This is a very helpful board. I hope I’m not trying everyone’s patience by asking the same questions. My wife and I are taking our 18 yr old niece to the UK as a H.S. graduation present in September for 9 days. Is this plan feasible? <BR><BR>Rent a car from Heathrow for 5 days, drop off in Chester (N Wales) and return via BritRail.<BR><BR>Day 1, near Blenheim, Oxford<BR>Day 2, near Wartick Castle<BR>Day 3-5, N Wales<BR>Day 6-9: London<BR><BR>We have reservations for London already, otherwise we hope to find rooms on the road using guidebooks and Tourist Information Centres. Anything from you experience I'm overlooking? Thank you so much. Mark

You will be pretty rushed but your plan is "doable". A couple suggestions. Warwick and Oxford are only about 35 miles apart so don't stay in both places. Pick a B&amp;B - say near Woodstock. From there you can see Blenheim, Oxford and Warwick so you won't spend as much packing and unpacking (staying 2 nights is a lot more relaxing than staying a different place every night.)<BR><BR>Then go north through Worcester to N. Wales and spend 2 nights somewhere near Rhyl, Colwyn Bay or Betws y coed. <BR><BR>Then DRIVE (instead of the train) back to Heathrow to drop off your car and go into London. One-way rentals in the UK are a lot more expensive and you can get back to Heathrow fairly quickly via the M6 and M40.<BR><BR>For as short a trip as you are planning if those four places are important to you this is an itinerary that works.

Mark, do check with Auto Europe or from whomever you are renting the car about Janis' claim that one way rentals are much more expensive. The three times I rented in the UK were one ways and there was no extra charge.

Ron is correct - AutoEurope doesn't always charge a 1-way surcharge (if they can locate an agency in your drop off city.) If the car has to be collected there is a charge, sometimes equal to 3 days rental.

Darn - hit the post button before I was finished. The main reason that you might want to drive tho' is because 1-way train tickets can be pretty expensive too. the car will be cheaper than the train and give you the flexibility to change your itinereary if you want to. Bargains rail fares are for day returns (round trips) or advance purchase leisure returns. You could buy return tix and discard the return portion.

Janis/Ron,<BR><BR>Thank you, this is exactly what I'm finding out: for 5 days the car will cost $305, the train tickets @$94 each, $282 (ouch).

Mark<BR>Often a 7 day rental is cheaper than a 5 day. even if you only go into the 7th day by 1 hour you are still at 7 days!driving to London may jsut getyou up to 7 days, check your actual pick up time and see what you can manage. and check your prices.

Mark, if you take a look at www.thetrainline.com you will see that Virgin Trains are offering Virgin Value 14 day advance purchase tickets between Chester and London at a price of £9.50 one way - a lot cheaper than the $94 that you were quoted by someone. At that price, I would dump the car in Chester and take the leisurely train ride into central London, avoiding the hassle of driving and returning the car at Heathrow or in London.

Mark <BR>Would second the suggestion that you stay in Betws-y-Coed in North Wales. It is very centrally located and an easy drive to Chester.

Thanks everybody. Best fare I found for Chester to Euston London on trainline.com was 28.5 GBP. These can be mailed to the B&B. I'm happy with that. <BR> <BR>Day 1-2: Woodstock <BR>Day 3: TBD <BR>Day 4-5: Betws-y-Coed <BR>Day 6-9: London <BR> <BR>I do appreciate it! <BR>