Exploring the Isle of Ireland with Budget Car Rental Ireland

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Four days, 1,400 km (847 miles), and 8 stops. I step off the plane in Dublin, Ireland. I have a very short time frame and a whole adventure ahead of me. The Republic of Ireland and Nothern Ireland are my last stop on a month long trip that has taken me through Egypt and Eastern Europe. I both excited and nervous about this road trip. I have never driven on the right side of the road. This fact has just gotten real as I walk out of customs and head over to baggage claim. I grab my bag and head over to the rental car counters. It doesn’t take but a glance to find my trip sponsor’s counter. There is one other person at the Budget Car Rental Ireland counter. It doesn’t take the attendant but a couple of minutes to check them out and give them directions on How to get in to Dublin from the airport. Within five mins of getting my bag, I have my car and am off to find my rental car.

Arrival

Budget has provided me with an automatic full sized car. I walked into the parking garage and hit the lock button on the keys a couple of times. It should have been enough to push the button just once, so I believe there must be something wrong with the key. If I were at home I would immediately check out https://kingstonelocksmith.com/ and arrange for the locksmith experts to get to my location. A silver Opel Insignia beeped at me. I loaded my bags into the trunk and walked to the “driver’s door” to get in the car. I opened the door and found I was at the passager’s side. Oops, I am in Ireland, they drive on the right. I walk around the car and get into the car. I hooked my phone up to the car’s Bluetooth and adjusted the comfy seat. It was a short drive on the M1 over to my hotel.

The Car

I had never heard of an Opel before picking up this rental car. This full sized 4-door notchback has plenty of room for an Irish road trip. I was traveling solo but I wouldn’t hesitate to get this car again if I was making a road trip with up to 3 other people. The trunk, like most Hampshire vehicles has plenty of space for several suitcases. The seats have enough room that no one feels cramp even when sitting in the back seat. I like that it had Bluetooth connection and two USB ports. One in the front and one in the back. I normally drive a manual transmission, but I like the automatic transmission of this car. It did an excellent job of shifting gears and providing me power when I needed it. I didn’t need to refuel the vehicle until I was headed back to Dublin on Day 3. If you are coming from the UK it may be easier for you to take your own car and come across on the ferry. Of course, make sure you are correctly insured for the trip beforehand and if you are a younger driver check that you are able to drive a rental car at all! You can visit Get in Gear for more information. It might also be useful for you to check and compare insurance quotes on http://moneyexpert.com/. Then you can enjoy your Irish Trip…Stress-free!!!

My Trip

Day 1 – Blarney Stone & Half the Ring of Kerry

I was up at 6 am to start the 3-hour drive from Dublin to Blarney Castle. I was about half when a felt a slight bump in the road and the tire pressure monitor light came on. I immediately pulled into the first place I found the Horse & Jockey Hotel. I called the 24-hour service hotline. I got an answer on the first ring. He dispatched the closest tow truck to my location (see more at CanadianTowing.com). He said it would take 30 to 45 mins for the tow to arrive. I told him that I was going to start changing the tire and would call back if I finished before the tow arrived. I was just starting to loosen the lug nuts on the car when a group of 5 Irish men pulled up. They took over changing my tire. In less than ten mins, I was back on the road to Blarney. Budget Rental Car Ireland had a replacement car ready and waiting when I arrived at the Cork airport to switch out the car. I was impressed with how easy and quickly Budget got me into a replacement car. I didn’t lose any time to driving over a nail or something.

From the Cork Airport, I drove to the Blarney Castle the home of the Blarney Stone. I joined about ten other tourists in the Blarney Castle. It was early morning, and the tour buses from Dublin hadn’t arrived yet. The Castle is a medieval stronghold and living in the castle doesn’t seem like it would be the most pleasant of things. It was a narrow winding staircase to the top of the castle. I decided that I wanted the gift of gab, so I carefully followed instructions to kiss the Blarney Stone. I am glad I don’t have a fear of heights, but it takes a lot of trust to lean back and kiss the stone.

I took a quick tour of the Poison Garden and learned about all sorts of poisons plants that can kill you. I recognized a few like mandrake and marijuana. These were in special cages to prevent people from touching them.

With the gift of gab, I headed off to try and drive as much of the Ring of Kerry as I had daylight to do. It was a foggy day in Ireland, so I didn’t get a chance to enjoy the countryside but the few glimpses I did have made the drive worth while. I arrived in Killarney and started my tour with a visit to Muckross House. Muckross House was built by famed architect William Burn. Then I took a short walk over to Torc Waterfall. The small waterfall was cute, and I would bet that the waterfall is more impressive during the summer when it has more water. I then drove down to Ladies View and Molls Gap. Alas, the fog was thick and obstructed the view.

I watched the sunset over the ocean and headed up to Limerick for the evening.

Day 2 – Cliffs of Moher & Quiet Man Flim Sites

I had a short morning drive from Limerick over to the Cliffs of Moher. The weather was foggy as I made the drive, but as I approached the coast, the weather cleared. I hopped my good luck would hold, and I had some time to explore the cliffs before the fog rolled in.

My tour of the Cliffs started with a visit to O’Brien’s Tower. I walked along the trail passed the tower. It was a little muddy, but the improved view of the 150 ft plus cliffs was well worth the mud. I was disappointed that I didn’t see any puffins but given I was visiting in February, I can’t say I am surprised.

After that, I walked down from the Tower and along the opposite section of the cliff. I loved the view of O’Brien’s Tower from the other side of the cliffs.

Up next was a couple hour drive through the Irish countryside to the small town of Cong. Cong’s claim to fame is a small 1950′ film name The Quiet Man starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. It is a film about an Irish-American Boxer (John Wayne) whose ghost cause him to run to Ireland. There he meets a sassy spinster (Maureen O’Hara). They fall in love and marry. The pair run into trouble when her brother refuses to pay her dowry. The movie is hilarious and one of my favorite (as well as my mothers). I enjoyed visiting a few famous movie sites and having a beer at Pat Cohan Pub.

Day 3 – Giant’s Causeway & Titanic Belfast

I drove across the border and into Northern Ireland. I noticed a semi towing a car along the highway, I thought it was interesting as I’d never seen that before. At the Giant’s Causeway, I realized that I had just changed countries and didn’t have any pounds. Thankfully Northern Ireland is used to this and everywhere accepts Euros, credit cards, and occasionally dollars.

I bought my ticket for Giant’s Causeway and headed into the visitor center. I discovered that I was one of 3 people there and got a private guided tour of the Causeway. I really enjoyed that. It meant that the guide could focus on the geological aspects of the site. She told me about the interlocking basalt columns. This is the fourth place I have seen these columns (Iceland and two places in the USA). I loved hearing the stories of Finn MacCool. I even took a short nap in his shoe.

Near the Causeway is the Bushmills Whiskey. I had a small sample of several of their whiskey’s while I had lunch. I would have loved to sample more, but responsible driving limited me to a sip of three type of whiskey. I found that I enjoyed their black label and reserve. I bought a bottle of the black label for when I got home.

The next stop was the Titanic Belfast. This was a full circle year for me. I saw the graves of Titanic victims in Halifax, Canada and the site of the construction of the Titanic in Belfast. I am not obsessed with the Titanic. It just happened that my travel plans worked out that way. I enjoyed the exhibit. It focused on the side of the Titanic that is rarely seen. It is all about the workers and construction on the ship. It shows it in the light of being a marvel of engineering even if it ended in tragedy.

Day 4 – Guinness Tour and Jameson Tasting

I had a busy half day in Dublin, Ireland. I needed to be at the airport by 2:00 pm and wanted to do a Jameson Tasting as well as a tour of the Guinness facility. I took the first tour of the Guinness factory. I am not a fan of Guinness but I couldn’t leave Dublin without taking the tour.

The tour is my favorite beer tour. It was interactive and a great way to show how more of the world’s most famous beers. I loved the part where I learned how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness and enjoyed the view from Dublin from the top bar.

I ended my trip to Ireland with a tasting Jameson Whisky. Again, I didn’t get to have more than a sip due to being responsible. I didn’t get to take a tour of Jameson due to the Dublin facility being under construction.

Overall Thoughts

Budget Car Rental Ireland is one of the best rental car agencies I have ever used. I use a lot of rental cars due to my job and the efficiency of this place was amazing. I didn’t have to spend more than 10 mins dealing with their staff at any point. The pick-up was super easy and the return was super easy as well. I did have to fill out a form due to the flat tire but that look like 2 mins and Budget provided the upgraded insurance so I wasn’t out any money due to the tire. All the staff was knowledgeable and very helpful.

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If this doesn’t have you convinced to visit Ireland. Here a 7 more amazing reasons to visit Ireland.

I loved my Budget Car Rental Ireland road trip. Have you taken an Irish Road Trip? If so, what was your favorite part? If not, what do you most look forward too?

Check out more great adventures with Budget Rental Car Ireland at:

I took a whirlwind four-day road trip around the Emerald Isle with Budget Car Rental Ireland. I visited castles and landmarks around the island. Facebook I took a whirlwind four-day road trip around the Emerald Isle with Budget Car Rental Ireland. I visited castles and landmarks around the island. Twitter I took a whirlwind four-day road trip around the Emerald Isle with Budget Car Rental Ireland. I visited castles and landmarks around the island. Google+

Disclaimer: I was provided a rental car by Budget Rental Car Ireland for my road trip. All opinions are my own.

I took a whirlwind four-day road trip around the Emerald Isle with Budget Car Rental Ireland. I visited castles and landmarks around the island.

52 thoughts on “Exploring the Isle of Ireland with Budget Car Rental Ireland”

  1. What a fun adventurous road trip! I haven’t been on a road trip in years, I’d love to again! The rental car was nice looking- great job!

  2. I would 100% want to rent a car to see as much as I can of Ireland! I’ve only explored in and around Dublin so I’d love to see more. Gorgeous photos and great post, thanks for sharing 🙂 Bookmarking.

  3. Road trips often lead to the best trips. You get to travel at your own leisure and get to spend time in the places you like, click as many pictures as you want without the time constraint and just explore!

  4. Road trips are our thing and I just love Ireland. We’ve actually driven over part of your route, but not all. Absolutely stunning images too that will do so much to draw people towards this great place. The Jamesons tour is a must.

  5. I so want to do a road trip around my neighbours island (from the UK). Ireland has so much to offer, its the weather which can put a downer on the trip. Its the island in Euroland which has the most rain. Love the write up and you have given me a few ideas here. 🙂

  6. What a great roadtrip! Driving on the opposite side to the road than you are used to can take some time to get comfortable with, but it looks like you handled it with ease. I’ve always expected that I would kiss the Blarney stone when I finally go there but someone said to me the other day – I wonder how many people have kissed it? – and it got me thinking… I’m not sure if I would do it now!

    1. I can agree with that statement, but you only live once and I would be more worried about the fact that birds and things can poop on the rocks and then it wash down when it rains.

  7. That’s a detailed itinerary for exploring Ireland by car. And your pictures have come out really well even in the foggy weather. We somehow never get anything close to your pics when exploring in bad light.

    1. I would rather take photos in cloudy weather rather than bright light. It makes it easier to get good photos. I loved Ireland.

  8. That was quite the itinerary! Looks like you went with a great rental car company as well, which is so important – especially when rolling solo!

    P.s. I had no idea you had to lean back to kiss the Blarney stone lol

    1. I didn’t know that either. I was rather surprised to learn that I had to lean back and trust this guy to hold me. I lived so it was great.

  9. We recently planned to go on a road-trip on our last tour, but as faith would have it, it did not work out. That would have been our first. I must say Budget car offers a great service. One of the things that piss me off is when you call the helpline of companies and you get a machine and then many minutes after someone finally answers and you still have to wait many hours after for service. They answered on the first ring, which is good.

    Your trip was filled with a lot of different activities and that is good in my opinion. Like you I am not a Titanic fanatic, but I would appreciate seeing some of the amazing engineering that were used in the construction of the massive vessel.

    Would definitely love the taste the different whiskies as well.

  10. Ah you are braver than I was when I had the opportunity to travel there in the late ’90’s. Automatics were not common in rental cars then & the thought of Lefthanded manual driving for the first time was well, a bit much. Good to know Budget does automatics now. Tea & cakes on the train was pretty cool though.

  11. I’m a huge fan of roadtrips. I think having your own means of transport (car, motorbike, bicycle) while travelling truly give you a chance to get off the road and make little stops at often unknown places. Car rentals are a great way to do them when you’re not in your home countries. Being a motorbike, I’ll look for motorbike rentals though

  12. A poison garden…how interesting! I love to grow things – especially that you can eat and I always admire gardens of every type when we travel. I have to say this is a new one for me…I have never heard of a poison garden. It brings to mind something that would be planted at Hogwart for potion ingredients for wizards and witches!!

    We always travel with the kids and I’m sure this sort of garden would be a surprise for them, too!

  13. That’s great and thanks for sharing! I think it’s a must to rent a car so it’s easier to explore and appreciate the epic coastlines that Ireland has to offer! @ knycx.journeying

  14. If I was able to drive I would have loved to get a car and head on a road trip by myself. Ireland seems like the perfect place for a roadtrip. I can only imagine it in the spring with all the greenery. I have heard about the cliffs of Moher and it seems as it is even more stunning in the fog.

  15. This road trip looks like an incredibly beautiful route! I would love to see Ireland via car, you can take as many stops as you like! The cliffs of Mohr are seriously incredible, we would probably stop there just to take it all in for a few hours!

  16. I’m hoping to be in Ireland later this year for TBEX Europe, so this post is going straight onto my Pinterest so I can revisit the itinerary when the time draws nearer.

    I’m especially keen to check out the natural beauty, although my mother would die if I don’t at least snap a photo or ten at the Titanic Museum haha.

    1. Yea, the outdoors is amazing. If TBEX wasn’t in the middle of a week, I would go but I don’t want to use my vacation on the conference yet.

  17. Taking a road trip in Ireland seems like such a great idea! Ireland seems to have so much culture and experiencing while driving through the backwoods seems like the perfect opportunity to experience it!

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