London Area Car Rental
 

Need help deciding where to return car outside London. We'll be driving from York to London and want to drop off close to London, but not in the City. We'll be staying in London before going back to Heathrow the next day.

Also, our car pickup might be at Waterloo Rail Office (is that the same as Waterloo Station). Would it be better to go to the Kennington office?

I would drop the car off at Heathrow and ten take the tube into London.

I agree with eurotravere. There is no way that I would want to drive into London. I have driven all over the UK, but not in London. Drop the car off at the airport and take the tube into London.

A LOT depends on the time/days you are picking up and dropping the car. If it is a Sunday morning then - just about anywhere would be ok.

But most times I would not pick up a car at Waterloo - especially if you are headed north.

Don't know where your rental company's locations are, but somewhere on the north edge of London would be an easier pick-up, drop-off.

If you are headed west from London before going up to York, LHR would be a good choice - easy to get to and on several main routes/motorways.

Thank you. We are not afraid to drive in the city and hope to avoid higher transfer charges from Heathrow. Plus the departure/arrival will not coincide with flights. We will be leaving London heading south. Then returning from York. Just looking for reasonable locations from Autoeurope or Avis. Maybe Kennington area or Kings Cross. Or Luton airport?

It sounds like you are picking up your car and heading south and then returning from the north to drop the car off.

Therefore, rather than pick somewhere quite a way north (eg Luton Airport) where you'd have to get to by public transport, I'd be inclined to pick somewhere quite central. Since you don't mind driving in London, this shouldn't cause you problems. You probably want to try and avoid peak times anyway. It would be a hassle going to/frpom Heathrow as well just to pick up and drop the car off.

Depending what the rules are regarding the Congestion Charge would depend whether you would choose somewhere outside the zone.

Last summer we drove from York to London and returned the car to the rental agency on Edgware Rd., not far from Hyde Park, and then took a cab over to our hotel for out last night. It was a Thursday, late afternoon. While the M-25 was bumper to bumper, we ran into virtually no traffic at all. Just get good directions for the return.

We had picked the car up at the same location on a Sunday morning so it was easy getting out of London. We were heading North so it was convenient.