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Guides to road trip routes in Europe by rental car: Scotland's North Coast 500, Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way, Iceland's Ring Road and Germany's Romantic Road.
Guides: 5
Four road trips by rental car: the North Coast 500 (516 miles), Wild Atlantic Way (2,500 km), Ring Road (1,322 km), Romantic Road (460 km per its association).
HyreCar Editorial TeamUpdated Nov 2, 20267 min read
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A road trip in Europe is easier to plan around a route than around a country. A route comes with a length, a start and an end, and usually a number of days that the tourism body behind it recommends. These guides take the best-known routes one at a time and explain what a driver in a rental car needs to know before the first day: how long the route is, how many days to allow, where to pick up the car and which local driving rules apply.
The guides under Coastal routes cover the roads that follow the sea, from the Scottish Highlands to the west coast of Ireland. The guide under Loops and ring roads covers the drive around Iceland, including the speed limits, gravel roads and the winter conditions that a rental driver meets there. The guide under Towns and castles follows the Romantic Road through the old towns of Germany from Würzburg to the Alps.
The opening guide compares the four routes by length and days and explains what changes when a rental car crosses a border, such as the rental company’s permission and the traffic rules that differ from one country to the next. Each route guide names the official sources for its figures, and says plainly where those sources give no number, rather than filling the gap with a guess.
A city or airport page is about the pickup point and what is near it. These guides start where the pickup ends and follow one route across several days. Use the topic buttons below to narrow the list.
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Coastal routesFour road trips by rental car: the North Coast 500 (516 miles), Wild Atlantic Way (2,500 km), Ring Road (1,322 km), Romantic Road (460 km per its association).
HyreCar Editorial TeamNov 2, 20267 min read
Loops and ring roadsIceland's Ring Road (Route 1) is 1,322 km, all paved and open year-round except temporary weather closures, says Visit Iceland. Limit: 90 km/h outside towns.
HyreCar Editorial TeamNov 2, 20267 min read
Coastal routesThe North Coast 500 is a 516-mile loop from and back to Inverness. VisitScotland says most visitors take 5 to 7 days; parts are single-track roads.
HyreCar Editorial TeamNov 2, 20266 min read
Towns and castlesThe Romantic Road in Germany is 460 km through 29 towns from Würzburg to Füssen, per its association. Five-day car itinerary, airports, sticker rule.
HyreCar Editorial TeamNov 2, 20266 min read
Coastal routesThe Wild Atlantic Way is a 2,500 km coastal route from Malin Head to Kinsale. Tourism Ireland's example itinerary takes 10 days for 1,241 km.
HyreCar Editorial TeamNov 2, 20264 min read
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A loop returns to the place where it began, so the car goes back to the pickup point. A route with a different start and end, such as the Wild Atlantic Way from the north of County Donegal to Kinsale or the Romantic Road from Würzburg to Füssen, needs a second decision: whether the rental company lets you return the car in another city and what that involves. Ask when you book, before you fix the route.
Check that the car suits the roads. VisitScotland says parts of the NC500 include narrow roads and single-track sections, and gives its advice to check vehicle size for motorhomes and campervans, which applies equally to the width of a rental car. Visit Iceland says to have a four-wheel-drive vehicle with good ground clearance for the highlands and to ask the rental agency about the best choice. The class code in a booking describes a category of car rather than one model, so read what the offer says about the car you will get.
Each route guide links to the country page on this site, which sums up the rules for renting and driving there. For the road rules of an EU country, Your Europe, the European Commission's portal, has a page for each member state. The authorities that run the roads, such as the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration, publish their own rules, and the guides name them.