Apart from taking public transportation, renting a car abroad is by far the cheapest way to get around. It’s always cheaper to rent a car than take cabs especially if you’ll be fully exploring the city. During our visit to Abu Dhabi, car rental costs us $45/per day compared to $100/per day we would potentially have spent taking taxis around the city. One beautiful thing about renting a car is the flexibility it offers; you can change your itinerary at any point and explore any part of the city at no extra charge. We were able to change our plans so much because we had a car to ourselves.

HOW TO RENT A CAR.

Most countries we have visited have car rental services and it’s pretty easy to rent a car. However these companies will require some documentation from you. You should also research and compare prices before you choose the rental company. Car rental aggregators show you pick up locations, pick up dates and drop of dates. After which a list of cars from various rental companies are collated and you can choose your preference based on your budget.

Some rental companies we’ve used include Thrifty, Europcar, Hertz and Avis. They all offer good rates for various car types. Here are the Documents required from rental companies:

• International drivers license.
• Local license
• Credit card (you’ll be required to put down a security deposit)
• International passport.

When you have all these documents, you’ll be required to fill a form with your name, address, accommodation details, date of arrival/departure into the country and duration of rental. Credit card details are important as most rental companies do not accept cash. Their reason? They need a security deposit in case anything happens to their car while in your possession. You might have jumped a red light or gotten a speeding ticket. The rental company we used in Abu Dhabi held $2,000 from our card. It was refunded 14 days after.

GETTING AN INTERNATIONAL DRIVING LICENSE IN LAGOS.

Trust me, no one would rent out a car to someone that has no license, both Local and International. It’s an important prerequisite for renting a car. Your local drivers license just acts as proof that you drive locally in your home country and your international license is not fraud.

We got our international driving license from the Licensing office, Water Corporation drive, Lagos, Nigeria and it was a relatively easy process. Check out the requirements for obtaining an international driving license below:

1. Your national (local) driving license issued by the Federal Road Safety Corporation.

2. A fee of N13,500 (These fees might differ from state to state).

3. Fill a short form.

4. 2 passport photographs.

After submitting this, your international license will be issued to you in 1-2 weeks. It’s really that simple! Your international license can be used in so many countries around the world. Save on transportation, cop yourself an international license!

Click link for licensing offices across Nigeria.