milkman57

We are going to London/Devon the second week of March. We'll stay 3 days in London, then a week in Holsworthy, Devon. What is the best way to get from one to another? We will then have to get back to Heathrow for our return to NY. We are considering taking the train to Heathrow and renting a car there to drive to Devon.

janisj

Depending -- if you want to stop over enroute in Bath, or Wells/Glastonbury, or coastal Dorset, you could pick the car up at Heathrow.

But if you just want to get straight down to Devon, you could take the train to Exeter and pick up a car there.

Either choice makes sense - just depends on what you want to do, how much time you have.

milkman57

The only problem with the train is we are leaving on Sunday and only Heathrow and Gatwick rentals are open then. If we get to Exeter or Plymouth, we can't rent a car till Monday. How would we get to Holsworthy then?

janisj

Sunday is always a special case w/ car rentals in the UK. If it is set in stone that you have to pick up the car on Sunday - then LHR is probably your best bet.

Even taking a train to Exeter on Saturday afternoon will probably mean having to wait to pick up a car until the monday a.m.

Either re-arrange your itinerary some how - or plan on picking up the car at LHR. I suppose you could take the train to Southampton or Bristol and get a car there - but those really aren't much more convenient than driving from LHR.

Another option would be to pick up your car early in the day on Saturday right in central London. Then you could get an early start on Sunday a.m. w/o having to schlepp out to LHR on Sunday.

Driving out of London on an early sunday morning would not be a problem at all.

janisj

to clarify - the reason I suggested picking up the car early Sat is that many of the city centre rental locations are only open until noon or maybe 1 p.m. on Saturdays

milkman57

Which one of the rental companys would you recommend?
And would we be better off with an American company and do they honor discount programs like aaa or aarp etc?

ElendilPickle

Take a look at www.autoeurope.com. We rented through them last year; the rate was very reasonable, and we were upgraded to an automatic at no charge.

Lee Ann

janisj

yes, check AutoEurope first. It isn't a rental agency -- they are brokers w/ offices in Maine. They will hook you up w/ the best match -- location/type of car/etc and it could be w/ any one of many different companies.

Then after you have a quote you can look to see if anyone else comes in cheaper. I find AutoEurope is best probably 70+% of the time. And then often they will match a lower quote.

SandyBrit

milkman57:

Another broker for car hire is www.novacarhire.com we have rented thru them several times over the years and always first class service with no hidden charges.

Sandy

jsmith

You could also check with your airline. We've had what I thought were good rates thru BA, NWA and Virgin but I'm not one who spends a great deal of time searching.

milkman57

I really can't use the airline because we fly standby on passes. We never know exactly what flight we are on until the day before we leave.