Hello. Our family of 4 (2 adults, 2 teens) will be visiting a friend near Cambridge in early July and need information about the best way to get back and forth to London. We'll arrive late at Heathrow and my friend's car is too small to carry us and our luggage, so will need transport out, then back and forth as we visit London sites. Any tips for us? Thank you!

The nearest railway station to Brampton, Cambridgeshire, is Huntingdon (see www.nationalrail.co.uk), served by trains that take about an hour from London Kings Cross, which is in turn about 50 mins on the Piccadilly tube from Heathrow. The fastest route, though, is the Heathrow Express train to Paddington, the Bakerloo tube to Oxford Circus, a northbound Victoria Line tube to Finsbury Park and then catch the Huntingdon train from there.

Brampton is several miles from Huntingon, and there is a bus - but only you can know how convenient its stop is for your friend's house. And only you know what time you're arriving from Heathrow.

Your best bet sounds like hiring a car, driving to Brampton then using that car to drive to Huntingdon and park there

Thank you! How do we go about hiring a car?

"Hiring" is Brit-speak for renting a car. You rent a car in the UK just like you would wherever you live.

AutoEurope is a good source since they are brokers for Hertz, Avis, etc, etc . . . .

Oops, my mistake. Thanks for the help!

Is "Brit-speak" some obscure dialectical term for English?