janisj

>>Driving at night with headlights approaching is not something I would want to do again, <<

Shouldn't be a problem for the OP since they are traveling in Late June -- they'd have to try very hard to be driving after dark

annhig

sugarmaple,

our first experience of driving in Canada was emerging from Toronto airport in the rush hour onto a huge 18 lane highway.

I cannot tell you how scary that is, and how often we told ourselves how stupid we were to inflict that on ourselves.

sugarmaple

janisj, too true, I mentioned that in my post. We get long days too, but not like Scotland!

annhig, lol, that highway is always a nightmare. A little while ago we were on it after midnight, and it was like it was 5:30 pm. A friend who moved to NYC says driving in Manhatten is way easier than here.

I don't know where the op is from, but they should manage well.

colduphere

"our first experience of driving in Canada was emerging from Toronto airport in the rush hour onto a huge 18 lane highway."

That is an awful area. I have driven to Toronto airport about 300 times too many. But we were dropping our son off there two weeks ago and for once we were approaching from the west. It was also the first time we have had a navigation system in our car so we decided to give the nice English lady a shot at the directions.

I believe she couldn't tell the difference between the collector lanes and the express lanes on the 401 and pretty soon all hell broke loose. I had to take over but there were accidents blocking our way at every intersection. They could have been tourists, or fellow Hyundai navigation system users, or plain old Toronto drivers. What a mess.

The next time I am driving in that area I will try and imagine what it must seem like if you are used to driving on the other side. OMG. Welcome to Canada.

laverendrye

<<You tend to blow the sidewalk side of the tire on the first day. This type of damage is explicitly not covered by insurance.>>

Many, many years ago I did exactly that when leaving Dublin. After putting on the spare I went back to the rental agency to get a new tire. I was told that I would have to pay for the repairs.

When I pointed out that the rental agreement specifically included tire repairs, they reluctantly agreed that I didn't have to pay. But then they cancelled the agreement and told me that they would not give me another car.

I was young and flexible at the time, so I simply changed my plans and stayed in Dublin.

A few years later, I spent several weeks driving my own left-hand drive Peugeot 504 all through the English countryside. I would not dream of attempting that today, and might even have my doubts about doing it in a right-hand drive.

annhig

"our first experience of driving in Canada was emerging from Toronto airport in the rush hour onto a huge 18 lane highway."

That is an awful area.>>

yes cold, I know that now. I knew it within about 20 seconds of our leaving the hire car garage.

We were however able to figure out the collector lanes and to be fair we had plenty of time to do so, as we were headed for Kingston, at the head of the lake. [Yes, I know that that was a bad idea as well, but we were young[ish] which is my only excuse].

it was a loooong drive.

janisj

>>didn't see greg's post -- I've driven thousands of miles in the UK and not ever blown a tire. <<

OOPS -- I just remembered I <I>did</i> blow one tyre. But it wasn't while driving on open roads -- it was parking in Rothbury.

catherinehaas

My first vacation abroad was to Ireland. I made the major mistake of picking up the rental car in Dublin, even though I was staying there for a few days. I paid for the rental of the car and to park it, never driving it in Dublin until I left. It was a bit scary but once I got out of the city, it was wonderful until I had to navigate a roundabout. Be careful at those. Also, be careful of where you park in cities. Parking is not free. Make sure you find the pay spot. They will and do boot you immediately and it is expensive to unboot. Lol. But the best advise I can offer is to go slow and stay alert. I loved my freedom and it was shocking how you get accustom to the driving.

Have fun. Ireland is gorgeous.

MLoughman

Thanks everyone! We're now leaning to lots of trains and maybe a few Robbies-like tours.

We live on Montreal now, in a quartier with tiny streets (no sheep though��)
We used to live in Toronto and are well aware of the 18 lane parking lot they call the 401. Like a few of you mentioned we also wondered where everyone was going at all hours of the day.

janisj

>> few Robbies-like tours.<<

That would be R<red>a</red>bbies.

You may find trains (especially in Ireland) won't get you to the places you want to visit.

Hooameye

" it was wonderful until I had to navigate a roundabout. Be careful at those."

Perhaps you can elaborate on why you had a problem, roundabouts are simple, give way to traffic from the right and enter roundabout.