We’ve rented cars on six continents but there are countries I won’t do so in. We only rent cars in countries where we’re reasonably comfortable with the legal system in case of an accident. I would never rent a car in a place where I felt that was a particular threat.

My concern has always been language barrier, particularly in the case of an accident or law enforcement interaction. I’ve rented cars and driven in European places where I have friends, some knowledge of the language and a lot of experience as a passenger. In some places, both in Europe and elsewhere, I would be concerned about unwritten “rules” — like the biggest vehicle has the right of way regardless what the handbook might say; or traffic lights have no meaning between midnight and six am, again regardless what the handbook might say; or locals yield to other locals but will run people with non-local tags into the ditch.

I'm not a driver generally. I'm from Europe and barely ever drove before moving to the US, didn't need to. Here I do drive, but I live somewhere suburban where it is so easy. There's no way I am launching myself on roads abroad! Dh otoh is from NYC and loves driving including city driving, narrow streets, no lanes...He doesn't mind any of it. So I think it really depends on comfort level and what you enjoy. I agree you do see so much more of a country that way.

OMG start with driving in Iceland?? Get ready for gravel to the windshield and trucks passing 6 cars at once in the oncoming traffic lane.

Ireland is the most difficult place to drive. Stone walls border the roads so there's absolutely no room for error when trucks are brushing past you at 50 MPH. Scariest, white knuckle experience ever.

We used to do it because it's easier with kids - they can nap in the back seat, eat their snacks, etc. And in certain countries you can only reach the best sites with a car.

I've driven in other countries, including India (yes, really -- we lived there for 3 years) and Kenya. You'd think I'd be able to handle anything but I still stress over it -- and I'm talking mainly about driving in European countries because even though I drove in India, I still don't want to drive anywhere in Asia, except maybe Japan).

A few reasons
- Language barrier
- Crazy drivers
- Narrow roads
- Tough to find parking in places
- Lots and lots of tolls, and can be confusing
- The GPS is NOT always easy to figure out. We had a rental in Portugal that didn't have apple car play (this was in 2022), rented it from Europcar, and it was all in portugese, so I had to navigate on my phone for DH.

Iceland is amazing to drive in -- so for anyone who wants to try driving overseas for the first time, I recommend Iceland.

I always think of Matthew Broderick who killed someone driving in Ireland or Scotland.

In some countries people are crazy drivers. It’s also not that easy to get used to driving on the other side of the road. It just adds stress when you’re trying to enjoy the vacation.

I think it’s because people are on vacation to relax, and it’s one less thing to stress over

Anonymous wrote:I don’t want to deal with liability if something goes wrong overseas like a car accident. I prefer relying on a private driver who knows where he is going and is familiar with the routes.

+1. Just got back from a trip and DH and I agreed that having a driver (who, btw, was happy to stop at whatever off-the-beaten-track place we wanted) was SO much more enjoyable than the stress of navigating ourselves. It made vacation more relaxing

Anonymous wrote:As someone who does drive abroad, I'm glad that people who aren't comfortable doing it don't. That's how accidents occur.

Ditto. And those narrow streets can be unbelievably difficult to navigate

As someone who does drive abroad, I'm glad that people who aren't comfortable doing it don't. That's how accidents occur.

I don’t want to deal with liability if something goes wrong overseas like a car accident. I prefer relying on a private driver who knows where he is going and is familiar with the routes.

Ok great. Sounds like a brag posed as question.

We drive too but I totally get why others don't. It can be confusing and stressful, especially with a language barrier. I certainly wouldn't judge anyone who didn't want to drive abroad.

We've driven on multiple continents and numerous countries over the years with car rentals. Yes, we've even had breakdowns before which requires having to navigate a car mechanic with locals, no big deal, we survived. But overall, we've seen soooooooo much more of the countries that we've been too by being able to stop in smaller towns, smaller sites, and random local spots where trains and busses simply never would go to or would take horrendous amounts of time that makes mass transport less viable in harder to get to areas. If you speak to many travelers, they have some kind irrational fear of driving while abroad, why is this? Who gives a crap about language barriers? Modern GPS works basically everywhere. Left side, right side, it doesn't matter, you get used to it in about 5 minutes. We have basically never, ever had a problem and would recommend international driving to everyone in order to see much more of countries you're traveling to besides big cities.