bob56

I read the other recent post Thanks. My question is more specific. I arrive from the Eurostar at St Pancras Station. I want to rent a car for a week and head out to Dorset/Bath etc. This will be my first driving there. I currently plan to get a taxi to Victoria Station, train to Gatwick and Hertz from there.There is also the Airport fee to pay.

I am looking for an easy way out of the City. Is there an easier way for 4 of us to leave the City and get a car in a place where other drivers will be safe from a learning american driver ? I couldn't find a map of other Hertz places outside of the airports so I would have to know the town names first.

janisj

What day of the week? Makes a difference - weekends are much easier to drive out of central London.

But instead of taxi to Victoria/train to Gatwick - if I was trying to avoid driving in central London from St Pancras, I'd take the tube to Heathrow and collect my car there.

Then I'd drive down through Stonehenge and Salisbury - and on to Bath.

janisj

To clarify - the tube would be from King's Cross but it is next door to St Pancras.

You <i>could</i> also pre-book a car service to pick you up at St Pancras and drop you at the car rental agency at LHR. But if you don't have too much luggage, I'd just take the tube.

wrrllw

How about taking the tube to London Paddington, then take the train to Bath, and collect a car in Bath? Or take the tube/train combo to first point of rest, and collect a car there; it has to be easier than driving out of London; traffic will most be heavy.

Why are you wedded to Hertz?

For Hertz UK locations, see https://www.hertz.co.uk/rentacar/byr...mp;locType=pUp

janisj

Driving out of the rental agencies at LHR is not difficult. The depots are not on the airport property but from 1 to 5 miles away. You <i>could</i> take a train to Bath -- but driving in Bath is not a piece of cake, and then you'd miss Avebury/Stonehenge/Salisbury enroute.

TimS

Whether you pick up a rental car at LHR or LGW, there is no need to go to Victoria.

Tube from King's Cross/St Pancras to LHR = &pound;4.00.

First Capital Connect train from St Pancras Domestic to LGW = &pound;8.90.

bob56

Its a Friday. The Eurostar gets in 11:30 ish. I also plan on stopping near Sothhampton. There are 4 of us, each with carry-ons and the train expense to Southhampton or to Bath is close to 1/3 to 1/2 the weekly car rental rate . I am going with Hertz becaues I am dropping it off at Holyhead ferry terminal, but am open if others are there. Thanks for the Hertz list. I will have to compare the list with the map and then see if public transportation goes there. Any suggestions other than the airports?

LHR airport fees are 25 GBP, more than at Gatwick.

I wasn't aware that the tube went to LHR. The London internet site I was at said there was a transfer involving walking to Paddington Station.

And yes I would like to go to Avebury on the way.

I will look into the tube to LHR and compare with car service. Thanks all.

bob56

This is what I got from the tfl site

7 minute walk to King's Cross St.Pancras Underground Station
Take the Circle Line towards Baker Street- 10 min.

Zone(s): 1
Paddington
6 minute Walk to Paddington National Rail Stn
Paddington National Rail Stn
Take the Heathrow Express towards Heathrow Terminal 5 - 15 min

Zone(s): 1, 6
Heathrow Central (1-2-3)
13 min Walk to Heathrow Airport Terminal 3
Heathrow Airport Terminal 3

In all about 50 minutes and, as said, 4 GBP

TimS

The Journey Planner on the TFL site automatically gives you the FASTEST way to LHR, but it is far from the cheapest. The 15-minute ride on the Heathrow Express costs &pound;15.50--and you'll still have the &euro;4.00 fare for the Tube from King's Cross to Paddington. Take the Tube (Piccadilly Line) all the way.

bob56

TimS
That's what I needed to hear. Checked on the map and checked advance options for least transfers and there it was. Thanks

wrrllw

Have you considered taking the coach? Looking at National Express and picking a random Friday midday departure in July, you can get 4 people from London Victoria to Southamption for &pound;28 total (that's &pound;7 per head)... and some trips cheaper than that. If of any interest, look at www.nationalexpress.co.uk

artlover

Just to let you know, we had a similar problem with Hertz outside of Nice and it turned into a nightmare and I would NEVER rent from Hertz again. Suggest you try Autoeurope.com and avoid Hertz. Really, other Fodorites have had similar problems with them.

TimS

I also heartily recommend Auto Europe. They have an outlet at Holyhead.

bob56

You all are great help. As I make my changes -auto europe out of Bournemouth(all I can get is manual trans) and a train from London. So how do I pick out the best train station from St Pancras Intl. and how to get there? I think I am back to Vict. Station?

wrrllw

The train service between London and Bournemouth is run by South West Trains (see www.southwest trains.co.uk). They run out of London Waterloo station; to get there from St. Pancras, you can either the tube/underground, or as there's four of you, maybe take cab.

Gordon_R

&gt;&gt;&gt;I also heartily recommend Auto Europe. They have an outlet at Holyhead&lt;&lt;&lt;

&gt;&gt;&gt;Suggest you try Autoeurope.com and avoid Hertz&lt;&lt;&lt;

Sorry, but this is misleading information. Autoreurope is just a broker. They don't operate their own vehicles, they just provide a reservation service on behalf of the hire car companies. So you could end up with Hertz, Avis or whatever - and they only tell you once you've paid by CC online.

TimS

I should have mentioned that Auto Europe is a broker/consolidator. Their Web site lists Holyhead as a drop-off and pick-up point, but it's true that the car a person gets could be provided by any of the companies with which AE has contracts. Still, booking with AE is almost certainly bound to be cheaper than booking with Hertz. And if you find a better rate with any company on your own than AE quotes you on its Web site, AE promises to either match or beat it. Also it's a good idea to call AE's toll-free number and ask about any discounts that don't appear on the Web site.

JP

The rates that I get direct from the major rental companies using a discount code are usually much lower than the ones that I'm quoted from AutoEurope. I've also never had any complaints about any of my Hertz rentals in Britain; in fact the only real car rental mess that I've experienced in Britain was with a car booked through AutoEurope (ages ago).

bob56

So I can take Southwest out of Waterloo or National Express out of Victoria -any rail better than the other? NE is less expensive on a fun fare. Is the Eurostar pretty good at arriving back on time or should I allow an hour between trains to transfer over?

As to car rental I am getting pretty close the same price except for a little more I can get a Hertz with automatic. autoexpress doesn't seem to have them for the smaller models, or at least not when I need one.

wrrllw

Just to be clear, SouthWest out of Waterloo is a TRAIN train servce, National Express is a BUS (coach) service; so there is clearly a difference, and that's reflected in the price.

I've been on SouthWest Trains recently and can vouch for them; they're generally new trains, and perfectly fine. Haven't taken the bus for a while... but the coaches themselves are generally fine too, from what I can see.