Returning rental car to London
 

Hi from Toronto - we'll be in the UK in November and want to return a rental car to London. We will be drving in from Wales, and will be staying near Victoria station. We have heard the horror stories about driving in the city - what's the real scoop? I'd love not to have to drop it off outside of London and then spend $$ on trainfare to Victoria. Thanks!

You'll have to pay a daily 5GBP congestion charge (Mon-Fri) and around 30GBP per day for parking, so really it isn't worth it.

ninja88 - This is what we do each time we visit London. On our 2nd trip to Britain, I emailed a certain car rental firm, and found out that they had depot on the road which leads onto the A40M (a good road for getting out of London or into London). The car company in question is National Car Rental. So when we leave London its a straight run out to the Orbital, then around to which ever motorway we want, and the same for when we return. Once we are back in London, we return the car, then a cab to our B&B, and we use London's public transport system. I wouldn't try & drive in London, its too congested, and parking is always a problem, especially central London, so forget about driving in London, smart travellers just don't do that. My brother in law did it once, and said never again, would he drive in London.

We drive on most trips, but will not drive into or out of London. Once was enough. Congestion alone wasn't the problem; directions and odd street names, streets that change names or status from one way to two way, etc. made for extra difficulties.

We prefer to train in or out from a city that we want to spend a little time in, anyway.

ninja88 didn't intend to drive or park in London, all we wanted to do was get to the nearest drop off point to Victoria. I know that Hertz HAD a terminal at King's Cross and Marble Arch. I believe they also had one near S. Ken. Call the specific rental company for their dropoffs.

We made the mistake of driving our rental car into London, and it was horrible! I think it took us over an hour to find our hotel. The street names change constantly, and the traffic and congestion, along with pedestrians, made it even worse. We've driven through many cities, and found London to be the worst. Its one of our favorite cities, but we will not make that mistake again!

Driving in London is easier than anywhere else in the UK - the roads are mainly one-way. I'd advise using multimap.com to plan your route so you have some idea as to where you are going.

Personally, I'd never do it, take the easy option and return your car a day early - possibly cheaper too.

It's very tempting to wonder what ever happened to America's moral fibre. Did all those waggon trains, after months on the prairie, go into old-woman conniptions like this at the thought of the traffic in Dodge City? Doubtless ninja88, like all Commonwealth citizens, is made of sterner stuff than all those scardey-cats south of the border. However...

London traffic is actually safer and more disciplined than in most other British towns. Ninja88, after a few days driving in Wales, will be able to judge whether s/he is a mensch in these matter or another of those people frightened by a change of street name. But right now, it's unpredictable.

Navigating to Victoria is tricky. No Australian or NZer would duck the challenge, but you might decide you want to. If, after a couple of days in Wales you decide it's too tough, ask your car hire co for their drop off closest to Marble Arch, which is - for all but the truly feckless - easy to get to from the M4. If you judge this to be too much of a challenge, drop off at Heathrow.

In either case, buy whatever travel pass you're going to need for your whole London stay from the nearest tube station, get the tube to your hotel and you'll find the incremental cost of your early-dump decision is pretty trivial.