Off to Belfast end October.

Not bothering with Car rental..

From the airport to hotel and taxis for 2 days to the course swmbo is taking.

easier that way. and cheaper..

Thanks for the tips about the bus from the airport.

Thanks also for the tip about Edinburgh, Going 3rd dec...

Any suggestions for Berlin.. Schoenfeld?

As a little aside, have to do a complicated little trip end nov/beginning dec and avoided london berlin london edinburgh london, a certain airline can do the berlin edinburgh bit for £15.01 each and because i have booked everything berlin onwards from Germany is much cheaper.

I normally drive an old Nissan - petrol/manual etc.

I recently rented a Diesel Auto Audi A4 which had all the Bling of modern cars - EPB, Infotainment etc. Fortunately it also had the handbook :-)

I found the auto easy to use, and didn't mind the EPB, Start/Stop etc. The SatNav was also easy to use. Altogether, I quite liked the car - but would have not been able to use some of the features without the handbook.

No sales pitch for insurance etc - I was very happy with the rental process (it was a small, local rental place)

I would not want to own such a car (too complex).

"Some car hire companies offer a policy to remove that excess, but this may only be possible at the rental desk when you pick up your vehicle and it could add a significant amount to your car rental bill, depending on the length of the rental.

Buying ahead with Direct Car Excess Insurance could offer you a cheaper deal and provide car hire insurance with peace of mind that there'll be no excess to pay should you have an accident or if the car is stolen."

Doc, the charge quoted was £23.00 per day and I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to steal the car.

We are so used to a locking petrol cap that when filling up before handing back the car we spent a considerable time looking inside the car for the trigger for the filler flap. It was only when I remembered cars of yesteryear that I tapped the flap and it opened to reveal an ordinary non-locking cap. I remember when stopping at traffic lights in Lusaka you had to watch your petrol filler because 'somebody' might remove the petrol cap and syphon out a gallon before the lights changed. It wasn't so much the loss of the fuel but they never put the cap back and procuring a replacement was almost impossible.