We have hired cars in Spain, Scotland, France and Greece by now and never regretted it. It is an unbeatable way of doing sightseeing in your own pace, able to make stops along the way where ever you want to, for how long you want. A must for photo freaks like us!

One more road trip we know already that we want to do later is along the English coastline, but then we will probably use the latest car hire UK site we have found. Actually we would love to spend a long time driving around in all UK, we have seen so many photos that has enchanted us. Except for the weather maybe (lol).

Finding the best car rental prices can be quite time consuming and we really have saved a lot of money spending some time doing extensive comparison searches!

Just like in our article about where to find late holiday deals there are many car rental sites online too and it is so beneficial to use a comparison site with lots of car hire sites to compare between instead of going to each of them separate.

We like car hire sites which offer a lot of locations and have needed extras already included in the price, making sure that they do not add any hidden fees on our first given rental quotes, to avoid negative surprises.

Extras to check if it is included in the price are: GPS Navigator, AC, unlimited mileage or at least no mileage restrictions, additional driver/s (make sure they are added in the contract!), free fuel, child seats.

We really like when there are roadside assistance offered, if anything should happen to the rental car. It is more safe having instructions and phone number with you in the car in case of any emergency, especially when driving in uninhabited mountain areas perhaps even with wild animals.

We have noticed that the earlier to book the car rental the better, there are more to choose between and it is often cheaper when booking early.

Many car rental companies also advertise in local magazines, in hotel lobbies, shops and at other local boards – useful if you decide to rent a car in the last minute when you already have arrived at the destination.

Advice: Always check up in advance – before you leave home – if you need to get an international driving permit.

Sometimes it can be cheaper if you pick up your car already at the airport, sometimes not, you have to check around, maybe even calling the car hire company. The difference can be quite big!

When we hired a car in Majorca, Spain, we got 2 days extra for free if we picked up the car at the airport at Palma instead of Alcudia – and it was the car hire company that were service-minded enough to tell us about the cheaper deal.

Also, we are always checking that their office is open if having a late flight, otherwise we book the first accommodation very close to be able to easily come back the other day.

That close-to-the-airport accommodation could be a lifesaver even in other situations too. One time in Scotland we had trouble with our credit card and could not get our rental car, we had to come back the next day after calling our bank to fix it.

Another important thing to think about, is that it should be the drivers credit card you pay with and it should have cover for the deposit amount. We had problems with that last time we were in France and had not planned to use that card. Once again our bank had to be called, making us delayed to our blogger meeting.

Read all terms and conditions. Check the cancellation policy if there is a cancellation charge and how much in advance you must give notice if cancelling. Being prepared makes things go smoother.

I will not go into the question about if one should get a car insurance or not, it is too big subject to discuss here. Do check if your car insurance you have for your own car also covers rental cars, in that case it might be unnecessary. Some cards also provide insurance if you use them to pay for the rental car.

One lesson we have learned is: if hiring from an unknown car hire company and you have not checked up their reputation in advance, make sure you pick up the car together with someone from the car hire company.

Why? Because a couple of times we have not really been satisfied with the car, like the one below were I had to put back the side blinkers that kept falling off all the time!

It is always best to see the actual car. Inspect the car to make sure there is no scratches or damages already. If there is, make sure they are noted in the contract, so you will not be hold responsible afterward.

We have always been taken photos of the car both when picking it up and when leaving it, from all angles, just to be on the safe side. Nothing has happened so far though.

Be aware of that there can be some restrictions of where you can go with the car, you might not be allowed to drive over the borders to other countries. Luckily we did not know that when we used a car hire in Malaga, we did not check if we were allowed to drive into Gibraltar. Oops.

After being there I can understand their restrictions – there were very steep and narrow streets where the car owners all had folded their car mirrors into the cars side, to not get it torn away. Many of the cars were scratched and some had no mirrors left. Phew. I am glad we made it without scratches!

It is also great to do an estimate of how much you will drive around before you hire a car, so you know if it is beneficial for you or not to pay for a tank of gas in advance and bring the car back empty – or fill up the fuel yourself right before returning it. Save all gas receipts.

Cars with diesel as fuel can be really cheap to drive, since they do not use as much fuel as petrol driven cars. Several times we have almost wondered if the car were magic, we thought we never had to fill up any fuel!

Always check where to park your rental car without getting parking tickets or in worst case: had your car been removed and have to try to haggle with the local police about it… yes, happened to us once…. ehum…

One last advice: Do not drive on any private roads!

Of course, it can be a rather thrilling experience, but we do not recommend it…

Lifecruiser ♥ Roadtrips

It got white sand for as long as your eyes can see, you can stroll there for ever and dip your toes (or more) in the shallow turquoise water.

After taking that loooong walk at the beach, you get thirsty, right? That’s when you stop at the beach bar a bit further down the beach and get some refreshments…. another type of heaven.

Spotting some well known peeps or famous there…? No? I advise you to take a closer look then….

Would you mind terrible to have a romantic holiday there…?

Tips: See more of the beach and beach babes in Lifecruiser Majorca Photos.

Lifecruiser ♥ Alcudia Beach
 

I certainly love the welcome you get at the reception when arriving: Champagne! And for breakfast too! Yeah, totally my style wouldn’t you say? *giggles*

Hubbys daughter Jane was very surprised when we arrived there at our trip in the beginning of May this year, since she had no idea we were going to Alcudia until we got there and not to such a classy hotel. Her room were quite spacy – having a double room all to herself!

This hotel actually is a romantic selection, so that’s why we couldn’t share room, it were not allowed. There was wonderful atmosphere – romantic yes, but also relaxing because no kids are allowed at the hotel, giving the guest total peace.

You could rent those roof’ed beds together with a serving of Champagne, to have a romantic evening in the garden if you wanted to. For us it felt a bit strange since we were 3, but we seriously considered doing it anyway…

We really had a great stay at this hotel, with some live music in the evenings and some activities at the poolside handled very well by a very nice young man, Alberto, employed by the hotel to entertain the guests.

Hubby did beat him in dart (go, hubby go!) and they had a nice session at the grand piano later, since Alberto is a great singer. Unfortunately they had some problems finding songs they both knew, but never the less it was a nice session.

Jane really looked forward to get a sun tan. One day we did drive along the coast to maybe find another nice beach. We ended up: at home again! The best beach were right at the hotel!

Since Jane wanted it too, we had some relaxing nice days at the hotel pool, even though the pool were a bit cold in the mornings before the sun had heated it up.

What do you think, does Jane look like she is suffering? *giggles*

The only thing that made me disappointed were the dinner buffet. The breakfast buffets were better than the dinner buffet. At least the one we had there.

We did eat out most of the time though, so it might have been just that evening.

There will be more photos from the gorgeous Alcudia beach in the next post that will make you wanna go there!

Tips: See all Lifecruiser Hotel Vanity Golf Photos.

Lifecruiser ♥ Alcudia Beach
 

One afternoon/evening we took the car from Alcudia port up to Alcudia town and almost the first we did see after we had parked the car was the horses in the photo above.

Such a wonderful sight! So traditional and so Spanish. I always love to see those Flamenco dresses, don’t you?

Mr Lifecruiser and Jane stopped for a minute at the cafe where the riders with their horses were, because one of the horses were a bit scared of another person passing by and made quite a fuss, so they couldn’t pass.

There were also a very nice gathering with restaurants, along the cobbled stone streets. It must be totally filled with tourist in the high season, it were such a great place for dinner out.

I simply loved Alcudia towns old parts and were in heaven. I had problems to really be able to see everything, my head did spin.

We walked around for hours, admiring the whole atmosphere among those old and beautiful buildings. I did my best to catch some of it with my camera, but it was difficult – too narrow to get space enough to get all in the picture that I wanted.

As you can see, the sun begun to set and created that lovely and very romantic light… Though for once, we were not alone, we were three…

See all Lifecruiser Alcudia photos.

Lifecruiser ♥ Alcudia
 

Lifecruiser Travel Blog and Travel Experta have decided to host a new meme, where the 1st every month the party animals (you) makes a blog post, with text and/or photo of a drink from somewhere in the world.

Join the Drinks ‘Round the World Meme, don’t be shy. It will be like having a party – the more, the merrier the party will be!

You have to tell in your blog post that Lifecruiser Travel Blog and Travel Experta are the cohosts, so people can find all the other drinkers participants easier.

Everyone should make the rounds and leave comments at the other participants blogs – and friends: remember to have fun, keep the party dress and mood on!

Don’t forget to stumble and twitter each post to tell all your friends about it, spread the word around the world!

We count on you, that you’ll attend this giant international cocktail party the 1st every month and take all your friends with you!

More drinks to the people!

Lifecruiser ♥ Drinks ‘Round the World
 

Our secret destination was Alcudia Beach, Mallorca island in Spain. A gorgeous paradise beach with the finest white sand and turquoise-blue water.

After being there the past week I’m certain that it’s Mallorca’s best beach – I’m sure you understand me when I tell you that I didn’t want to leave!!!

More about Alcudia and our photos comes in the following post, I just wanted to show you a small taste of it now.

Lifecruiser ♥ Alcudia Beach