Hitting the Road in Ireland

Today is one of the biggest travel days of the year in the U.S. ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, and it had me thinking of our trip this summer driving around Ireland, on the wrong (to us in the U.S.) side of the road.

I’m a Planner

Just ask Dan. I.plan.everything. I can’t help it (first born, Capricorn, type A), it’s in my DNA. So, before we left for our trip to Ireland, I scoured the Internet and Pinterest (go to site for travel tips & guides) for tips on driving on the other side of the road. I’ve been to places that drive on the opposite side, but was never responsible for actually driving, and this was all new to Dan. Some tips we found before our trip were helpful, and some we discovered weren’t accurate.

So, I’m breaking down what worked for us, and hint: driving on the other side of the road was not that bad (at least from the passenger seat). 😬

1.Rent the smallest car you possibly can: I cannot recommend this enough. The roads in Ireland are SMALL. So small that many times you have to pull off into the grass to let a car pass you coming from the opposite way. Don’t be that person in a huge SUV-it’s not worth it.

2. Rent an automatic car: Unless you are a pro at driving stick, I highly recommend renting an automatic car. Keep in mind, everything is on the opposite side, including the stick and the clutch. Make it easy on yourself and just rent the automatic. We were first given a stick and we asked if we could have an automatic instead, which the car rental place was happy to do.

3. Rental insurance: We usually never purchase extra insurance when we rent a car, but we had multiple people tell us to get the insurance because “accidents just happen in Ireland.” We purchased insurance through the rental company (I don’t remember how much it was…maybe $100?), and luckily, we didn’t get into any accidents. Go figure! I’m glad we had it because I feel like if we didn’t get insurance, something would have happened, but I think you should base your decision off of how much driving you will be doing, and where you’ll be parking your car most often (parking garage/lots vs. on the street).

4. LOOK LEFT. We constantly kept saying this to ourselves, since it’s so foreign to us. Luckily, the rental cars have signs in the car on the windshield that remind you to look left and to drive on the left. It started to become second nature to us and it will for you, too.

5. Fear of turning down a road and driving the wrong way: Thanks to modern technology, we used our phone as our GPS, and the good thing about a GPS, it won’t take you down a street the wrong way. I have to admit that it was the most confusing as to which side or which way we should be on the street when we were in a city. Parking on the street is a bit different over there. In the U.S., you park on the side of the street you are driving down. In Ireland, people park wherever there is an open spot, so cars are facing all different directions on both sides of the street. Driving on the open highway was easy. However, keep in mind that when you’re on the highway, the slow lane is the left lane and the fast lane is the right lane. We messed that up a couple of times. 😳

6. Roundabouts: I read horror stories about roundabouts before we left and had such anxiety as we approached our first roundabout. Honestly, roundabouts were SO easy. They make total sense, they aren’t congested like the roundabouts here in the U.S., and drivers actually follow the rules. There are so many roundabouts in Ireland and we were pros at roundabouts by the time we left.

7. To my fellow backseat drivers: Do your best to help navigate the driver and don’t yell out “YOU”RE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD!” if at all possible. 🤗 In my defense, I only did that once and it was when we were in a city (I said they were confusing 😂).

I hope these tips are helpful and help ease any anxiety you may have driving on the other side of the street.

If you are traveling today for the holiday, drive safe!

-Steph, xx