Driving in Ireland as an American: what nobody tells you

I’ve driven the roads of this country for a living, and I’ve watched a lot of Americans do it for a holiday. Most are fine. Some have the trip of their lives. A few spend the week white-knuckled and swear never again. Here’s what separates them.

The left side is not the problem

Everyone worries about driving on the left. It takes a day, maybe two, and then it’s just how the road works. Roundabouts are the same logic in the other direction. The rental cars have the steering wheel on the correct side for the country. You’ll be grand.

The width of the road is the problem

What no rental website shows you is a Kerry coast road at half nine in the morning: one and a half cars wide, a stone wall on the left, a hedge on the right, a tractor coming the other way and a coach behind it. The roads you want to be on — the coast, the peninsulas, the mountain passes, the lanes to the townland your great-grandmother left — are all like this. The motorways are excellent and almost empty; you’ll barely use them.

The knock-on is real: the person driving doesn’t see Ireland. They see the hedge. That’s the honest reason a lot of couples come home with one of them having had a much better trip than the other.

The insurance surprise

This is the one that costs money. Most US credit-card rental insurance excludes Ireland. Not all — check yours, and get it in writing — but most. If yours does, you’ll be buying the rental company’s collision cover at the desk, and it can roughly double the quoted daily rate. Add the automatic-transmission surcharge (most cars here are manual; automatics cost more and sell out in summer) and the “cheap” rental starts to look different.

The rest of the small print

• Age limits. Most companies want you over 25; several add fees or refuse above 70 or 75. If that’s you, check before you book anything else.
• Tolls. The M50 around Dublin is barrier-free and you pay online by 8pm the next day; miss it and the fine is silly. Rental companies handle it for a fee.
• Fuel. Sold by the litre and roughly double US prices. A week’s driving on the coast is a meaningful line in the budget.
• Parking. Killarney, Galway and Dublin all charge, and the Cliffs of Moher car park is pay-per-person.
• The Gap of Dunloe and a handful of other famous stretches are closed to cars in practice; you go by pony and trap or on foot, which is the point.
• Drink. The limit is lower than most US states and enforced. If the pub session is part of the plan, somebody isn’t drinking.

When self-drive is the right answer

A couple on a tight budget, comfortable with narrow roads, staying mostly in the east or the midlands, happy to take turns and stay sober — rent the car. You’ll save real money and you’ll have the freedom.

When a driver is actually cheaper

Run the numbers for two couples or a family of five: two rental cars, two lots of insurance, fuel, parking, tolls, a designated driver every night. Now compare a single private driver-guide in a comfortable vehicle who knows which viewpoint is empty at nine, which pub has the session, and where to pull in when the light comes across the water. For a party of four or more, on the west coast, it’s often close to the same money and it isn’t the same trip. Everyone sees Ireland. Nobody sees the hedge.

That’s what the family-run companies I work with do, and it’s the thing my guests most often say they’d never do differently. I’ve put a longer piece on it here.

If you’re weighing it up, tell me your party and your route on the planner and I’ll tell you honestly which way I’d go.