van rental in UK
 

My family and I (2 adults and 2 kids under 6) are traveling to the UK on Aug 21st and staying for just under 2 weeks. We are meeting up with some family who live in Colchester. We already have reservations at a place in the Lake District for a few days but the rest of our itinerary is fairly flexible, although I would like to visit Edinburgh, York and Bath as well. We would like to rent a van/wagon that seats 7, so that we can enjoy the countryside at our leisure. Any ideas on the best place to get a rental on the cheap? I've done some searching already and I'm a bit surprised at the price estimates I've been quoted. Any advice would be appreciated.

I would not rent a van at all. Renting two cars would be cheaper and you really don't want to traveling on the narrow roads in the lakes in a vehicle big enough to carry 7 plus luggage. (yes, I know, full sized tour buses do it all the time. But those guys are experienced - and having a large vehicle will make it hard for you to share the road with those giants.)

And if your friends from Colchester have a car then you'd only need to rent one compact car for you and your small schildren and save a fortune.

Try auto Europe. I just booked a car for a few days in October.
1-888-223-5555

Be careful with terminology. I think that what you are talking about is a people carrier. In the UK a van is a commercial vehicle with two seats and space at the back for goods.

Thanks for the clarification.
Yes, I meant "people carrier", if that is the correct term. (aka mini-vans or SUV's in the states).

Or MPV (multi-purpose vehicle), but people carrier will be understood. There are basically two types, a full-size MPV like Ford Galaxy, VW Sharan and Seat Alhambra that seat 7 (sometimes 8) and is the same overall size as full-size saloon. There is also a small MPV like Vauxhall Zafira, VW Turan and Toyota Avensis Verso that has the overall dimension of a medium saloon/hatchback. With either type, luggage space is rather limited with all seats occupied. On a rental fleet, MPV often carries a premium. As a guide, a week's rental for a full-size MPV will be around £300, for a smaller MPV around £250.

...agree with the first poster..a van the size of a n.a. van would be fine for the A and M roads but would be extremely difficult on the country roads..the are narrow and often have no shoulder..there can be stone walls or hedges that abutt would suggest you either stick to the main roads or rethink your car...consider something like a small station wagon (i do not know the current term.

We booked our last UK car rental through British Airways (www.ba.com) and got a very good rate on a small automatic car. They rent through Hertz.

We ended up having to wait a long time for an available car and they finally upgraded us for free to a Ford Galaxy mini-van. It was a very nice vehicle and would meet your needs, but it was a little frightening sometimes driving it on the narrow and curvy country roads. :O

It may be less expensive to rent two smaller cars.

We had a large Toyota in the UK in July. The Right seat and Man shift with my left hand as well as "wrong" side of the road were no problem, but knowing where the left side of the car was "in space" was very difficult - smaller is better imho.
M

You can get what you want from woods.co.uk (I think).

Best wishes,

Rex

Thanks to all for the advice.

We got a Seat Alhambra a couple of years ago from AutoEurope. It was a great car, but it was a challenge on some small narrow roads. It certainly can be done.