Is this too late for 3 women to get their luggage, pick up the rental car and drive to a self catering rental in Devon? If so, would it be the safest to take a taxi instead of the tube to a B&B or Hotel for the evening near or in London at this time of the evening? Thank you for any suggestions!

Jean <BR> <BR>I dont think you would be wise to attempt Devon on the same night. Better to stay somewhere near the airport for the first night, no need to mess with tubes etc. Leave the driving for daylight hours.

In Devon? Zoinks! I wouldn't. If your flight gets in at 10:30 pm, you won't clear customs and get your rental car until probably after 11:30. Depending on what part of Devon you're staying in, I'd guess the drive will take you three hours or more (it took us nearly two hours to drive to Bath from Heathrow, and that was during the day). <BR> <BR>I wouldn't want to be driving on dark roads, jet-lagged, after midnight--particularly if you're from a country that drives on the right-hand side of the road. That's definitely a bad time to adjust to a new driving system. <BR> <BR>I'd suggest starting fresh in the morning; and if you're planning on picking up a rental car at the airport, it might make sense to stay somewhere in Windsor, near the airport, for the night rather than going all the way into London and then all the way back out.

Definitely stay at one of the hotels at Heathrow and continue west the next day. Going into London takes you out of your way and makes a more difficult day the next day.

Most of the "Airport Hotels" have shuttle busses from the terminals, which makes life easier. They would probably be the only hotels that are properly geared up for midnight check ins too. Some of them also have rental car agencies on site for the next morning. I'd do a few searches on the airport hotels, to check their facilities, such as shuttles, car rental etc. as you could make life a lot easier in advance. <BR>Driving to Devon is out of the question, not least because you would'nt be able to access your self catering rental in the middle of the night anyway.

I agree with the above comments - start the next morning. The Forte hotel is next to LHR and cheap. The car rental places would be virtually on your doorstep.

Jean, <BR>Please don't take this the wrong way, but you would be out of your mind to attempt doing this! Get a hotel at Heathrow for the night. They have a Shuttle Bus (costs 2.50 pounds per person) that goes to the various hotels. Don't bother trying to go into London, it's too late at night, it will be close to midnight by the time you get bags and clear customs. There are lots of hotels at the airport, splitting the room rate 3 ways makes it very economical. We've stayed at the Sheraton and the Crowne Plaza - they also have Novatel, Hilton, Marriott, etc. etc. The IBIS has very very tiny rooms. You will also have jet lag and driving in the dark with jetlag is not going to be any picnic either. <BR>Get some sleep, pick up the car in the a.m. and drive to Devon. I can't think of any self-catering establishment that would welcome you at 3 a.m. anyway, most expect you to pick up your keys at a civilized time, i.e. after 11 a.m. or someting like that!!

Not to pile on with the other comments but.... <BR> <BR>We planned a similar trip, but we were headed to Cornwall. We stayed at a Heathrow airport hotel and drove the next day. I just want to say that we had NO TROUBLE WHATSOEVER going to sleep after we got to the hotel. Even though it was only 6 or 7 PM Chicago time. In fact, this was the best flight we've ever had to Europe - we didn't kill ourselves trying to get sleep on the plane, we slept a good 7 hours, got up the next morning with NO JET-LAG! I wish more airlines offered this type of flight. <BR> <BR>My only advice is: don't get your rental car until the next day. We thought we would save time by picking it up and driving it to the hotel. It took a while to get the car, we got completely lost trying to find the hotel... it was too much of a hassle right after the flight. Just take the shuttle to the hotel, get up and have a nice breakfast, drive to your cottage. You can take your time and sightsee along the way and, joy of joys, you will bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Even if you did do this (but why would you want to???) you'd be lucky to find the place in the dark and then the three of you would most likely have to sit in the car and wait for daylight! Cottages, self-catering, apartments, have rules, they generally have set check in times, about 10 a.m. until noon. If no one is leaving you can usually get in earlier, but I sincerely doubt if you will find the owner, manager, whatever willing to let you in at 3 or 4 a.m. Get a good nights sleep, eat a good breakfast, get the car and drive in the daylight. Trust me, and the others posting, it's the only way to do it.