Re: car hire
Cloned,
I have 5 kids and drive a 7-seater at home (well, my wife does, most of the time — I walk to work...!
)
But when I'm renting a holiday car I've found these
very expensive to rent — almost double the cost of a large Focus/Mégane/Astra estate model, for instance (usu. category 'F', depending on the rental firm). So, depending on whether your party is predominantly adults/kids/"smallies", and how much time all 7 of you are all going to be in the car together, you might consider a large, roomy stationwagon w/ roofrack...(?)
Two out of the four times that I've advance-booked a stationwagon like this, it turned out that they didn't have one available on the day — and upgraded me to a Zafira for the same money! (for a full 28-day rental once, couldn't believe our luck!)
But it all depends on your circumstances/priorities/budget.
Oh, and before anyone starts ticking me off about carrying unsecured kids in the rear of a stationwagon — our four youngest fit comfortably across the rear seat, the two smallest sharing the middle seat belt, and the lad was (comfortably!) wedged between two large soft suitcases, with a portable belt assembly anchored to the floor of the car in the same way as you might a baby-seat assembly. I'm not
that much of a penny-pincher...!
Dr. M.
P.S. Glad to see argusrentals unbeaten on the quote above — not often you find a small-to-medium Irish firm beating the bigger players...