Hello all! We've reserved an economy automatic with Europcar for our upcoming Ireland trip. This may sound silly, but is this likely to come with a CD player?

Though of course we'll be enjoying the scenery (and studying maps...) we thought we might bring along some music as well, especially for longer drives.

Thanks!

It will depend on the make/model they actually give you, but on all my recent rentals in Europe and here, even small cars have CD player, but no cassette any more. [And please don't ask what's a cassette. ]

I know that many European countries have reputations for the worst drivers but watch out on NARROW Irish "highways". When you get off the beaten track, note the high incidence of cars with smashed fenders. I don't know if they don't repair them or if the frequency of crashes is higher than in other places. Maybe it's just all the Americans driving on the wrong side of the road....but Irish roads sometimes only seem to have one side, the middle.

rkkwan, are you telling me I can't take my 8 track collection?

Thanks so much for the info. We'll bring them just in case! And don't worry, rkkwan, I do still have some cassettes around the house! I used to make a mean mix tape

Perhaps another silly question- are gas stations easy to find? Or should we make it a habit to always fill up in the town we are leaving?

I've never owned any 8-track stuff, but I still listen to, and buy new and used vinyl.

TarheelslnNj-
Don't know if you need the help, but I put up a post a few days ago on Irish much and got a bunch of really great recommendations! I'm loading up my MP3 for a vacation 'soundtrack' to listen to. (Can't wait to stand at the Cliffs listening to Orinoco Flow!!) I'm renting a car too and I hadn't even thought about having a CD player! Looks like I'll have to make myself some road trip CDs too!! Thanks for asking about it!

TarheelsInNj:

Depending where you are traveling, gas stations can be few and far between. They also close a lot earlier than ours here in the States. I have had a few close calls, and my suggestion would be to fill up whenever you can, especially if you are going to be on the road at night, or off the beaten path. Why stress yourself if you can avoid it?

Both times we rented, the car had a CD player. If you get the treat of live music in the pub AND the band sells a CD- get it. There is nothing like driving through that beautiful scenery, reliving the fabulous experience of the evening before. When you return, it will give you double the pleasure to listen to that CD- memories of both the pub and the scenery.

I'll second what vawegs said -- fill up in town when you can. Now, granted, cars in Europe seem to have much better gas mileage than those here in the states, so it may not be necessary as often, but who wants to be stranded in the middle of tthe Ring of Kerry with no gas?

That's about what I had figured, but thank you all for confirming! We'll definitely fill up as we see gas stations.

And what a great suggestion about buying CDs of local music! Thanks.

When we rented a car in Ireland my teenage daughter brought her portable CD player and we bought an attachment that went in the cassette player and it plays the CD music out the speaker works pretty good. and I recall that the adapter was not too expensive we bought it in the US, she using in our old car that does not have a C D player