I am in the middle of planning a 14 day Golf tour (16 courses in 14 days) of Scotland for myself, my father, my wife, and my sister. We pretty much have the whole itinerary nailed down (with some obvious exclusions as most places aren't taking reservations for next year yet). My main concern is that we are going to have 4 golfers, 4 sets of clubs, 4 checked bags, and likely 4 carry-on bags to haul around. I have been searching on-line for some guidance on what type of vehicle would be large enough to accommodate all of us AND our gear, and am coming up blank.

So my questions is this: Has anyone taken a trip to Scotland and rented a car to drive themselves around? And if so, what type (class, make/model) would be appropriate for a group of 4 like I am taking? Thank in advance.

BSH

i lived in scotland for a while, and rented a car a few times. with a group that large, make sure you get the biggest van possible. if you ask for a "large" sedan or SUV type thing, youll wind up with something smaller than a honda accord. think, when you leave the airport youll have 4 people, each with their own luggage, and each with a set of club in a travel bag. typical trucks and vans there can accommodate a golf bag, but often not when its in a hard travel case. heres a good idea of what you should get: http://www.carhirescotland.com/gallery.html

group 7 is what you want. they even recommend it for golf trips for up to 5 people max. if you go with another company, make sure you get a full size 8 person people carrier/van.

also, i hope youre comfortable driving manual transmission. it can be difficult to find vehicles with automatics.

I did a similar trip several yaers ago. 12 days and 19 rounds with four golfers. We were on the road a ton. We had a station wagon and loaded our sticks in their travel bags on the top of the car. It worked great and was pretty easy to pack up and unload.

I just got back from Scotland. I got a great deal from Hertz. It was a mid size wagon for 10 days for $315 total price if you prepay. It is a stick shift, automatic is much more expensive and less availability. That being said it is only big enough for 2 people with luggage as you will need to fold down the rear seat. I think your best option is either a large van or simply rent 2 cars. Two wagons might be cheaper and will give you flexibility when you are not golfing, remember is is very light out from 4 am to well past 10 pm.

I'd suggest a van as well -- when I took a similar trip, I found that Arnold Clark had the best rates on these (www.arnoldclarkrental.com), but it was a 15min trip to their office from Edinburgh to pick it up.

I just returned from a 3 week trip to Ireland and Scotland and have a couple of suggestions
for you. I've been to the UK several times and each time I go, I learn something new. First and foremost , if you don't own a personal GPS unit, purchase one, it will save you a ton of time and aggrevation. This was the first trip that I had one and believe me, it is well worth it. Navigating around Scotland can be tricky and the first time you come to a roundabout you will be glad you have a GPS. Don't rely on reserving one with your rental car, I learned that most agencies won't quarantee you one even if you request it ahead of time. The morning I picked up my car in Edinburgh there were several people at the counters very unhappy because they thought they were getting one
and they weren't. I purchased a Garmin 275T unit, aprrox $225. It comes preloaded with European
maps, is very easy to use, and believe me , you won't regret having it the first time you make a wrong turn.

I would suggest renting two cars, every time I've gone its been cheaper than getting one big vehicle. Also invariably there will be a day when not every one wants to golf ( I know that sounds hard to believe), makes it very nice for people wanting to do other things on that day. Also you will have a ton
more storage room with two vehicles. Most mid size cars over there are hatch back types with fold down rear seats, makes it very easy to load bags and clubs.

Another thing I learned on this trip is to really pay attention to condition of the vechicle both when you pick it up and when you return it. Make sure they note all damage when you pick it up, I would suggest also taking pics with your own camera. Also very important, do the same when you return the car. Because the roads in Europe are a lot narrower than what we're used to, and also parking is a lot tougher, most cars seem to have quite a few scratches and dents on them.

Both rental agencies in both Ireland and Scotland tried to claim that there were damages to my car, I can assure you that I didn't cause any of them. In fact I read in the paper that this seems to be a problem over there with numerous complaints from many people. The article in the paper gave the
suggestions for taking the pics, and I wish I would have done that in hindsight. I've never had a problem on any of my previous trips, but I thought it was funny that both companies tried to get a little extra for damages on this trip. They make you put down a 250 pound deposit for damges when you rent the car, and then try to keep it . I didn't find out about them trying to keep the deposit until after I returned home, they didn't mention anything when I returned the car.

Be prepared to have a great time, there is nothing better than golfing in Scotland, especially the links courses. Drop me a PM if you have any other questions about anything else over there.

We had a similar trip in Scotland last August with 4 golfers, and rented a large sized van. It worked out wonderfully. We rented it through Arnold Clark, and everything went smoothly. I will tell you that a GPS unit is a MUST. Either purchase your own, or rent one from the rental agency...it's a life saver and I can't imagine navigating around without one.

Assign one person to do the driving, rather than several people attempting to drive. It's much more difficult than we anticipated, due to the "wrong" side of the road issues. I did all of our driving, and the other guys enjoyed the whiskey after our rounds while I saved $$$.

Enjoy, and best of luck!