to hire a car for those 6 days and am now looking for car hire companies that offer one way car rentals. Has anyone had any luck? I have come across very few and the prices have been quite interesting!

Cheers!