renting a car in Sydney

[lssg]

We are staying a week after our cruise in Sydney...there will be 4 of us and we are thinking of renting a car...what is a good rate and company to rent a car from? I have good and bad things about renting a car...any tips or suggestions would be appreciated

[Kamloops50]

My concern would be "Could I handle driving on the wrong side of the road ?". You also might be required to have an International Drivers License as well.

Edited May 21, 2015 by Kamloops50

[J-D]

I have driven in Sydney during several trips. If you have often driven on the left side of the road elsewhere, then you could do so in Sydney, but I would definitely not recommend driving in Sydney if you are not experienced in "driving on the left side". Sydney is not the place to learn that skill. Also, the roads in Sydney can be difficult to follow as many are not in a rectilinear grid, and there are one-way streets and tunnels as well. Parking can also be difficult to find. Outside Sydney, driving is generally easy if you have any experience in driving on the left side of the road and are comfortable using roundabouts, which are numerous.

 

We have rented a few times from the Hertz depot in downtown Sydney on William St. -- a fairly short taxi ride from the Overseas Passenger Terminal if that is where your ship docks. There probably are other rental car depots closer to the White Bay terminal if you dock there--I have no experience with White Bay.

 

We have never been asked for an International Driver's Licence when renting in Sydney or elsewhere in Australia -- our Canadian licences were readily accepted.

 

John

Edited May 21, 2015 by J-D

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Check out the cost of parking it...(if you can find a park) ...not only at your hotel, but wherever you choose to drive for the day.

Also be aware that traffic moves very fast in Sydney...the locals know the roads and they know where they are going.

Public transport is excellent in Sydney.

If you are thinking of driving further a field and out of Sydney ..... different story.

 

 

[GUT2407]

If you are only staying IN Sydney don't bother. I know many people who live in Sydney and don't own a car, Public Transport is pretty good.

 

If you want to go further afield consider just hiring for the day after you look at the alternatives of public transport.

 

Car hire isn't cheep but then not much in Australia is it seems [compared to other countries], you'll pay about $100+ a day from any majors then there is insurance.

[macntosh]

Hi Issg,

 

As a Sydneysider, my first question to you would be: "what are you planning on doing in Sydney that makes you think you need to rent a car?".

 

Is there something special that you are planning in Sydney? If so, the locals on this thread may be able to provide you with some alternate options.

 

Who knows, if you are travelling outside of the Sydney area (eg. Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley, Southern Highlands etc.) then a car for a day would be a nice option.

 

Let us know your plans and we can guide you with more informed decisions.

 

Sydney has many options available so no matter what you choose you will enjoy your stay.

 

Take care,

Mark.

[OzKiwiJJ]

As others have said, Sydney is not an easy city to get around by car unless you know where you are going, and even harder if you are not totally comfortable driving on the left side of the road.

 

Parking is difficult and expensive. Many hotels charge $50 or more per 24 hour period. Parking by the hour at inner city carparks can be $20 or more per hour. Suburban shopping malls may give you 2-3 hours free parking but then the rates get expensive.

 

I would not recommend hiring a car just to sightsee around Sydney, or even for a trip to the Blue Mountains. Public transport is good. If you get Opal cards you can travel all around Sydney, even up to the Blue Mountains (which is a lovely train trip) for a maximum of $15pp per day.

 

I would only recommend hiring a car if you were planning to go out of Sydney for a few days, and in that case, pick up the car just before you start your trip and drop it back off when you return to Sydney.

[J-D]

I neglected to state explicitly in my earlier response that, from my perspective as a fairly frequent foreign visitor to Sydney, I also would not recommend renting a car until the day(s) you are planning to tour outside the city. I say that even though I am comfortable driving on the left. Much better to use public transit when inside the city.

 

That may also be true when touring out to the Blue Mtns or other destinations outside the city that are readily accessible by train or day tours. However, we prefer to have a rental car once we go outside the city, for greater flexibility. If you do drive, be sure to familiarize yourself (via the web and your car rental company) with what you need to do to cover road tolls.

 

John

[Tara Jane]

My advise is don't. Public transport is cheap, reliable and frequent.

Driving is difficult in sydney even for an aussie who is used to driving on the left. Its not worth the anxiety.

[cassamanda]

Toll charges can be included in your rental agreement.

Nearest Avis to the Overseas Passenger Terminal is at the Marriott Hotel 5 minutes walk away.

Plenty options at the airport.

 

Let us know what your holiday plans are whilst in Sydney so we can help. Also need to know what ship you arrive on as there are 2 cruise terminals.

 

Sydney and surrounding roads are more often in gridlock than not. To top this off, our main downtown road (George St) is being closed to all traffic so a tramway can be built.:mad:

 

Once you are out in the rural areas driving gets much easier and there are some really great drives. Country roads are mostly B grade.

[sun-set]

We are staying a week after our cruise in Sydney...there will be 4 of us and we are thinking of renting a car...what is a good rate and company to rent a car from? I have good and bad things about renting a car...any tips or suggestions would be appreciated

 

https://www.bayswatercarrental.com.au/

 

The car hire from the site above is from $25 a day, family visiting from England have used this company with no problems.

Although some roads do get congested especially at peak times in the city and arterial roads leading to the city, also at other busy centres, I believe Sydney is no worse than most cities,

I have driven in London and many major highways in Briton, which are far worse than Sydney and N.S.W.

Some of the drives near Sydney are wonderful in your own car, the Northern Beaches as far as Palm Beach, which includes Pittwater, the Central Coast, the Blue Mountains, the South Coast including the Royal National Park and coast drive, Ku-ring-gai National Park, including Bobbin Head, and Wonderful views from West Head. There are many picnic spots as you travel including free BBQS.

Yes I believe it is well worth hiring a car providing you are confident and remember to drive on the left on leaving those picnic spots or laybys, when driving back on the main roads, this is my biggest danger when driving in the U.S.A.

I hope you have a wonderful time in Sydney whatever you decide to do.

[set_sail]

We are staying a week after our cruise in Sydney...there will be 4 of us and we are thinking of renting a car...what is a good rate and company to rent a car from? I have good and bad things about renting a car...any tips or suggestions would be appreciated

 

 

Really feel there are a few negative responses here regarding hiring a car in Sydney. Possibly you might consider spending a couple days looking around the harbour environs before hiring a car to travel further afield. Many of the local beauty spots are in Sydney's National parks and beaches as mentioned in post by sun-set and many of these are not even serviced by public transport.

 

As there will be four in your party hiring a car would be more practical than using public transport which can be very time consuming if you wish to visit areas outside CBD.

 

Enjoy your stay in our beautiful city. :)

[clm1982]

Like others have said i would drive in sydney. The public transport is excellent and you shouldnt have any issues. Save your money and just do a tour somewhere if you want to go further a field.