Where to Rent Car Ouside of London
Jan 25th, 2008, 04:24 AM
#1
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Where to Rent Car Ouside of London
Can anyone suggest an easy pick-up location to rent a car (after a 3-day London city visit) to drive to the Costwolds and North Wales to visit for an additional week max? Considering Bath/Avebury/Stratford as additional stops;too ambitious?
Jan 25th, 2008, 04:50 AM
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Heathrow.
Just remember that for any English town, you need to allow 45 mins to get in and find somewhere to park, and a similar amount to get out. It's this, rather than distances, that really limits the amount of places you can comfortably stop in on a journey like the one you're planning.
EXcept at summer weekends, Avebury is one exception to this rule, though it is a boit off your route and keep an eye out for speed cameras
Just remember that for any English town, you need to allow 45 mins to get in and find somewhere to park, and a similar amount to get out. It's this, rather than distances, that really limits the amount of places you can comfortably stop in on a journey like the one you're planning.
EXcept at summer weekends, Avebury is one exception to this rule, though it is a boit off your route and keep an eye out for speed cameras
Jan 25th, 2008, 05:35 AM
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Appreciate the info. Actually, we were hoping to avoid returning to an airport, and instead taking the Tube or rail to an outlying area to rent the car. Is that feasible? I guess we're a little afraid of serious traffic since we're US drivers.
Jan 25th, 2008, 06:20 AM
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Why would you want to take the tube to a town with serious traffic and a car hire company with no real car park when you can take the tube to Heathrow, drive round the hire companies' car parks till you're slightly comfortable sitting on the right of the car when driving, then exit onto 60 miles of dual carriageway ("divided highway" in the more outlandish dialects of English) before you have to hit roads where there's no division between you and the guys driving the other way?
Try the obvious alternative (the Budget at Oxford railway station car park) and you exit the hire company straight into the traffic mess that's central Oxford, where the cyclists believe they've got absolute priority anyway.
Contrary to the myth so often trolled out here, Central London and Heathrow have disciplined traffic and well-signed roads. That's absolutely not the case in England's smaller cities and London's suburbs.
Try the obvious alternative (the Budget at Oxford railway station car park) and you exit the hire company straight into the traffic mess that's central Oxford, where the cyclists believe they've got absolute priority anyway.
Contrary to the myth so often trolled out here, Central London and Heathrow have disciplined traffic and well-signed roads. That's absolutely not the case in England's smaller cities and London's suburbs.
Jan 25th, 2008, 09:16 AM
#5
partly depends on the day/time of day.
If you are leaving London on a <u>weekend</u> you could pick up a car in central London -- somewhere near Marble Arch/Edgware Rd would place you very near the main road out of the city towards Oxford/the Cotswolds. If you are driving out on a Sunday, you'd probably have to pick up the car by noon on the Saturday since many city center locations are closed Sat afternoons/sundays. If you do this you'd be hitting the Cotswolds/Stratford first and then Bath/Avebury on the end of your itinerary before turning the car in at Heathrow.
If you are getting the car up on a <u>weekday</u> - you are probably best off to pick it up at Heathrow. It is on/very close to the motorways to Oxford/the Cotswolds and the one to Avebury/Bath - so your itinerary could go Avebury > Bath > Cotswolds > Stratford > Heathrow -- or the reverse.
If you are leaving London on a <u>weekend</u> you could pick up a car in central London -- somewhere near Marble Arch/Edgware Rd would place you very near the main road out of the city towards Oxford/the Cotswolds. If you are driving out on a Sunday, you'd probably have to pick up the car by noon on the Saturday since many city center locations are closed Sat afternoons/sundays. If you do this you'd be hitting the Cotswolds/Stratford first and then Bath/Avebury on the end of your itinerary before turning the car in at Heathrow.
If you are getting the car up on a <u>weekday</u> - you are probably best off to pick it up at Heathrow. It is on/very close to the motorways to Oxford/the Cotswolds and the one to Avebury/Bath - so your itinerary could go Avebury > Bath > Cotswolds > Stratford > Heathrow -- or the reverse.
