[Jim1mack]

Considering taking a road through Ireland and Scotland. If you’ve driven in these countries I’d like to know your experience in getting accustomed to driving on the left. Our plan is to cover a good portion of each country.

[CFrance]

Muscle memory is the worst problem. Our son and DIL have lived in Australia for 15 years, and they still feel in an emergency situation their muscle memory from driving in the US might take over. (It hasn't yet, but they've caught themselves about to experience it.)
If you are renting a car, consider that in a manual transition car, you will be working the gearshift with your left hand. Pedals are the same as the States. Renting an automatic is usually more expensive but worth it.

[Rainger99]

Originally Posted by Jim1mack

Considering taking a road through Ireland and Scotland. If you’ve driven in these countries I’d like to know your experience in getting accustomed to driving on the left. Our plan is to cover a good portion of each country.

I have done it several times over the years. I was apprehensive but I was amazed at how easy it was to adjust. Even with a manual transmission, I found shifting with my left hand very natural. And the gas pedal is for the right foot! And it easy to adjust to driving on the left side.

Biggest problem will be driving narrow roads. Also, auto insurance is a big hassle in Ireland. Your credit card covers you in most countries - but not in Ireland!

[Two Bills]

I, too, would recommend an automatic, whatever the extra costs.
Also, our compacts cars are small, so full size would be best. SUV would be better all round visibility as well.
Rural roads are narrow, and most Motorways (Freeways) are busy.
You have to pay for most parking sites, and parking spots are a lot narrower than you will be used to. Personally, I always reverse into spaces, but nose in is fine.
Satnav is a must.
Some roundabouts are just painted circles on the road, so look for a sign denoting roundabout ahead. Navigating is the same as US, except you give way to the right.
Will be strange at first, but within a couple of days you will be fine.
Enjoy your holiday.

[fdpaq0580]

My advice (for what it's worth is, keep your mind on driving! If you feel comfortable, you will relax and that is when your mind drifts, old habits emerge and bad things happen. Stay Alert! Stay Aware!
Hope you have a safe and wonderful journey!

[Arctic Fox]

Originally Posted by Jim1mack

Considering taking a road through Ireland and Scotland. If you’ve driven in these countries I’d like to know your experience in getting accustomed to driving on the left. Our plan is to cover a good portion of each country.

Keep your distances short each day - to enjoy the trip and so as not to get too tired - and rent the smallest (automatic) car with which you feel comfortable.

[asianthree]

Think about the narrow southern back roads, then imagine there could be livestock right in the middle of the road around every corner just to make it interesting.

If you aren’t comfortable drive stick here, definitely pay the big bucks for automatic. By day two you will be a pro

[SIRE1]

When I rented a car there, I had to keep focused ALL the time. Not much opportunity to gaze out the window at the passing country side.

I found the most of the rental cars were manual transmission and although I knew how to drive a stick shift, I had forgotten how difficult it was to start from a stop going up a hill. I finally figured out to use the hand emergency brake as an aid to prevent rolling backwards. I also found that I frequently looked up and to the right out the door when I intended to look at the rear view mirror, where the mirror is on our cars. And one of the hardest things was judging how to pull into a 90 degree parking place with the steering wheel on the "opposite" side of the car. But after a week, I became more comfortable and handled everything but the REALLY narrow roads in the country side.

[Two Bills]

Originally Posted by SIRE1

And one of the hardest things was judging how to pull into a 90 degree parking place with the steering wheel on the "opposite" side of the car. But after a week, I became more comfortable and handled everything but the REALLY narrow roads in the country side.

That is why I recommend reversing into parking spaces.

[biker1]

I have driven over there several times. You will get used to the right hand drive pretty quickly but there is a tendency to drift to the left side (outside) of the lane. This may create an issue with your left side view mirror. Make sure you have a GPS. The last time we had a Garmin which did not require cellular access (preloaded with all data). The roads outside the major cities can be quite narrow by US standards. I have always had a manual transmission. You may want to search for an automatic unless you are very comfortable with a manual. You may want to sign up for $0 deductible insurance. It will be costly but you turn in the car and walk away if you have any damage. Again, some of the roads can be narrow and the tendency to drift left can bring curbs into play. Do not drink and drive. The last time we rented with Eurocar.

Originally Posted by Jim1mack

Considering taking a road through Ireland and Scotland. If you’ve driven in these countries I’d like to know your experience in getting accustomed to driving on the left. Our plan is to cover a good portion of each country.

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by Jim1mack

Considering taking a road through Ireland and Scotland. If you’ve driven in these countries I’d like to know your experience in getting accustomed to driving on the left. Our plan is to cover a good portion of each country.

It’s a lot easier to get accustomed to in Europe because the drivers side of the car is on the right. It’s much more difficult in the US Virgin Islands, where the drivers side of the car is on the left and you drive on the left side of the road and the roads are very narrow, hilly, and often without guard rails.

[rustyp]

I found it easiest to keep a very simple saying in my mind - "keep the middle of the road on my side of the car".

[npwalters]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Muscle memory is the worst problem. Our son and DIL have lived in Australia for 15 years, and they still feel in an emergency situation their muscle memory from driving in the US might take over. (It hasn't yet, but they've caught themselves about to experience it.)
If you are renting a car, consider that in a manual transition car, you will be working the gearshift with your left hand. Pedals are the same as the States. Renting an automatic is usually more expensive but worth it.

The first sentence is key. When an potential emergency arises our tendency to "bail out" to the right is the wrong thing to do. Having said that - I drove in Scotland and Ireland for a few weeks and got by. Apparently "fecking igit" is a compliment in Ireland.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Did Scotland from Heathrow this past summer for two weeks, and did Ireland last summer for 10 days. England's roads are very advanced, wide enough with lots of painted directions. Use SATNAV everywhere, and realize that the SATNAV works on Postal Codes, so you can get to the exact area, but maybe not the exact location, which might mean driving around slowly looking around. Make sure you go slowly at first, to get used to driving on the left. Go slow in roundabouts as getting in the correct lane at the start gets you off at the correct exit by just following the lanes. In the cities, Edinburg, London, stay in the suburbs near train stations, and take the train into the areas you want to explore. Driving in the cities is not the easiest, especially when looking for parking spaces.

Look up and print off the local signage meanings. We were often curious what all the different signs mean. Also, speed cameras are an occasional occurrence, just keep to the speed limit. I have driven a manual transmission all my life, from 16 though 63 y/o, but I won't do left side of road AND left hand stick, so I paid for a standard every time we went. daily route planning prior to leaving the US, using google maps, will be a big help to give you a distance and time to destination estimate to plan your travel times

The first habit to overcome is to look RIGHT, when making a left hand turn onto the left side of the road.

Ireland is a way different country. Why more people aren't killed daily driving in Ireland is beyond me. It does require a bunch of focus if you are tired, as you will fall back to US habits more easily. The count of numbers is the class of Highway. M4 is a class 1 highway, comparable to the US interstates. Occasionally there are tolls which take credit cards. . N71 roads are usually wide two+ lanes, one each way or more. R604 are narrow two lane roads, which has the passenger looking at death the entire time, hitting curbs with tires and branches from bushes reinforces that sentiment. Any road with 4 number is only an oxen cart wide, may have to stop for the afternoon milking as the cows cross the lane, and look for pull offs for meeting other cars.

good luck, but both countries are very easy to deal with the locals. Many have very strong ties to New England, and the US, and most are up on the intl news. When people asked where we were from, i would commonly replay with "We are 1776 expats"

have fun!

[Shipping up to Boston]

Reminds me of National Lampoons European Vacation. Chevy Chase character trying to exit a roundabout.....”Hey kids, there’s Big Ben....Hey Kids, there’s Big Ben!”

On second thought, it may have been what I see at a TV roundabout!

OP, our roundabouts are the perfect proving/practice grounds for your trip!
Safe travels!