Generally you have to ask the car rental company for a map but you will pick up a more detailed version along with route planner usually at a gas filling station shop or newsagent.
Mitchelin 712 National is my personal choice. About 12Euro from a Tourist Information centre
I don't know what sort of map the car rental will give you, but it is essential to have a good map with the small roads marked. It will be money well spent. You should be able to get something at any large petrol stations on the main routes, or Easons in Dublin. We use the OS Road Atlas of Ireland, which is a book of maps for each area, but very slim and easy to use.
Our rental agency advertised a free road map with rental. Turned out it was one of those basic picture of Ireland with a few unmarked roads and some sights. Obviously, it was no help.
We stopped at the first gas station outside of the airport and picked up a great road map. It wasn´t too detailed for driving in cities, so you might have to buy a separate road map for any cities you may wish to travel through (Cork, Limerick, Dublin, etc.)
The towns are well signposted, but you will need a map because you need to know what town is in the direction you are traveling.
The tourist areas are well signposted though, for example Blarney. So, once you get on the right route, and close to your destination, you will see signs for the attractions you want to visit.
"Mitchelin 712 National is my personal choice. About 12Euro from a Tourist Information centre"
Same here, I think I'm on my 4th one.:)
erinn874, if you wanted to buy this map in advance you can probably find it at Borders or Barnes& Nobles in your area or online through any number of website.
AA, Michelin and Collins sprial road atlases are available online here in the US. I just ordered my AA road atlas last night. AA and Collins are 1 inch to 3 miles, while the Michelin is 1 inch to 4.75 miles and covers Great Britain, too.
I love OS maps but they are hard to come by here in the states.
erinn, the map the car rental company gives you is usually great....it is the same map you will get from a convenience type store here....very well marked roads, attractions, airport, etc...you will have no problem finding whatever you need to with it...
well at least the maps argus rental, europe car rental, and dooley gives out....i never use american car rental agencies so can't speak for them....
erinn,
try this website. they ship to US from IE and I received all my maps within days of ordering on line. For detailed areas, look at the discovery series. I wanted to know before arriving where I would be going and to give me a better idea. It also shows all the touristy things on them.
Good luck
Don't rely on the map that AVis will give you. Invest in a decent map. My personal favourite is the OSI (Ordnance Survey of Ireland) Complete Road Atlas of Ireland (Scale 1:210000) It's just quite brilliant.
I'll get back in a few mins with a great website for purchasing maps.
If you have time you will be able to purchase the Complete Road atlas of ireland ahead of your trip from