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Old Nov 12, 2017, 2:56 pm
  #1  
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Cool Countries where you've driven a rental car

So...many of my recent trips I've ended up renting cars because I wanted to get around on my own or go to certain remote places. Which has made me think about -- where have I driven a rental car before?

In some countries it's always interesting as I get acquainted with a new stick-shift / manual, as I drive an automatic at home. For awhile my policy was, only rent 5-speeds on islands with not much traffic. I've expanded that to include not just islands, but places where traffic is relatively light. I used to be scared of renting stick shifts, but that is no longer the case. Though I still have a little trepidation I must admit at this very moment.

Driving your own car really forces you to learn a place in a different way than if you just go on a tour bus and get chauffered around.

So..here's my list of countries where I've driven a rental car:
--------------------------------------------------------------------

- USA (home)
- Canada - multiple provinces - almost got stuck in a remote ice / water section in Churchill, until I figured out the 4WD had to be manually turned on! Yikes!
- Australia (Left-side)
- New Zealand (Left-side)
- Qatar
- Bahrain
- Greece (mainland and Crete)
- Brazil - Florianopolis only (Got stuck going up a hill one time and had to turn around to get speed! 5-speed)
- Canary Islands, Spain
- Germany (Rental Audi A2 could barely keep up on the Autobahn!) - 5-speed
- Sweden
- Portugal (mainland and Madeira) - 5-speed on 2 mainland locations
- Iceland


upcoming:
Argentina - 5-speed (Not in major cities!)
Chile
maybe Uruguay

so 15 or 16....of 75+ countries visited.

Moped:
--------

Penang, Malaysia
few places in Thailand
Colombian island

others?? don't remember. Have rented bicycles in quite a few places...but that's not the same as the area is limited.


you?



On another note: the craziest places I've been IN a car are Sri Lanka, Bali, and India to a lesser degree. More close calls in Sri Lanka and Bali than anywhere else. When people talk about crazy drivers in the USA, I just have to chuckle a little bit. Having done a multi-month cross country in the USA, I speak from experience. USA crazy is a lot less crazy...

India is only crazy in the rural areas, but in the cities there is too much traffic to get any sort of speed. Sri Lanka and Bali - maybe it has something to do with their religious beliefs?

A special shout out to Egyptians (just taxi drivers?) who I found sometimes drive without headlights. As if it will save the battery or something!



Renault with a HUD in Algarve, Portugal (From Faro)



Driving along the coast of the Algarve



Iceland - rental SUV. Western region.



Iceland - very next image, some colorful contrasts. Nice to see green in winter.

Last edited by EqualOpp; Nov 12, 2017 at 3:09 pm Reason: add images
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 3:19 pm
  #2  
 
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Apart from my home in the USA, just Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Iceland, and South Africa for me.

When I entered Iceland, I hadn't driven a manual in a few years, and I wanted to spend some time in the parking lot getting used to it again. But the company brought me the car along with an exit ticket and said I had to leave within ten minutes. Oh, well!

Seth

Last edited by sethweinstein; Nov 12, 2017 at 11:28 pm Reason: Forgot Canada, ooh.
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 3:32 pm
  #3  
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Well, let me see — on the right side of the road:
  1. United States — all 50 of them, including the District of Columbia
  2. Canada
  3. Panama
  4. Uruguay
  5. Egypt
  6. Oman
  7. United Arab Emirates
  8. France
  9. Germany
  10. Italy
  11. Switzerland
  12. Croatia
  13. Slovenia
  14. Switzerland
  15. Liechtenstein
On the left side of the road:
  1. England
  2. Malta
  3. Cyprus
  4. Australia
  5. New Zealand
  6. Thailand
  7. South Africa
  8. Botswana
  9. Swaziland
  10. Mozambique
  11. Lesotho
I believe that is the complete list up to this point...
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 3:39 pm
  #4  
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USA
Canada
Mexico
Antigua (L)
Argentina
Chile
Fiji (L)
New Zealand (L)
Australia (L)
Eire (L)
UK (L)
Finland
Sweden
Denmark
Germany
E. Germany
Poland
Russia
Czech Republic
Austria
Switzerland
Italy
Turkey
France
Netherlands
Belgium
Luxembourg
Monaco
Gibraltar
Spain
Portugal
Israel
South Africa (L)
Botswana (L)
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 3:39 pm
  #5  
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Owned a car when living there
Canada
Bahamas
New Zealand
Rented a car
USA
Poland
Canada
UAE
Japan
Bahamas
New Zealand
Australia
Panama
Portugal
South Africa
Oman
Bahrain
Puerto Rico
St. Marteen/St.Martin
Cyprus
Uruguay
Costa Rica
Iceland
New Caledonia
Aruba
Curacao
Grenada
St.Lucia
Tonga

Coming soon
Samoa
American Samoa
St. Kitts
Croatia
Seychelles
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:01 pm
  #6  
 
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US
Canada (NS, NB, ON, QC, NL)
Mexico (QR, Yucatan)
Argentina
St. Maarten

Germany
France
Great Britain
Azores (Portugal)
Portugal
Sicily (Italy)
Netherlands
Tenerife (Spain)

Jordan
Oman

Jeju (South Korea)

On a side note, I've driven my own car in Germany, France, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Czech, Austria, and South Korea

Last edited by etch5895; Nov 12, 2017 at 5:57 pm Reason: Forgot a few
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:08 pm
  #7  
 
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Mine is short: USA, Canada, and Belgium.

In Belgium I was going to one of the few places not convenient by train, and the buses didn't run late enough for the music festival I was attending. I was actually looking forward to driving a manual transmission again... then they brought around an automatic
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:15 pm
  #8  
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Koreans do the 'no headlamps on at night' thing too but they believe it saves battery and fuel.
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:35 pm
  #9  
 
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Not many and no countries where they drive on the 'other side' yet. Canada, Mexico, El Salvador, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and France.

By far the craziest place I have ever rented and driven a car was El Salvador. Hair pin turns along the Pacific Ocean were beautiful, but you saw some of the absolute craziest things. We literally screamed twice. Both involved trucks in our lane passing on curves with sheer cliffs.
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 5:23 pm
  #10  
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My big list..

Australia
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 5:34 pm
  #11  
 
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Posts: 449
1. US
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 6:18 pm
  #12  
 
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USA (also my own car, and rental moving trucks)
Canada (also my own car)

South Africa
Oman
United Aran Emirates
Bahrain

Tried to rent a car in Panama, but the counter guy wanted me to sign a charge ticket without an amount filled in. NOT HAPPENING! So I just used Uber.

Norway (never rented a car, but lived there and drove a van my employer provided - my regular wheels - as well as cars owned by friends; also drove a panel truck with four-on-the-floor to take my road test for my commercial license)

Funny thing - I’ve visited 17 other European countries but not ever driven, much less rented a car, in any of them.
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 10:31 pm
  #13  
 
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United States — owned car
Canada - owned car
France
Germany
Greece
Albania
Italy
Switzerland
Liechtenstein
Scotland
England
Australia - Owned car
New Zealand
Portugal
Spain
Costa Rica

Tasmania - they say they are their own country, so I guess it counts.......
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 11:04 pm
  #14  
 
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Right hand drive:
United States
Canada
Aruba
Greece
Spain
France
Germany
Belgium
Netherlands
Switzerland
Denmark

And the left hand drive ones:
Malta
Mauritius
Australia
New Zealand
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Old Nov 13, 2017, 1:18 am
  #15  
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 42
Switzerland
Germany
Liechtenstein
Austria
France
Italy
England
Norway
Sweden
Finnland
Slovenia
Argentina
Brazil
Thailand
New Zealand
Australia
India
VAE
USA
Panama
Colombia
Venezuela
Belgium
Netherland
Luxembourg
Namibia
Mozambique
Uganda
Rwanda
South Africa
Swaziland
Morrocco
Egypt
Iceland

Comming soon:
Canada
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