Our family (from USA) is attending a wedding in Bicknacre, England (northeast of London, near Chelmsford). There will be 6 adults and one 5 y.o. We will be arriving in London on 3 separate days but meeting to go to the wedding. I want to rent a 7 passenger (plus luggage) vehicle to go to the wedding and do some touring. My only choice seems to be a full size passenger van available at any of the airports, including London City Airport. Since we'll all be at the same hotel, near Tower Bridge, before heading out to the wedding - which airport is easier to get to and pick up the van and drive back to get the family?
Thanks,
Steve

I recommend London City Airport. From Tower Gateway, you take the Docklands Light Railway directly to the airport. Travelling time will be about 20min. The drive back to Tower Bridge is about 5 miles.

Make sure that you get a 9-seater van. A 7-seater has NO space for luggage.

I agree - London City is the only airport that makes sense in your situation . . . .

You will definitely need a 9 passenger people mover.

If at all possible - you might want to consider renting two small/mid-sized cars instead. It would work out cheaper, and you wouldn't have to hassle w/ a huge vehicle.

We rented a 7 passenger Mercedes van in France for 4 people (we wanted automatic transmission, and it was the only one available in Dijon). Whereas we initially felt kinda silly in that big thing, it turned out that our luggage just fit in the luggage space. It would not have been big enough for your party of 6+ with luggage.

No offense, but how much luggage do you people take with you? We have a strict one bag per person rule when we go. It all fits nicely in the trunk. As we accumulate more stuff along the way, we add another duffel bag or two and still have plenty of space.

Even if you each have just a 21 inch rollaboard (which I highly recommend) there would still be 7 suitcases plus various handbags, camera cases, day packs, etc, That certainly is not over packing. But w/ 7 of you - a 7 passenger van won't carry you and your luggage.

The van I plan to rent is really an 8 passenger full sized van that is supposed to have room for 8 large suitcases. I certainly hope we won't need all that space.
Steve

Zeus - alot of these vehicles don't have any trunk left if you are using all the seats.

Our family car is a Zafira that can take up to 7 people - but if you put in the last row of seats the whole of the boot(trunk) pretty much disappears. You can just about stuff a couple of plastic bags of shopping in there.

Anyway, touring from chelmsford area (not that you asked) - I'd recommend a trip to Colchester and heading up to Suffolk for a day as well. Finchingfield is a super pretty-pretty chocolate-box little village in north Kent - we always take overseas visitors there and it ticks all their boxes for English country village.

I've narrowed the search down to two vehicles. A Renault Espace 2.2 (8 passengers & 8 large suitcases OR a Chrysler Grande Voyager (7 passenger & 2 large/ 4 small suitcases - could be tight for our luggage). The Renault's exterior dimensions are actually a little smaller than the Chrysler. Smaller by 137 mm in width, 240 mm in length and 10 mm in wheel base. We'll be driving very little in London - just to get out of and back into the city. Has anyone had any experience driving in England with either vehicle? Thanks, Steve