friardave

Hi...i plan to spend 3-4 days in london-late september-and then rent a car and go all over...is it better to rent from heathrow?...or somewhere else?...i am thinking of the ease of leaving london as i do NOT want to drive there...thanks all

jsmith

We rented a car in 1998 at Marble Arch on a Saturday and drove to Duxford Air Museum, returned to London (our hotel had free parking) and set out again on Sunday morning to Rochester, Leeds Castle, Canterbury and other places in the southeast. We returned the car at Gatwick for our flight to Boston. There was no problem getting in and out of London ON THE WEEKEND.

We've rented and returned at Heathrow a few times with no problems leaving or returning.

In March we returned a rental in Oxford and bussed into London. Since we stayed overnight in Oxford, the saving in rental more than paid for the bus fare. There is a direct Oxford to Heathrow bus if you want to return the car there.

Hope I've helped.

janis

It mostly depends on where you are heading -- to the west or NW, Heathrow is a good pick-up point. Towards Kent and the south, Gatwick works well.

If you are going far north - York, Scotland, etc. then you could take a train up, pick up your car and return it up there or drive down the country and return it at LHR.

As jsmith says it is not to difficult to leave from central London on a Sunday morning. But if you will be traveling solo, that is more difficult because you need a good navigator to get through London.

jsmith

janis reminded me that depending on your itinerary you could rent at Heathrow and return to Gatwick or vice versa. We done this and there was never a dropoff charge.

nancy

I picked up a car in Finchley (north of London) heading north, west, south and southeast. We took a cab from our apt near Victoria Station to Finchley (mini-cab for about $30). On our next to last stop at a B&B the owner said we didn't have to take the car back into Heathrow, that they would pick it up at our last B&B (near Heathrow). He even called the AutoEurope (at least I think that's with whom we rented) and they said fine. They didn't get the car before we had to leave for the airport via cab but no problem. Never heard another word. So, if you don't want to mess with Heathrow, this is an option - definitely worth it to me.

jsmith

Nancy, are you related to the equestrienne who jumped on her horse and rode off in all directions. Please, don't take offense.

friardave

thanks all...i guess i am hoping it is easy to reach the motorway from heathrow

rickmav

Hi..yes it is easy to reach the motorway from Heathrow, although it depends which one. A good map will show you all the M roads you can connect to from Heathrow. I think the advice here was to let you know that there may be places along the motorways that it would be easier to get to by train fr. London, then picking up the rental car from Heathrow.

Personally, I've found the easiest route to take fr. Heathrow is west, towards Cornwall. If I'm going south - to Kent/Sussex - Gatwick is much better, or even Ashford. If I'm going north I usually rent from Oxford - or even Manchester if I'm going to Lake District or Yorkshire.

kaudrey

If you are heading west, I agree with jsmith that renting at Marble Arch is a good idea. There is a highway entrance (an "A" road, I believe) a few blocks away so you don't really have to drive on London streets.

We did this a few months ago and it worked very well - we were heading west/southwest toward Salisbury.

Renting from LHR, if you are already IN London, means you have to get all the way back out the the airport, and it's not really necessary.

Karen

friardave

thanks Karen...yes we will be heading west towards salisbury...so marble arch is close to an "A" road?...i lived in uk 20 years ago and learned not to drive in london...i'll check on rates from there

Snoopy

YEARS ago I rented a car through Kenning and they picked me up at Heathrow and took me to (I think) a Sheraton on the access road to the M4. I could not have been easier.

Snoopy

Uh . . . I meant "It"