UKH

We've got a plan to hire couple cars for a weekend to get to Glencoe as it would be cheaper and easier to get around (it would be difficult to do something like Aonach Eagach Ridge (Summer) (Grade-2) without a single car). However, most of us are under 25 years old (I am 22, for example) and most of us hold Lithuanian driving licences (which might prove to be more difficult to rent a car?). Most of us are students here in Glasgow.

Obviously, I never needed to rent a car before, but now it's the time! Looks like that most companies charge a Young Driver fee which is between 20-40 pounds a day. For example, 3 days car rent is 41 pounds and then Young Driver fees are over 90 pounds for 3 days! Hence, it would probably be cheaper to take a bus to Glencoe and then hire a cab to get to the bottom of Aonach Eagach or have a walk in The Lost Valley. I am lost! Could anyone give some sort of advice? When I was on my own, I just got lifts from someone in the hostel or just hitchhiked, but that doesn't sound like an option this time.

In reply to PPP:

Driving licence not an issue - your Lithuanian one is valid.

You will have to pay the young driver fee. Sounds like you're getting a decent price on the rental - surely not too bad if split between a few of you?

In reply to PPP:

Van hire can work out cheaper than cars sometimes.
jk

In reply to PPP:

If the worst comes to the worst you could always get a taxi - Alistair's Taxis in Ballachulish were very good when we er.. accidentally came off the Mamores the wrong side and he gave us a sympathetic price to get back to Glen Nevis

http://www.alistairstaxis.co.uk/

In reply to PPP:

Depending where you are staying the Aonach Eagach is easily done with a car. If you get a bus to Glencoe it's an easy walk up the valley. First along the back road to the Clachaig, then along the main road, which can be avoided in parts on a track that runs up the valley. That's what I did last time I was there, and the walk wasn't too much of a hardship at all.

In reply to Mike Peacock:

Thanks guys for advice - a van might be another option!

I was thinking of Glencoe Independent Hostel and I'd rather do the ridge from East to West so we would have to get there by a car/cab/bus and then walk back to the hostel easily.

Looks like Arnold Clark charges young driver fees only at certain branches, but they require drivers to be at least 23 years old. That might be an option since some of us should be over 23 years old.

In reply to PPP:

Funnily enough when I last did it I stayed at the Independent Hostel. It's a good base.

In reply to PPP:

Either thumb a lift, take a bike or walk it. You probably have more spare time than cash, so your answer lies in not renting extra cars.

Do the ridge day 1, then walk from the hostel anywhere on the south side of the road the next day finishing at your car.

In reply to summo:

To make things clearer, that's what I've done last time and that's what I would do if I was on my own. I done the ridge from the hostel and hitched the ride back. Now I am thinking of doing that in a larger group, probably up to 10 people - hitching is not an easy solution! I guess we can do an alpine start and walk to the East for an hour or so. I am just afraid that we might take a little bit longer due to some less experienced people. Again, early start would be the key. It's going to happen only in June (ish), so days will be longer.

I am also considering other options which might have a better bus access, but Glencoe is fairly good and it's a nice area too.

In reply to PPP:

i would hire a transit type van, fire an old matress in the back, and thats the cheapest way for your group to travel!

when you do the ridge drop half the group off at one end, give the key to one of the group when you meet them half way along the ridge, then get them to come pick you up!

job done

In reply to PPP:

Nevermind guys, I realized the walk in is not something we wouldn't manage - it's 3 miles or so! I imagined it to be longer. I thought that hiring a car and splitting it to 5 people might be cheaper than taking a bus, but the bus is a way much simpler option!

In reply to PPP:

Surely only one has to hitch back?

In reply to summo:

Well, it is possible that none of us would have a car and everyone would take a bus to get there.

In reply to PPP:

Try hiring from smaller hire companies. When I was hiring cars when I was under 25 i found that local independent companies had a lower young driver surcharge than the big companies like enterprise and europcar.