Scottish advice!!!!!

[karen sharpe]

My son is going to Scotland in July from Canada . Does he need an international drivers license to rent a car ?? Do you know a ballpark figure for daily price and is it the same as in england i.e. driving on left side of road? What are the names of car rental agencies in Edinborough?Any advice on hostels or inexpensive B and B's in Edinborough? Thanks Mom.

[LHT28]

My son is going to Scotland in July from Canada . Does he need an international drivers license to rent a car ?? Do you know a ballpark figure for daily price and is it the same as in england i.e. driving on left side of road? What are the names of car rental agencies in Edinborough?Any advice on hostels or inexpensive B and B's in Edinborough? Thanks Mom.

 

Check with your travel agent ...you can book a car here in CDN funds probably cheaper than the U.K.

They drive on the left!

Check out http://www.easyhotel.com/

http://www.syha.org.uk/SYHA/web/site/home/home.asp

[karen sharpe]

Thanks good advice. Wish he would let the bus drivers do the left side driving! Mom.

[DougYWG]

There are 7 car rental companies at Edinburgh airport. I usually get on their web sites to compare rates. For lots of info on EDI, try http://www.baa.com. They will accept a Canadian drivers licence. They have desks in the arrivals area, then you and your baggage have to take a shuttle bus to the car rental park. One bus serves all companies. It's about half a mile. They drive on the left. Compared to Canada you will find that the driving style is...um, how shall we say this?... more vigorous. Actually, a car is pain in Edinburgh. Traffic is choked and parking is scarce and expensive. However, a car is great for getting out of the city and going somewhere else.

 

Take lots of folding green. You'll spend pounds like dollars. For example, anything that is ten bucks here will be ten quid over there and the pound cost you around $2.35. Ouch!!

[Globaliser]

My son is going to Scotland in July from Canada . Does he need an international drivers license to rent a car ??

A full Canadian driving licence plus passport should be fine. I don't think I've ever used an international driving licence but have never had any problems renting a car anywhere that I've been to and needed one.

[rykersdad]

..... darling ... an international drivers licence is a piece of paper that explains what their real drivers licence says.... (incase of a foreign language)... you don't need it, just a valid Cdn one, and passport, and must be over 25 which he is.

Sears has a great deal on hotel right now, and car rentals... about $28-35 per day, alot of the cars are standards..... most of the deals are offering hotels/ B&B's with a car..... If you book car and hotel in Canada it is definately cheaper.

[karen sharpe]

Thank You Doug and Globaliser---- invaluable info!! And thanks to Rykersdad ( dear sister) as always I can count on you especially with the favourite nephew! Will pass this great info on to him. MOM!

[Nickwolf]

I was in Edinburgh on Saturday and Sunday last week. I would agree with the previous poster who said driving in Edinburgh is a pain, particularly in the west end where they are altering the roads and have lots of roads closed to all but buses and taxis with no obvious diversions in place. I found it quite difficult to get around.

 

Parking is also very tricky and expensive (£1.60/hour roadside outside our hotel with a 1 hour limit anyway) we ended up parking about 1.5 miles outside of town.

 

Bear in mind this is coming from a British driver who has sat nav and drives 700-1000 miles a week.

 

My recomendation is to use the very good bus service (£2.30 all day travel) or taxis.

 

Nick.