moolyn

We have arranged a house exchange to Frome in Somerset, near Bath, and will spend the preceding week in Paris and take the Eurostar to London on Friday, June 12th, arriving at St. Pancras at 1:28pm. Earlier would have been preferable but the fares were higher so I booked this time slot, planning to pack a gourmet lunch for the trip.

We have been considering different options to get from London to Bath and wonder about the feasibility of driving out of London.

A week ago I found a fare of twelve pounds fifty for train from London International to Bath so this seemed like a good idea but the fare has now increased to 21 pounds each. Discount fares are also inflexible and time sensitive and it may take us longer than expected to find our way. This also involves getting to Paddington by tube. We would then have to pick up a rental car in Bath about four mile from the train station.

We could take the tube or taxi to Heathrow and pick up a rental car there but getting to the tube from the Eurostar arrival point does not seem to be easy, especially with luggage. I looked into Heathrow Express and it costs more than train fare to Bath. Taxis all this way are not inexpensive either.

Researching past threads on this topic I came across information - from Flanneruk I think - that the driving route out of London from Kings Cross is not a difficult one so this seems like the best idea. Since we have to pick up a rental car that day anyway, this would not add any additional cost except for a taxi from London International at St. Pancras to Hertz at Russell Square, not too far. Does this plan make sense?

I have also read about congestion fees so wonder whether these will apply.

Since this is a Friday afternoon, we will want to get on the road as quickly as possible after arriving in London. We will need to connect to the M4 for the trip to Bath and it seems to be better to do this before reaching the M25. I assume Hertz will give us directions for this but would appreciate any additional input about this and the general plan to drive out of London.

moolyn

flanneruk

I'm pretty intolerant of the "oh London's difficult to drive in" woosiness that infects this board. If I DID say KX is easy to drive from, I probably meant to Oxford (point your car west and don't change direction for 60 miles). Not Bath from Russell Sq, and not every North American would agree with my judgement (on this or anything else) anyway.

The tube station at St Pancras is about 25 yards from the exit from immigration. There ARE ten steps down to the ticket hall (though there's a lift if you can find it): it's escalators all the way to the Piccadilly Line from the ticket machines. Almost nothing could be easier - even with luggage. Thousands of Frenchpersons manage it daily, so it really can't be a problem.

If you want to drive out of London, you need to get to the Euston Rd from Russell Square (a doddle, I'd say, but not the easiest choice if you've got limited experience of urban driving on the sensible side). You then need, whatever the SatNav says, to stay on that road to either the A316 (c. 16 miles west) or M25 (another ten miles on)

Both will be chocker by 1530. I'd get the tube to LHR

flanneruk

PS: Congestion charge (£8) DOES apply from central London: not from Heathrow: Hertz will explain.

If driving in London/tubing worry you, look into collecting your car from Ashford or (better) Ebbsfleet if your train stops there. No special booking (just get off the train). Ebbsfleet's about an extra 55 miles driving than LHR: you'll probably arrive at the M25/M4 junction a bit earlier that way, but you'll have saved the shleps with luggage.

Cholmondley_Warner

Frome has a train station you know (it's on the Exeter line from Westbury). My Mum lived there until recently so I know it well. Don't expect too much....

janisj

Listen to flanner for sure. I was thinking about which route to suggest and while I was doddering he beat me to it. I'd really not relish driving from Russell Sq out of London on a Summer Friday afternoon - even early afternoon.

Take the tube all the way to LHR and rent your car from there. LHR to Frome would be an easy drive.

Steve_James

Hi Moolyn - Why go via London?

Easyjet fly Paris(CDG)-Bristol
- dep 18.55 (arr.Bristol 19.10)
(Fare today: € 57 approx.)

Frome is an easy 45 mins drive from Bristol airport.

Steve

janisj

Steve_James: yes, flying would have been faster, easier, and likely cheaper. But it appears the OP already bought their Eurostar tickets.

moolyn

Thanks, Flanneruck and janisj! This is exactly the information I needed. We live in a large city, are not afraid of urban driving and have driven in London before but it’s the Friday afternoon timing that is of concern.

The distance to the Piccadily line looks formidable on the tube map but it doesn’t sound like a problem at all - thanks Flanneruk! We won’t have a lot of luggage apart from the bottles of French wine my husband plans to bring for our stay in England, to supplement the Somerset cider. Is there any restriction on how much wine we can import?

I looked into Ashford and Ebbsfleet but couldn’t find any car rental places at either station, which seems odd. Do you know of any? I’m sure we can get off the Eurostar early if we want so could definitely consider this option.

Steve, I didn’t think of flying but it sounds like it would have been a good option.

Cholmondley – small world! Although Frome has a train station there is no rental car depot so that means Bath or London for pick up. We’ll be using Frome as a base so don’t need there to be much there other than a comfortable place to come home too after exploring the general area. There’s a lot to see in easy driving distance and we really enjoy walking in England as well.

Now, next question, what is the best station to use at Heathrow to get a shuttle for the car rental places?

flanneruk

"Is there any restriction on how much wine we can import?"

Assuming you bought it in a French shop, yes

110 litres each. If you've got evidence you need more (like for a silver wedding party) as much as would be reasonable for that purpose. Any more and you have to pay duty and VAT.

Cholmondley_Warner

Don't get me wrong. Frome is perfectly pleasant. It's just a typical small english town. Ie there's nothing much there.

It's only claim to fame is that Jenson Button comes from there (whcih will mean zero to most yanks).

moolyn

Cholmondley, no problem, I'll sure it will be a lovely base for our explorations. I haven't heard about the Jenson Button so will check it out but I have read that Frome has more listed buildings than any other place in Somerset and that it has one of the few bridges in the world with shops actually on it, like Bath and Florence but on a much smaller scale.

janisj

Even some of us Yanks follow F1! (though not that many to be sure)

Cholmondley_Warner

and that it has one of the few bridges in the world with shops actually on it,>>>

It does?

Jenson Button is an F1 driver - currently leading the contest. His mum lived next door to my mum. (his parents were (are?) notorious swingers, so mum kept her distance...(at least that's what she tells me)

RM67

I will probably be a lone voice here, but I think there's something a bit mad about getting the tube all the way out to Heathrow just to pick up a car. I'd be more inclined either to take the shorter ride to Paddington, get the train to the west country and arrange to pick a car up there (much less stress), or to opt for the Hertz pickup in central London if you really prefer the driving option.

I also want to re-iterate that driving in London is more frantic than in most US cities, so having experience in the latter won't necessarily prepare you for the former.

janisj

RM67: I might agree w/ you if it wasn't a <u>Friday afternoon</u>.

Getting on the road from LHR is a piece of cake.

flanneruk

"I looked into Ashford and Ebbsfleet but couldn’t find any car rental places "

Probably because you were googling in the obscure colonial dialect you write in.

Google in English ("car hire Ebbsfleet"), and you immediately get
http://www.avis.co.uk/CarHire/Europe...-International

At LHR, T5 is the best option. Direct tube and much shorter walk than at Heathrow 1-3

moolyn

Chomondley, oops, obviously I don't follow F1 and thought Jenson Button must have something to do with the textile trade as this was a wool area and I'm a weaver and spinner so that's where my mind goes.

Here's the famous bridge you never knew about:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rossweb...7605176706122/

Flanneruk, I think my husband can restrain himself from buying more than 110 litres of French wine.

I looked into the Ebbsfleet Avis and they don't offer any small automatics. I'll try to go at it another way now that I know there is an agency there but we may very well be tubing it to Terminal 5. Thanks for this info!

RM67, I totally agree that this would be simpler but taking a train from Paddington to Bath costs 21 pounds 50 each and we would have to book for a specific time even to get this price. Plus, we still have to pay car rental for this day anyway to get to our final destination.

Cholmondley_Warner

Well I never noticed that. Shows how observant I am. I'm better on pubs.

Frome also has about the last open sewer in England.

Steve_James

Moolyn - That bridge is famous?? Well - who'd have thought it.

If you want to avoid the Friday afternoon M4 drive, you could come down by train (- or bus).

There are a couple of car hire firms in the Frome area. You could hire from Sat a.m.

Steve

moolyn

Thanks to flanneruk's car hire suggestion, I did some more research and was able to arrange a small automatic through National by looking under Dartford. Although National isn't located at the station, they are willing to bring the car there for us. So this seemed like a plan.

Fortunately, I found a thread on TripAdvisor asking about disembarking at Ebbsfeet rather than St. Pancras. It's no problem - if your train stops there!

I checked the schedule below and ours doesn't. Good to know this now.

eurostar.com/pdf/…timetables_english.pdf

So the plan is to take the tube to Heathrow and pick up a car there.