Driving (hire car) in London…
 

Hi, In June we'll be hiring a car in London. We arrive via the Eurostar at St Pancras on Fri 23 June at approx. 9:00am. I am wondering what it would be like hiring a car from near St Pancras and driving from there (in terms of the traffic)? Our destination is Reading. I see that it looks very easy to get onto the A40 and head straight out on it to the M25 and then onto the M4. However I’m aware that just because it looks easy on a map doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy in practice. But since there are only a couple of turns involved it does seem doable...

So, can anyone comment on what the traffic might be like for someone who has never driven in London before? I guess by the time we got the hire car sorted it would be after 9:30am. I have no issues with city driving here in Australia. Also I’m not a big fan of public transport at the best of times – I just like driving – so that’s my personal preference but don’t know how London Traffic compares?...

The other 2 alternatives I’ve identified are:
- Catch the Underground from King’s Cross to Heathrow and hire the car form there (we fly out of Heathrow approx. 2 weeks later so that’s where we’re returning the car anyway). Might save a few $ this way by returning to pickup location, but that depends on hire company as some don’t charge extra for a one-way rental.
- Catch a train to Reading and hire from there.

We tend to watch our budget pretty strictly so the added advantage of driving from St Pancras is that I avoid the extra train/underground fares. I was also a bit concerned about having to manage with getting all our luggage plus 2 kids onto the train/underground.

Does anyone care to comment on the various options? Thanks!

Also, what do I need to know about tolls in the UK – can you pay at the booth with a CR Card, or do you have to have some sort of electronic tag in the car?...

Tolls; only a few big bridges and one small (avoidable) motorway in the entire country (that you will find, there is some little historic stuff), so don't worry about this at all. Hence, if you find some they will be manned.

Good, I assume no jet lag from Paris ;-)

Drive on the left.

I'd drive from the station, yes a bit of a plug, but compared to carting the kids out to LHR etc, not worth it. Also you have to pick the car up so the hard rush will be reducing. Avoid the Congestion zone. https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/congestion-charge you'll find traffic is packed and they driver assertively, once out of central London all this eases away.

You shouldn't have extra charges for one part of London to another.

Car hire use auto europe who are a broker and will get you the best deal and sort out any cultural issues.

It is an easy drive from St Pancras station to Reading, as easy as it looks on the map. There will be traffic at that time of the morning, even though you are heading out of London, nonetheless it is still best to rent a car IMO.

While it is a fairly straightforward route -- any drive through London can become VERY 'un straightforward' in a matter of minutes.

Without knowing the area intimately to know the 'get arounds' you could be stuck at that time of day for a very long time.

How old are the kids and just how much luggage do you need for two weeks? Myself -- I would actually take the tube out to LHR and have a very easy trip from there. But probably not if I had say two toddlers w/ me.

Tolls:
https://www.gov.uk/uk-toll-roads

We can't all know every area we drive to intimately. That's why we have GPS. IME of driving that route, it is best to stay on the direct route regardless of the traffic and avoid turning off, there is not much to be gained by doing this. As others have said, by the time the rental car is picked up, it will be past 9.30am. A good app to download is Waze.

As for it being easier to rent a car from LHR, I wouldn't bet on that, unless maybe you rent from Sixt Hatton Cross location. Otherwise you have to get from the underground to a terminal, from the terminal to the courtesy bus to the rental location. And it doesn't take much to get a huge build up of traffic around the intersection of the M25 and M4, esp on a Friday.

Check that your rental pickup location at St Pancras is a station location or close to, as some pickup locations are a fair distance away.

Great, thanks all for the comments. We’re from Australia so driving on the left is what we do already – so nice and easy there. It definitely sounds like the drive is doable so that gives me enough reason to research it properly and see if I can get a decent hire at/very close to the station.
The kids are 5 and 8 so they are capable, but are a little timid with crowds so I didn’t really fancy trying to catch the tube or train while hand-holding and trying to man-handle the luggage at the same time.

It'll be fine. I drive in London all the time. Getting to Reading is pretty straightforward. There is traffic on London roads at all times, but it shouldn't be too bad at that time going west.

No tolls towards Reading, unless you accidentally go into the London Congestion zone. You normally wouldn't, as you are staying on the northern edge of the zone.
If you do find yourself in the Congestion Zone, you can pay later, online, once you get to your destination. So no worries!

Thanks Tulips. All seems pretty straightforward. I'll be doing my very best to steer clear of the congestion zone - hopefully no wrong turns!...

Just follow the main road to the west, once you get out of St Pancras. Check the exact location of the car rental company, but they are unlikely to be on the other side of the Euston Road, where the congestion charge starts.

Yep, too easy. thanks