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My friend and I are planning a vacation to Ireland later this year. We'll be there for a week, flying into Dublin and then renting a car and driving around the country.

Both of us are 23. Are there any age restrictions on renting cars in Ireland? What would be the cheapest/best option for us?

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What driver's license do you hold? –  Mark Mayo Jan 29 '13 at 2:55
I have a license from Washington State, US. –  thekidder Jan 30 '13 at 3:09
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3 Answers

up vote 5 down vote accepted

So basically, it'll ultimately depend on the rental company, but there are certainly penalties. It's also definitely possible, so don't worry about that.

For example, from Irish Car Hire Info:

Drivers under 25 must have held their full license for at least 24 months prior to the date of pick up. The minimum age to rent a vehicle is 21 years (maximum 75). Drivers under 25, i.e. drivers aged 21,22, 23 or 24 are subject to an insurance surcharge of 25 Euro per day and drivers 70 or over are subject to an insurance surcharge of 25 Euro per day. All drivers under 25 and over 70 are liable for the first 1,200 Euro of damage to the car (excess). The surcharge is paid when collecting the car and is not included in the quoted price.

However, there are a few other terms on that page with regards to where you hold your current license, and whether you'll need to supply an international driver's license. But once you've got that, you should be good to go.

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Rental car companies can set their own restrictions so it really depends which company you decide to rent from.

Avis and Enterprise both require the driver to have held their licence for 8 years before they will rent a car them.

Make sure you shop around and see what's the best deal you can get and make sure, if they don't specify, to find out if the company has any age restrictions.

P.S. You'll definitely need a car if you want to explore Ireland as our public transport isn't up to scratch!

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What kind of driving licence do you have? Manual transmission (stick) or automatic? In Ireland like lots of Europe is mostly manual cars (stick). There are 2 classes of driving licence, an automatic one and everything. If you can only drive automatic transmission you will not be able to legally drive an manual transmission (not to mention that it might be difficult!). Since Ireland is mostly manual transmission, most of the cars might be manual. You may only have a small (and more expensive) choice then.

I don't know if there is any law blocking under 25s driving, but as far as I know it's quite a common restriction for car hire companies to place.

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