Rental Car Drop-off Outside London
 

We (2 adults, 1 teenager) are finishing our two-week vacation this July with a week in London, trying to figure out the best place to dump the rental car (we pick it up in Edinburgh)for easy/cheap access to Paddington (we are staying in Bayswater). Our last day will be on the road from Nottingham, seeing the Cotswolds and Blenheim. Can't find a car company that uses Windsor or Hampton Court or Richmond, only Heathrow. Tube from HR with 3 bags seems like a pain - any ideas? Taxi from somewhere to a train station?

Oxford. I think there's a bus from Blenheim (which is in Woodstock)to Oxford. Don't know if the trains from Oxford go to Paddington or Victoria. Check on nationalrail.co.uk

I believe the trains run Oxford-Paddington and the buses/coaches run Oxford-Victoria.

The Oxford coach (bus) station is closer to the center of town than the train station is. There's also the "Oxford Tube", an express coach.

I don't know if there is "left luggage" at the Oxford train or bus station, perhaps someone can advise. If so, you can return the car in Oxford and leave your bags. I hope the following is still current:
There is a tour company using minivans, called "Spires & Shires", fax: 0865791469. http://www.oxfordshire.co.uk/data/017104.html
This company offers daily half day tours to Blenheim. Reservations should be made in advance. The Blenheim tour bus meets some of the incoming trains at the Oxford train station, so that would be convenient.
Thames Transit Minibus runs Oxford to Blenheim and other locations www.oxlink.co.uk/travel/index.html

Message: In March we used Hertz thru BA and picked up the rental in Glasgow and returned in Oxford. The drop off point in Oxford is in Kidlington between Blenheim and Oxford. We took the local bus from the dropoff to the bus station in Oxford. No problem with two large suitcases, 2 carryons and one cane. We took the Oxford Tube (bus) to London rather than the train to save a few pounds and we weren't in any particular hurry. The scheduled time is 100 minutes but because of a huge tieup on the motorway it was closer to 3 hours.

We had just a little hassle with BA arranging the dropoff in Oxford and again with Hertz in Glasgow without incurring a dropoff fee. But finally prevailed with both.

We spent two enjoyable nights before London in Oxford. You might consider that if Blenheim is your last stop and then catch an early ride to London so you won't be so rushed on your drive from Nottingham.

The train from Oxford does go to Paddington and takes a little over an hour. The bus stops at Notting Hill Gate and Marble Arch.

Budget has a Oxford office close to the RR station and I got the impression there were rental car companies in Oxford but the dropoff was still in Kidlington.

Hope this helps and you enjoy my Palace.

John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough

gigib

Wow, a reply from the Duke of Marlborough! Aren't those British Aristocrats friendly? ;-)

Trains from Oxford run direct to Paddington--travel time is about an hour. For schedules:

http://www.rail.co.uk

If you end up returning the car at Heathrow,the easy way to Paddington is via the Heathrow Express (notice I said "easy", but not "cheap").

Sounds like a great vacation. Enjoy!

David White
http://www.KidsToLondon.com

The absolute easiest would be to drop the car at LHR. All of the agencies are there and getting to them from Woodstock is easy.

So don't look for some weird drop off place - just go to heathrow. Then you have the choices of Tube, Train (dead easy and much faster, but more expensive), or a pre-arranged car service (slower than the train, more expensive than the tube, but very convenient), or a bus.

Many thanks for all the info! I think we will just drop it at Heathrow, the train from Oxford for 3 of us is a bit expensive. Tube is at least cheap.
(Thanks for the reply, your nobleness)

You're welcome. Get an early start from Nottingham so you'll have enough time to enjoy the Cotswolds and, I hope, time to stop in Woodstock and tour Blenheim. If you have a little more time you might want to visit the Parish Church of St. Martin in Bladon where my descendant Winston is buried.

It very seldom gets mentioned on this site but a convenient and inexpensive way into London from Heathrow is the Airbus which goes down the Bayswater Road. One of the stops is at Lancaster Gate tho I'm sure there are others on Bayswater. Check the Heathrow
website.

Your servant, John

Sorry for the double posting above. Still having problems with preview.