Ok. The tip on the flashing lights is a good one. Any recommendations on a good rental car company? I think I may rent and return at the Cork airport. Automatic is the answer for me as I will have too much else to think about while driving on my own.

Suggestions for car rental (car hire)companies with GPS? Just in case someone did rent in Ireland, please advise. Thanks. :)

Hertz offers GPS. It was €10 per day back in Oct. 2006 when I rented from them. Note that it's a separate contract from the car rental itself. The penalty if the unit is lost or stolen was quoted as €1000! Make sure you take it into your hotel or B&B with you every night - don't leave it in the vehicle.

Great info on the GPS. Also protecting it or paying 1000 euro. I will check it out today.

You might consider buying a gps unit. Our Tomtom One was on sale for $150 at Christmas. The European maps are another $150. If you rent one for 10 days you are already into it for $100.

I would bet there are great deals to be had on ebay for gps with the Europe maps already installed.

we rented an Opel 1.2 Corsa through Hertz at the Dublin Airport with CDW and Theft protection included. We rented it through the Aer Lingus web site when we booked our flight. The total cost is $209 USD for 4/19 thru morning of 4/26. I'm having my wife call Hertz today to confirm that there won't be any hidden surprises in there.

I'm going to use our Garmin 760 with a Europe maps chip that I bought on Ebay. I use the Garmin a lot and it makes it very easy to drive in unfamiliar areas because it talks to you. The Europe chip latest version for 2008 was $182 on ebay but you can get one that only covers Ireland and the UK for under $100. The chip can be used with a Garmin 200W that was on sale at Costco for $199. I have used the "Hertz never lost" gps in the past and didn't like it. Much more confusing than the Garmin.

When I received my Europe chip I tried zooming in on Dingle and was amazed at the number of little roads that showed up around and in the town of Dingle. When I did the same thing with my version 8 2006 chip, only the main roads showed up.

The first message on this thread suggested folding back the mirrors. This is a daft idea. You need the mirrors when reversing and to check if anyone is approaching from behind when you are getting out of the car. If the mirrors go through a gap, then the rest of the car will.

Door mirrors do get damaged sometimes, but they are very easily replaced.

Just confirmed with Hertz that the $209 was correct including CDW and Theft. No surprises and they faxed this in writing. We did decide though after talking with Hertz to change to a Ford Focus for a total of $232. We will have 2 24" spinners and 2 backpacks that I wanted to make sure are covered in the trunk.

The SCDW will cost about $120 extra and we'll probably add that in Dublin.

Agree on getting a small car --- it's just easier to park, navigate, maneuver, etc. when you have a really small car. Even if you get a GPS system, I would still recommend buying a good map. If your GPS fails for some reason, a map will be invaluable. We really liked the Michelin Guide but I think any good map would be fine.

Flanner's astoundingly UK-centric worldview notwithstanding, anyone who drives 99.99% of the time always on one side would be stupid not to execrcise care when switching. In fact it's not only which side of the road you drive on, but equally on which side of the vehicle you sit while driving that is crucial. Even those with exceptional spatial sense have probably developed their driving skills around piloting from either the left or right seat, and swapping your operating position can, at first, be like jumping from a mini to a limo.

In the BVI vehicles drive on the left - but most of the vehicles I've encountered there also have the driver's seat on the left. As my friend, who has driven everywhere in the world, easily managed to stay on the left side of the road, it was a local - a taxi driver, no less - who crossed the line and hit us head on.