Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Wanted: last minute tips for driving in England

Fodor's Travel Talk Forums (https://www.fodors.com/community/)

- Europe (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/)

- - Wanted: last minute tips for driving in England (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/wanted-last-minute-tips-for-driving-in-england-54098/)

Wanted: last minute tips for driving in England

Ooh happy day, I am on the final countdown to a two week trip to England, starting October 7. I remember seeing on this forum some very useful advice on driving in England but haven't been able to find it with the search function. I've already bought the little booklet, printed in Canada, about driving in England that someone recommended herein last month, but last minute advice--and encouragement!--would be nice. I am the officially designated navigator and my husband the driver. Thanks.

Kay, The major piece of advise I could give you is to please not attempt to drive when you get right off the plane if you are flying over from the U.S. I really don't want to scare you, and I'm not really a wimp, but it's an insane thing to do because you will no doubt have jet lag and no matter how "great" you think you feel you will be disoriented when you get behind the wheel "on the wrong side of the road". We've talked with people at car rental places at the airport on a number of occasions and they all wish they could insist that travelers not take the car out on the road immediately after a long flight, the number of accidents is quite high amongst tourists doing this we are told. I'd suggest getting a hotel near the airport and starting out the next day after a good rest! Another thing is to really plan out your route and let one person do all the driving all the time, it's easier to get used to the left hand thing when you don't alternate drivers. This is something we've done and it works really well. Be extra careful in the roundabouts, and don't panic if you find yourself not being able to get out. You will, and if you go around another time it's no big deal (better that than an accident!). We found we did not care for driving at night in the countryside, as many of the roads were narrow and unlit. Coupled with driving the the "wrong side" it made us uneasy, but that was a personal thing and not everyone feels that way. Another thing --- seriously, keep up a sense of humor, you and your husband may find a few times when you are "exchanging words" due to the driving rules/situations, etc. or someone missing a signpost ... later on it will be amusing. Have fun, There are probably folks out there that would disagree with me, but that's OK, I'd rather be careful and stay in one piece than to take to the road after a 11 hr. flight with 8 hr. time difference!

Kay, You are smart to have decided that one of you should be the "designated navigator." My husband (the "designated driver") says that if one enjoys driving in the US, driving in the UK should also be enjoyable. The best advice we can give to you was given to us before our first trip: "Yield Right at the roundabouts." As designated navigator, you may have to remind the driver of that occassionally--fast. Have a fabulous journey. Jeanne

You've gotten good advice so far, but I'll add my 2 cents (or pence as the case may be). I just got back from 7 days of driving in Ireland (same issues, smaller roads). We never really had a problem. You pick it up very quickly. I did all of the driving, my wife all of the navigating. I would highly recommend buying the spiral bound Michelin England and Ireland road atlas. I was a great help. The biggest thing, tell all of your passengers to remind you if you start drifting to the wrong side... drop any ego and listen to them and all will be fine. Good luck.

I think the post you want is called "Driving in the UK" and I found it by searching "driving" under "UK". It made me laugh all over again. I do disagree with Kay a bit, speaking as one who drove succesfully in San Diego at 11.30pm, 23 hours after we left Aberdeen and with no sleep in between. Mind you, that's going the other way?? Have a great trip. Nothing can go wrong.

Thank you, all, for your tips. Sheila, I cannot get the search function to pull up the message you site....is it the one that says, keep saying to yourself, ====in the middle? If so, what is it we are supposed to keep saying to ourselves? WHAT in the middle? Or something like that. BTW, we are not going to drive the first day and not in a big city or around an airport. Learned those from Fodors.

Kay, I don't know the web site, but "in the middle" refers to the suggestion that the driver's perspective, should always be from the middle of the road--the same as here. Jeanne

Does that help? Take now, y'all

I spent a week in London in May and then picked up a car just outside London for a 2 week trip around the country. Concentrating on staying away from the curb was the biggest issue. My navigator would just remind me to move over. Also, the round-abouts really work well. I can't say I ever got the hang of which lane to be in but you can continue around until you pick the right outlet so it's easy. I mentioned the difficulty to one of our hosts and she said "we have the same problem; the biggest car wins!" Very apropos. I would do it again; it's not that difficult and if you get off at the wrong exit just go up the road a bit, turn around and come back. The best advice is to maintain your sense of humor. It is impossible to NOT get lost in another country, even our own. The traffic is a breeze if you happen to come from So. California as I do. A good Michelin spiral notebook type map was great for us. Have fun! P.S. I'm going back to London beginning Oct. 4 for 2 weeks - that's how much I loved England. The people are so friendly, kind and helpful.

Sheila, Jeanne, Nancy--yes, all that does help. Very much. I think that "in the middle" bit was what I was missing. Even the whole book on driving on the OTHER side of the road didn't particularly stress that. I'm sure you are right, Nancy, that we will get lost. My husband just reported in from a business trip to Toronto--to say that in that city where we lived for three years, he got hugely lost three times, in just 24 hours. Almost missed his plane, so we laughed and I guess that's a good thing to start packig right now...our senses of humor. Five days to go. Thanks so much, you all!

I rented a car right after landing at Gatwick and had no trouble - the road started out as a one way road and the merged with the motorway. Using a navigator and having everyone tell you when you are drifting over is a good idea. I found that I used the right had outside mirror much as I would the rear view mirror in the US. I used the rear view mirror and left hand outside mirror usually just when changing lanes to the left. It was much easier than I thought it would be. ROundabouts can be tricky, but you can use the method Rick Steves recommends - make one complete circle before getting off (I only need to do this a couple of times)

I don't really have any tips to add to the useful advice you've already gotten, but have a story to share that may make you think "If she survived *that* we'll have no problem at all!" Last fall I flew with my parents (I'm mid-thirties, parents mid-sixties) to England. I'd been there a couple of times before but had always used public transportation, but with my parents, particularly my dad who's disabled, a car was necessary. We arrived at Heathrow and planned to drive west to Bath, where we stayed for the first five days of our trip. Picked up the car, and had to have them bring it directly to the arrivals gate (rather than going out to the car lot), because Dad's disability didn't permit him to get on the bus to the remote lot. They bring us the car...and we get in and load our luggage, as it's sitting more or less in a traffic lane right at curbside. I'm examining the controls and trying to figure out where everything is, but a cacophony of honking finally forces us to just get going. So off we went onto the M4 west (well, first onto the M4 east into central London, but I figured that one out pretty quickly and got headed in the right direction), on our way to Bath, with virtually no chance for me to acquaint myself with the car first. And no accidents. Very little difficulty at all, except for the to-be-expected friction that happens when daughter drives and dad, accustomed to being the *only* one in the family driving when we all travel together, rides shotgun and navigates. Like I said, if we can survive that unmaimed, you should be fine...