cathy

I have enjoyed very much everyone's suggestions re: driving in the UK. It seems as though the #1 suggestion is to have a navigator who helps with directions and reminders to stay left.<BR><BR>But, I am travelling SOLO to London and southeast England at the end of May (first, Chelsea Flower Show and London gardens, then pick up a car and head south to more gardens -- can't wait!!!). I'm hoping that my many years of commuting in and out of Boston (world's most aggressive drivers??) will help me in the UK. Driving in Boston, NYC, and Italy has never bothered me, but will driving in the UK by myself be doable?

ron

I've driven in the UK both with good navigators and on my own. When driving in an unfamiliar place without a navigator, the saving things about the UK road system are the roundabouts. After you realize you have taken the wrong exit from a roundabout (which you will likely do dozens of times), you simply go onto the next roundabout, head back and try again. The other piece of advice I have is not to try to get into the very centre of larger towns and smaller cities - you will get bogged down in one-way streets and pedestrianized zones. Put the car into a car park on the edge of the town centre and walk.

janis

Driving solo is OK. The main help is to pick up a AA or Bartholomews road atlas - about 4.5 or 4 miles to the inch is best. Before you start out each morning open it up to the page(s) you are traveling and mark the places you want to go and the routes bewteen them with a bright highlighter. Lay the open atlas on the passenger seat so you can see it at a glance. Whenever you feel you need to double check - just pull over and the map book is all set up and easy to see. <BR><BR>(Sometimes a silent road atlas is preferable to a talkative navigator

jpm

While I always have had someone in the passenger seat, they have never been of any help navigating. I just find myself pulled over to the side of the road quite often looking at the map.<BR><BR>One map I would avoid is the Ordinance Survey Maps - they have amazing detail but are useless except for an imediate area - trying to use them while going any distance is maddening.

Shanna

Cathy, I navigated and found that signs were perplexing - often posted immediately after where you would turn. Also we found it difficult to "pull over" in the countryside. The narrow roads often had hedges on both sides. Having said all that, however, follow what these others have said and lay out your trip in advance, keep your cool, and remember it's not as if you will have drive all the way to Scotland before you can turn around if you miss an exit. And once you have driven alone, you will feel positively victorious! Getting licensed to drive in England is very difficult and most drivers are excellent. Have a great trip - I love SE England. And it should be beautiful.

Monica

Try having a look at www.miltimap.co.uk. They'll give you directions to where you want to go and may make navigating easier.

Ruth

The other thing about the AA or Bartholemew's road atlases (or similar) is that they have a page devoted to road signs - you can look through these to see if there are different ones to what you are used to. Also, a few motorway junctions are restricted - ie you can't make a particular turn - there are maps of all these in the atlas. Make sure you get a current atlas - they are reprinted every year and always sold at a discount in gas stations, supermarkets etc (max 3 GBP).<BR><BR>Should be a breeze! I always enjoy driving in the US on my own (except SF in the rush hour);-)

steve

I have had a navigator whenever I have driven on the left. The main help is not to really navigate, but to constantly yell "STAY LEFT, STAY LEFT"<BR><BR>Just remind yourself when you exit a parking lot or driveway, and you will be ok with a navigator

Mavis

I've driven by myself a number of times in England and altho it's nice to have someone in the passenger seat telling you how close you are to parked cars, it's absolutely doable. One thing I do is the night before track out my route. I actually write down on a piece of paper A30 to Bodmin, B3311 to Penzance, etc. so that while driving I don't have to look at the map but the little piece of paper I've written things on. And somehow writing it down makes it stick in my brain so as I'm driving place names look more familiar. Also remember in England on a sign it may not say the next town, but actually the largest place along that particular road. For example, if you're headed for a small town on the road that leads to Salisbury, you may not see anything for the small town until you are almost upon it. But if you know that it's on the way to Salisbury you'll head in that direction. You'll also rarely see signs saying North, South, etc. (except on London orbital), you'll have to know that Salisbury (north) is on one end of the road and Southampton (south) is on the other. And the way I always remember 'keep left' is that as the driver I'm always on the centre line (that doesn't help when you are the M roads because of all the lanes but at least all the traffic will be going in one direction - remember that where we tend to use the centre lane for average traffic, in England all lanes except the far left is considered passing lanes. I had an English driver tell me that that was his biggest complaint against North American drivers, they tend to sit in the middle lane. Unfortunately, this often means a lot of passing in and out of far left lane but it keeps everything moving.) I buy two maps, one an AA Big Road Atlas, and the other a map where I can see major centres and roads at a glance. My mother and I did the garden trip two years ago, also in May, our favourite was Sissinghurst. Try to go mid-week, weekends are killers.

Gigi

Steve, thanks for the laugh! How true!

Keith Legg

For figuring out routes, you might also want to look at www.theaa.com - the Automobile Association website. It has a "Route Planner" which gives very precise directions from point A to point B and has been very helpful to me on a number of occasions!

Jane

Just don't use your aggressive driving style in the UK. UK drivers are much better than those of us in the U.S. (before I get bombarded, yes, every American on this board is a better driver than everyone in the UK). And they actually do crazy things like use turn signals, let people merge, etc., etc. So just be courteous and aware and you'll do fine.<BR><BR>One more thing. If you have a standard car, never ever ever allow it to roll backwards. For some reason, we Americans are not taught to drive stick shifts properly, and everyone rolls back when starting. You are out of control of your car if it rolls. You should always use the handbrake on a regular basis when driving a stick.

Dan

Just don't make any sudden turns. Have everything planned out in advance. If you have to turn around, no big deal. I didn't have any problems on the roads unless they were very narrow. As for the passenger assistance it helps, but you'll be ok. During the first day on really narrow roads, I was actually up on the curb a few times. My wife kept saying "On the curb! On the Curb!" in a shrill voice like Barney Fife yelling "Citizens Arrest! Citizens Arrest!" I started driving better just so I wouldn't have to hear that anymore.<BR><BR>

lani

hi cathy,<BR><BR>i think driving solo is ok, but i agree with other posters that you should write out your whole route in advance!<BR><BR>i'm american and my husband is british, and when we travel to a new place lots of times lack of signs really bug us. also make sure you know the roundabout rules, big ones still make me nervous as some other drivers will just go for whatever exit they need and this can cause a lot of near-accidents.<BR><BR>like ron, city centres can be a headache with the one-way systems, park your car at the first lot and your should be ok.<BR><BR>ha ha, steve and dan, i can relate...for me, the cry was 'OTHER HAND! OTHER HAND!' when i tried driving DH's stick shift car for the first time...without thinking, my right hand would go down to shift gear instead of my left, and i stalled the car a few times. we now have an automatic cathy, if you're like me you might want to specify an automatic, some car companies rent you a '5-speed' unless you say otherwise.<BR><BR>sounds like a great trip, have fun!

Angela

Hi Cathy<BR>I think Monica might mean<BR>www.multimap.co.uk<BR>Also good for route planning is www.euroshell.com (it may be www.euroshell.co.uk, I am doing this from memory)<BR><BR>GPS Navigation is a definate bonus is London, although my navigation system sometimes does not seem to be able to keep up, and I have in the past driven around major roundabouts in central London three times while the GPS worked things out. London is though MUCH easier to drive in than Paris. I think London drivers do have slightly more care and patience, and are not IMHO as aggresive when behind the wheel. The hardest part is knowing which lane to be in and changing lane if a mistake has been made, sometimes my navigation is just not quick enough to put me in the correct lane in time and then I have to squeeze over, but most drivers are kind enough to let someone in. I must admit to not really enjoying driving and not being a particularly good drive, I manage in London though. Driving through the countryside is an absolute pleasure. Only confusion you will probably have is going for the gear stick and banging your hand on the door as you forget it is on the other side from that which you are used to! You will soon adjust though.<BR>Philips navigator maps are meant to be very good and recommended by the Institute of Advanced Motorists. They can be bought at WHSmith or ordered through Amazon.<BR>Angela

MH

If you are a Bostonian, the most scary of driving (lived in Brookline while at Brown), I think you will do fine anywhere in the world except maybe the Dominincan Republic...As for a navigator at least without one there is no one to get into fights with when you get lost. As we all know it is never the drivers fault!!! I have a hubby who is geographically challenged and would have a hard time finding his way out of a paper bag, so I do my own navigating and then blame him when we do get lost...Have fun and be safe and have a pint for me- just not while you are driving

Pat

Driving advice: You will be the best judge of your navigation. Buy a decent map and try to keep track of the Towns and route numbers or road names as you go. Pull off if(when) you get confused and study the map or go into a store or service station and ask directions.<BR>For driving on the Left, I give you one piece of advice based on my 2 weeks in Ireland, where lots of roads were narrow. Keep the left side of the car out of trouble by hugging the centerline with the driver's side. This will be fairly easy to do as the fender will be right there in front of you. I found this very helpful once I got the idea in my head. This solved the problem I was having the first day, where my wife, who was being very sweet and patient, would occasional start saying "you're running out of room over here!".<BR>Also your instincts about left and right turns will be wrong. Left turns will be easy. Right turns will be across traffic.<BR>Go and have fun ! <BR>Pat<BR>

Tony Hughes

Never yet encountered the middle lane of a British Motorway (assuming there are three) as a passing lane. Much too much traffic for that, sorry Mavis.<BR><BR>As for your point about not every town being signposted, that's no different to the USA.

sylvia

Off on a tangent, but I had to chuckle at the mention of Boston. We are an Anglo/Scottish couple and lived there for two years. We still use the expression "to do a Massachusetts", meaning to enter a stream of traffic from a sideroad by pushing the car's nose forward until people are forced to give way.

regwootton

I have one basic piece of advice, when navigating in England, it is better to think of destinations in terms of place names, rather than routes. For example in the US, if you were driving from Detroit to somewhere in Florida, you would take I-75, but in England, you would be better served to think of all the cities along the way, Toledo, Cinci, etc. Road names are used, but they seem to be secondary to the place names. So, in conclusion, when planning your route, learn to think in terms of locations and it will make following the signs much easier.