Trip Report Ireland 2004 Part 11 - Transportation
Aug 6th 2005, 12:43 am
#1
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Trip Report Ireland 2004 Part 11 - Transportation
[Part XI of report on trip to Ireland in June 2004. See lodging and
dining sections for specifics of those topics.]
The cities of Ireland are well connected by long-distance coaches
(less so by trains), but it’s difficult to get around rural areas
without a car. Since we wanted to visit my relatives in rural areas,
and also to tour the rural west coast, we decided to get a rental car
for part of the trip.
We chose Nova Rentacar Reservations, which charged a flat rate of
26.98 euros a day for a compact car, with no extra charge for airport
pickup and dropoff. Even more surprising, there was no charge for
dropping off in a different location . There was a 6 euro per day
charge for an extra driver. Liability, theft and CDR insurance was
included with a deductible of 675 euros. (This could be reduced by
buying extra insurance.)
Later, reading the contract, we realized that the deductible was much
higher for Italians and Spaniards. Marcello felt insulted in his
national pride, but he swallowed it and bought some extra insurance.
Later, considering the fact that not only would he be driving on the
left, but also shifting gears with his left hand, he decided that he
wanted to rent an automatic shift car. This brought the daily rate to
60.67 euros, a big difference, but one Marcello wanted to pay. The
Nova people were easy to reach on the phone and always helpful and
polite. I actually changed our arrangements twice, with no difficulty.
(Since returning from Ireland, we’ve received a letter from a company
that seems to have bought out Nova, so I don’t know if my
recommendation is worth much.)
I have to say that we found a good deal of the road signage, in both
Ireland and Northern Ireland, to be confusing and inadequate. Very
often, the signs for a turn are beyond the intersection, where you see
them when you are already in the wrong lane. More than once a sign
pointing straight ahead for a certain route number was followed almost
immediately, when you were in the wrong lane, by a sign indicating a
turn. More than once, we followed indications for a destination only
to come to another intersection where we had to turn either right or
left, but with no indications at all that would help us decide. Often
signs were obscured by shrubbery or other signs. Several times we saw
a sign indicating that we should continue straight only to find
ourselves on a roundabout with two exits that seemed to have equal
claims for being the “straight” road.
Omagh and Enniskillen, both in Northern Ireland, have to take the
prize for confusing and inadequate road signs. For a really funny (in
retrospect) incident, read my Omagh report. The only time someone
warned us that the signs were not adequate was when we were looking
for the Galway airport. However, that time we had no trouble at all
following the signs.
Roads in Ireland tend to be rather narrow. Even national roads
sometimes barely allow two trucks to pass each other, with no
shoulders, especially on rural stretches. Secondary roads often
require that one vehicle pull off the road or at least come to a
complete stop to allow another to squeeze past. Often hedgerows
encroach on the carriageway. Some drivers proceed at excessive speeds
and don’t always stay in their lanes. Marcello learned to slow down
very considerably before entering curves. Once we rounded a curve to
find a lone cow ambling towards us along the center line. Sheep are
frequently encountered on rural roads (Lonely Planet speaks of
“suicidal sheep”). Bicyclists and slow farm vehicles are also quite
common. If you plan to drive in Ireland, do exercise a good deal of
caution. We saw a number of cars whose right front side was damaged.
Before leaving home, I ordered the AA Glovebox Atlas for Ireland from
Amazon, and this was an excellent road atlas. The fairly fine grid,
with each division representing 3 km, made it easy to estimate
distances. The one criticism I have is that it would have been useful
to have one map of the entire country with the most important highways
indicated. Often you know you want the N6, for instance, but you don’t
know the final destination of the road. Then you see a sign pointing a
right turn for Dublin and you suspect that’s the turn you want for the
N6, but it means flipping a lot of pages in the atlas to confirm that
the N6 goes to Dublin. The Glovebox Atlas has one full map of Ireland,
but it shows only the county boundaries, and none of the highways. The
Lonely Planet has a good full map of Ireland with the major highways
indicated, but it would have been convenient to have the same in the
road atlas.
For returning to Dublin from Galway, we chose Citylink bus service.
There is also Bus Eireann service and train service, but Citylink has
direct busses to Dublin airport from Galway. This cuts about half an
hour from the trip to the airport, and is considerably quicker than
taking any other means to the airport. Busses depart Galway every hour
on the hour, some going straight to the airport with a change for
central Dublin. The others stop in central Dublin first and then
proceed to the airport. A single ticket was 12 euros to Dublin, or 17
euros to the airport and you can buy your ticket on the bus. A day
return costs little more, but it would be a long day trip. The trip
takes a little more than three hours.
We didn't do any bicycling in Ireland, but we encountered a bicycle
tour group called Irish Cycling Safaris. It seemed to be geared
towards people who were relatively fit but not world class cyclists.
The participants were having a great deal of fun, and many were repeat
clients. They make it a point to visit lots of pubs. (One of their
group told me it was a tour for drinkers with a biking habit.) If
anyone is thinking of doing some bike touring in Ireland, this group
might be of interest.
--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup
dining sections for specifics of those topics.]
The cities of Ireland are well connected by long-distance coaches
(less so by trains), but it’s difficult to get around rural areas
without a car. Since we wanted to visit my relatives in rural areas,
and also to tour the rural west coast, we decided to get a rental car
for part of the trip.
We chose Nova Rentacar Reservations, which charged a flat rate of
26.98 euros a day for a compact car, with no extra charge for airport
pickup and dropoff. Even more surprising, there was no charge for
dropping off in a different location . There was a 6 euro per day
charge for an extra driver. Liability, theft and CDR insurance was
included with a deductible of 675 euros. (This could be reduced by
buying extra insurance.)
Later, reading the contract, we realized that the deductible was much
higher for Italians and Spaniards. Marcello felt insulted in his
national pride, but he swallowed it and bought some extra insurance.
Later, considering the fact that not only would he be driving on the
left, but also shifting gears with his left hand, he decided that he
wanted to rent an automatic shift car. This brought the daily rate to
60.67 euros, a big difference, but one Marcello wanted to pay. The
Nova people were easy to reach on the phone and always helpful and
polite. I actually changed our arrangements twice, with no difficulty.
(Since returning from Ireland, we’ve received a letter from a company
that seems to have bought out Nova, so I don’t know if my
recommendation is worth much.)
I have to say that we found a good deal of the road signage, in both
Ireland and Northern Ireland, to be confusing and inadequate. Very
often, the signs for a turn are beyond the intersection, where you see
them when you are already in the wrong lane. More than once a sign
pointing straight ahead for a certain route number was followed almost
immediately, when you were in the wrong lane, by a sign indicating a
turn. More than once, we followed indications for a destination only
to come to another intersection where we had to turn either right or
left, but with no indications at all that would help us decide. Often
signs were obscured by shrubbery or other signs. Several times we saw
a sign indicating that we should continue straight only to find
ourselves on a roundabout with two exits that seemed to have equal
claims for being the “straight” road.
Omagh and Enniskillen, both in Northern Ireland, have to take the
prize for confusing and inadequate road signs. For a really funny (in
retrospect) incident, read my Omagh report. The only time someone
warned us that the signs were not adequate was when we were looking
for the Galway airport. However, that time we had no trouble at all
following the signs.
Roads in Ireland tend to be rather narrow. Even national roads
sometimes barely allow two trucks to pass each other, with no
shoulders, especially on rural stretches. Secondary roads often
require that one vehicle pull off the road or at least come to a
complete stop to allow another to squeeze past. Often hedgerows
encroach on the carriageway. Some drivers proceed at excessive speeds
and don’t always stay in their lanes. Marcello learned to slow down
very considerably before entering curves. Once we rounded a curve to
find a lone cow ambling towards us along the center line. Sheep are
frequently encountered on rural roads (Lonely Planet speaks of
“suicidal sheep”). Bicyclists and slow farm vehicles are also quite
common. If you plan to drive in Ireland, do exercise a good deal of
caution. We saw a number of cars whose right front side was damaged.
Before leaving home, I ordered the AA Glovebox Atlas for Ireland from
Amazon, and this was an excellent road atlas. The fairly fine grid,
with each division representing 3 km, made it easy to estimate
distances. The one criticism I have is that it would have been useful
to have one map of the entire country with the most important highways
indicated. Often you know you want the N6, for instance, but you don’t
know the final destination of the road. Then you see a sign pointing a
right turn for Dublin and you suspect that’s the turn you want for the
N6, but it means flipping a lot of pages in the atlas to confirm that
the N6 goes to Dublin. The Glovebox Atlas has one full map of Ireland,
but it shows only the county boundaries, and none of the highways. The
Lonely Planet has a good full map of Ireland with the major highways
indicated, but it would have been convenient to have the same in the
road atlas.
For returning to Dublin from Galway, we chose Citylink bus service.
There is also Bus Eireann service and train service, but Citylink has
direct busses to Dublin airport from Galway. This cuts about half an
hour from the trip to the airport, and is considerably quicker than
taking any other means to the airport. Busses depart Galway every hour
on the hour, some going straight to the airport with a change for
central Dublin. The others stop in central Dublin first and then
proceed to the airport. A single ticket was 12 euros to Dublin, or 17
euros to the airport and you can buy your ticket on the bus. A day
return costs little more, but it would be a long day trip. The trip
takes a little more than three hours.
We didn't do any bicycling in Ireland, but we encountered a bicycle
tour group called Irish Cycling Safaris. It seemed to be geared
towards people who were relatively fit but not world class cyclists.
The participants were having a great deal of fun, and many were repeat
clients. They make it a point to visit lots of pubs. (One of their
group told me it was a tour for drinkers with a biking habit.) If
anyone is thinking of doing some bike touring in Ireland, this group
might be of interest.
--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup
Aug 8th 2005, 2:41 am
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Trip Report Ireland 2004 Part 11 - Transportation
B Vaughan wrote:
[snip]
> I have to say that we found a good deal of the road signage, in both
> Ireland and Northern Ireland, to be confusing and inadequate.
Yet somehow part of the charm.
> Very
> often, the signs for a turn are beyond the intersection, where you see
> them when you are already in the wrong lane. More than once a sign
> pointing straight ahead for a certain route number was followed almost
> immediately, when you were in the wrong lane, by a sign indicating a
> turn. More than once, we followed indications for a destination only
> to come to another intersection where we had to turn either right or
> left, but with no indications at all that would help us decide. Often
> signs were obscured by shrubbery or other signs. Several times we saw
> a sign indicating that we should continue straight only to find
> ourselves on a roundabout with two exits that seemed to have equal
> claims for being the "straight" road.
You missed the pleasure of being at an intersection with two signs,
pointing in different directions, to the same place. I suspect
some of this is due to the fact that much signage doesn't appear
to be government installed but put there in order to direct tourists
to certain business interests.
[snip]
> Roads in Ireland tend to be rather narrow. Even national roads
> sometimes barely allow two trucks to pass each other, with no
> shoulders, especially on rural stretches. Secondary roads often
> require that one vehicle pull off the road or at least come to a
> complete stop to allow another to squeeze past. Often hedgerows
> encroach on the carriageway.
Some friends of ours took to refering to the side mirrors
(that fold backwards when struck) as "Irish curb feelers"
because theirs kept getting knocked back by the hedges.
One of our B&B hosts mentioned that he often believes he
can spot rental cars by the missing or damaged mirrors
on them.
> Some drivers proceed at excessive speeds
> and don't always stay in their lanes. Marcello learned to slow down
> very considerably before entering curves. Once we rounded a curve to
> find a lone cow ambling towards us along the center line. Sheep are
> frequently encountered on rural roads (Lonely Planet speaks of
> "suicidal sheep"). Bicyclists and slow farm vehicles are also quite
> common. If you plan to drive in Ireland, do exercise a good deal of
> caution. We saw a number of cars whose right front side was damaged.
Probably a generally good idea when driving in any unfamilar
place. But given the option, I'd drive anywhere in Ireland
before Rome.
[snip]
> We didn't do any bicycling in Ireland, but we encountered a bicycle
> tour group called Irish Cycling Safaris. It seemed to be geared
> towards people who were relatively fit but not world class cyclists.
> The participants were having a great deal of fun, and many were repeat
> clients. They make it a point to visit lots of pubs. (One of their
> group told me it was a tour for drinkers with a biking habit.) If
> anyone is thinking of doing some bike touring in Ireland, this group
> might be of interest.
There is also a growing industry of walking tours as well. Ireland
has some really beautiful countryside that can really only be reached
on foot. It also tends to go by a bit slower, and the sheep can be
a bit more friendly when you're not moving too fast. Can't reach
as many pubs in a day as on a bike however. (Sacrifices must be
made, don't ya know).
[snip]
> I have to say that we found a good deal of the road signage, in both
> Ireland and Northern Ireland, to be confusing and inadequate.
Yet somehow part of the charm.
> Very
> often, the signs for a turn are beyond the intersection, where you see
> them when you are already in the wrong lane. More than once a sign
> pointing straight ahead for a certain route number was followed almost
> immediately, when you were in the wrong lane, by a sign indicating a
> turn. More than once, we followed indications for a destination only
> to come to another intersection where we had to turn either right or
> left, but with no indications at all that would help us decide. Often
> signs were obscured by shrubbery or other signs. Several times we saw
> a sign indicating that we should continue straight only to find
> ourselves on a roundabout with two exits that seemed to have equal
> claims for being the "straight" road.
You missed the pleasure of being at an intersection with two signs,
pointing in different directions, to the same place. I suspect
some of this is due to the fact that much signage doesn't appear
to be government installed but put there in order to direct tourists
to certain business interests.
[snip]
> Roads in Ireland tend to be rather narrow. Even national roads
> sometimes barely allow two trucks to pass each other, with no
> shoulders, especially on rural stretches. Secondary roads often
> require that one vehicle pull off the road or at least come to a
> complete stop to allow another to squeeze past. Often hedgerows
> encroach on the carriageway.
Some friends of ours took to refering to the side mirrors
(that fold backwards when struck) as "Irish curb feelers"
because theirs kept getting knocked back by the hedges.
One of our B&B hosts mentioned that he often believes he
can spot rental cars by the missing or damaged mirrors
on them.
> Some drivers proceed at excessive speeds
> and don't always stay in their lanes. Marcello learned to slow down
> very considerably before entering curves. Once we rounded a curve to
> find a lone cow ambling towards us along the center line. Sheep are
> frequently encountered on rural roads (Lonely Planet speaks of
> "suicidal sheep"). Bicyclists and slow farm vehicles are also quite
> common. If you plan to drive in Ireland, do exercise a good deal of
> caution. We saw a number of cars whose right front side was damaged.
Probably a generally good idea when driving in any unfamilar
place. But given the option, I'd drive anywhere in Ireland
before Rome.
[snip]
> We didn't do any bicycling in Ireland, but we encountered a bicycle
> tour group called Irish Cycling Safaris. It seemed to be geared
> towards people who were relatively fit but not world class cyclists.
> The participants were having a great deal of fun, and many were repeat
> clients. They make it a point to visit lots of pubs. (One of their
> group told me it was a tour for drinkers with a biking habit.) If
> anyone is thinking of doing some bike touring in Ireland, this group
> might be of interest.
There is also a growing industry of walking tours as well. Ireland
has some really beautiful countryside that can really only be reached
on foot. It also tends to go by a bit slower, and the sheep can be
a bit more friendly when you're not moving too fast. Can't reach
as many pubs in a day as on a bike however. (Sacrifices must be
made, don't ya know).
Aug 8th 2005, 4:08 am
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Trip Report Ireland 2004 Part 11 - Transportation
B Vaughan<[email protected]> writes:
> I have to say that we found a good deal of the road signage, in both
> Ireland and Northern Ireland, to be confusing and inadequate.
A colleague who visited Ireland with her family asked about this
(after having gotten hopelessly lost) and was told "Oh, you should
never believe the road signs! The kids turn them round for fun."
--
-- Chris.
> I have to say that we found a good deal of the road signage, in both
> Ireland and Northern Ireland, to be confusing and inadequate.
A colleague who visited Ireland with her family asked about this
(after having gotten hopelessly lost) and was told "Oh, you should
never believe the road signs! The kids turn them round for fun."
--
-- Chris.
Aug 8th 2005, 8:34 am
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Trip Report Ireland 2004 Part 11 - Transportation
On 8 Aug 2005 07:41:10 -0700, "[email protected]"
<[email protected]> wrote:
> You missed the pleasure of being at an intersection with two signs,
>pointing in different directions, to the same place. I suspect
>some of this is due to the fact that much signage doesn't appear
>to be government installed but put there in order to direct tourists
>to certain business interests.
There is an intersection near where we live that has two signs
pointing in opposite directions to the same town, but actually both
roads go there, one in the valley and one on the ridge.
--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup
<[email protected]> wrote:
> You missed the pleasure of being at an intersection with two signs,
>pointing in different directions, to the same place. I suspect
>some of this is due to the fact that much signage doesn't appear
>to be government installed but put there in order to direct tourists
>to certain business interests.
There is an intersection near where we live that has two signs
pointing in opposite directions to the same town, but actually both
roads go there, one in the valley and one on the ridge.
--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup
Aug 8th 2005, 10:04 am
#5
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Trip Report Ireland 2004 Part 11 - Transportation
B Vaughan wrote:
> On 8 Aug 2005 07:41:10 -0700, "[email protected]"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> > You missed the pleasure of being at an intersection with two signs,
> >pointing in different directions, to the same place. I suspect
> >some of this is due to the fact that much signage doesn't appear
> >to be government installed but put there in order to direct tourists
> >to certain business interests.
> There is an intersection near where we live that has two signs
> pointing in opposite directions to the same town, but actually both
> roads go there, one in the valley and one on the ridge.
FWIW, we have a street here that intersects itself. Somebody
lives at the corner of Jesse and Jesse.
> On 8 Aug 2005 07:41:10 -0700, "[email protected]"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> > You missed the pleasure of being at an intersection with two signs,
> >pointing in different directions, to the same place. I suspect
> >some of this is due to the fact that much signage doesn't appear
> >to be government installed but put there in order to direct tourists
> >to certain business interests.
> There is an intersection near where we live that has two signs
> pointing in opposite directions to the same town, but actually both
> roads go there, one in the valley and one on the ridge.
FWIW, we have a street here that intersects itself. Somebody
lives at the corner of Jesse and Jesse.
