Off on a road trip, well it’ll cost you because it’s getting car hire and higher out there.
And nowhere more so than my spiritual home Ireland where in some counties they’re a must.
My old mum would oft refer to her homestead of Donegal in north-west Ireland as the ‘forgotten county’.
And it didn’t help when they ripped up the rail tracks in 1959.
Donegal driving
So now if you want to get about you need to either have a car, rent a car…
Or your hotel or B&B can get Eileen to ask Aoife who knows Niamh is passing and can get you halfway.
Where Bladhana can get you to Sorcha, but make sure you’re ready or they’ll leave without you.
By the end of it all, of course, you’ll feel one of the family.
Of course, many of us prefer our independence, but alas that comes at an increasingly greater price.
With DiscoverCars.com revealing the average cost of hiring a car in 2022 rose by 267% on the previous year.
Their data highlights an average increase of 47% worldwide.
With the average cost of a one-day car hire rising from £43 to £67.
So to get on the road in Ireland you’ll shell out £155 (yes, we know they’re in the Euro), up from £42.
Now we would never let a small thing like expense put us off a destination… we’re just giving you the road manual.
On the road again
The world’s second biggest country takes some getting around.
And that no doubt is the spiel for a spike of 264%.
Full reveal here on the third biggest mover here, Portugal-Azore Islands.
Because when we toured Hidden Portugal, Portugal Centro, we had the services of a driver/guide/historian and Coimbra’s most famous son.
Jose Madomis of Madomis Tours.
Now we’ve availed too of the services of our own fellow Britons, ninth with an 85% rise, but still cheaper than the trains.
The Czech Republic, fifth at 131% but again with a history lesson thrown in… and Becherovka and salty age-defying water.
While Greece is tenth at 81% which may persuade you to do a Pheidippides and run the 26 miles or so from Athens to Marathon.
There’s no rhyme nor reason why the other countries on the list should have seen such hikes.
But Israel, Iceland and Albania are countries where you need wheels because donkeys correctly have rights now.
Slowly does it
Of course with everything on the rise sometimes the best we can hope for are small increases.
And the Canary Islands at just 2% leads the way here.
Though if you do hire a car (at only £25 the cheapest on the list) then why not walk some of the way.
With CanariaWays where you’ll experience the many Tenerife eco-systems before refuelling at the Franco-theme Bar in Afur.
Fly drive
Now for many of us getting behind the wheel of a car in a foreign country requires a deep breath.
And my only attempt, in a Fiat 500 in Cannes, and it’s dashboard gearstick, never got out of the car park.
Although I kept that quiet from the organisers of the Florida Keys road trip.
Alas, but fortunately for other road users, it got cancelled by Covid.
Cut-price cars
Unbowed, I’ll be back though to the Sunshine State and you will too particularly with a 23% decrease in the hire of a car.
Bookended in the top four is America’s Playground, Colorado.
That’s when you’re not roped into their abseiling, freestyle rock climbing, white water rafting or roadside skiing.
Who is squeezed in between the two, why Guadeloupe and Australia… let’s go Outback.
And let’s not be put off when we see the car hire and higher.
Can I be trusted on a bike? In Amsterdam
Nylon Pool, Tobago