J

Everything I have read seems to discourage from any driving at all in London. We will be staying at the County Hall Travel Inn in London for several days & then renting a car for several days driving trip through the Cotswolds, Yorkshire, etc.... <BR>IF we were to pick up our car in London -- is there a car rental place fairly nearby our hotel (near Waterloo Station)? <BR>OR if we were to take the train to an outside town.... Oxford?? and pick up car there... That's also a possibility. All in all we would prefer getting our car in London & going from there. <BR>Any advice? Thank you!

ginny

J: First, have you ever driven over there? I have been the driver on the last 3 trips, Sept. 98, 99, and 00 and even though I am comfortable driving I would never try it from London. London has a wonderful train system with great rides to anywhere on Britrail. If the trip is for the Cotswolds, then I would take the train from London to Bath and pick up the car there. We have done this so I know there is a Hertz rental next to the station in Bath, then drive to our destination in the Cotswolds. We have also picked up a car in Chester(taking train from London), again there is a Hertz rental not far from station there(walking distance) and driven to our destinations in that area which have included stays in Shropshire area and Conwy, Wales. This past Sept. we flew into Manchester Airport from Ireland for the second half of our vacation and picked up a rental at the airport and even though it was not that crazy trying to get out of the area to our destination in Wales, I would not have wanted to drive in the city of Manchester itself it's too fast-paced for me, I prefer the quiet back roads. Which rental company are you looking into? They may even bring the car to you if it's not convenient from the place you arrive at!

kate

I fully understand your reservations about driving in London. As a Londoner I rarely drive through the centre of town if I can avoid it as traffic is fairly horrendous and unless you know the roads very well it can be very confusing, with one way systems etc. It can make for very scary driving if you're lost and you have a fustrated taxi driver harrassing you from behind! However, it would be a great experience for you to drive from London rather than take a train, so it might be better to collect a car from the outskirts of town or even from Heathrow airport, which is only about 20 minutes by train from Paddington in the centre. Heathrow is also on the M4 and M25 motorways which give you easy access out of london to the west and north of england.

Gloria and mike

Hello, <BR>My husband and I pick up our rental cars at the airports when we travel in Europe. I think it would be crazy to pick it up in London! Be aware 99% of the rentals will be a clutch. We ran into a poor couple from Nebraska while inSalisbury who had never driven in Europe and had no experience with a clutch. English drivers are very courteous, more so than any other country we toured. We spent 10 days in London and then took another week to tour the countryside. We picked up our car at Heathrow,(I prefer Orly, myself), and easily navigated to Dover, and traveled the entire coastline to Bath, etc. We stayed at some fabulous B&B's. On another trip we went to York. That is beautiful as well. <BR>The people and sites of England are lovely. <BR>Bon Voyage!

Stacey

I cried the first time I drove in England ! After the first couple of miles though, it's not too bad. I stayed in the city and when I was ready to leave, took the train from Paddington to the airport and grabbed a car there. Very easy and none of the hassles of trying to drive in the city.

xxx

To Ginny-- <BR>We are going to the UK in late March. After flying into Manchester, we will pick up our car at the airport there. We plan to spend that night in Chester. The idea is to "get my feet wet" driving on the left that first day but not have too far to travel. Can you give me your thoughts/suggestions regarding driving in the airport vacinity? Also, do you have a hotel or B&B suggestion for the Chester area? Thank you.

gloria

I mistakenly said "Orly" in my previous message, that's in France! What I should have said was, "Gatwick". <BR>Gloria

Kimerley

Pick up a car from Heathrow, dead easy and the orbit roads are not hard to navigate. I did it with 2 friends and 2 of us are blondes........

ron

If the folks above have not convinced you not to pick up the car in central London, Avis has an office at Waterloo _ Avis - Waterloo Station, International Terminal, EPS House, Waterloo Station,London, SE1 8SE tel: 020 7401 8164 <BR> <BR>My personal experience is that I once returned a car in central London (around Kings Cross) after having driven around the south and south west for two weeks. It was pretty stressful and I know I would not have coped if I had reversed the process. i.e. picked the car up in London at the start of the trip.

Lori

Go out to Heathrow and get the car, for one thing you stand a 99% chance of getting an automatic (if you need it and believe me it's the only way to go when driving in the UK if you are not familiar with a stick shift). I'd never mess around with London traffic and I've driven in the UK several times.

ginny

To: XXX: When we picked up our car at Manchester Airport this past Sept. it was easy to get out of the airport area and onto the M56 which is what we took and we went by the Chester exit. My suggestion, and I do this and it helps is to map out your driving route in your own words. I always carry a map, but before I go I sit and write out exactly how I need to get from one place to another and I always have someone else with me in the passenger seat who can keep an eye on the signs and read my directions to me as we go along. This may sound silly, but one thing that I keep in mind ALWAYS when driving in the UK, when making a turn out of something, at a crossroad or whatever is, "big left, little right" the opposite of what we do here in the states when making a turn. I said it sounds silly but for me it works and I have never pulled out and turned onto the wrong side of the road. Take your time and drive at a pace(speed) that YOU are comfortable with. They tend to drive alittle faster both on the "M" roads and the smaller roads and I have been passed by many, even 2 elderly women who gave me a hand gesture as they passed, but I just take my time. One other thing as far as driving the car itself, at first it will feel awkward since I'm use to having everything on the left side of the car as I'm sure you are. For example, when I needed to use the sideview mirror, I was always looking into the rearview mirror since it,s to my left and that is where the sideviews are here! But you get use to it. I have satyed at the Blossoms Hotel in Chester for one night 5 years ago and it was very nice. Rooms were a good size and service was awesome. Back then it was part of the Forte(sp?) Heritage group. Check out the British Tourist Authority website www.visitbritain.com for more info on accomodations. I hope my comments are of some help to you, anything else, just ask. Have fun!

J

OK!! Thank you everyone -- I'm convinced!! Now for a second question to this... <BR>Can we take a train from Waterloo Station to Heathrow? <BR>Thank you again!

Lori

You mention "we" so I take that to mean there are at least two of you. I would not mess with trains and/or public transportation to get out to Heathrow. Contact a driver service (there are several on line, London Transport comes to mind right away) and have them pick you up at the hotel and take you out to the car rental place of your choice at Heathrow. Should cost 30 pounds for the ride out (plus tip) ... no hassle dragging luggage around. If there are two of you this is as reasonable as taking the Paddington Express (from Paddington Station) as you would first have to get to Paddington. I do not know of any trains from Waterloo to Heathrow. <BR>We used a driver service called Ambassador Cars (they are in London phone book) to take us to Heathrow one time, they were fine. Someone on this board talks about Swiss Cottage Cars as well and as I said there are several who advertise on-line.

ron

J, to get to Heathrow from Waterloo, you take the train to Feltham (6 per hour)and catch a dedicated bus from there to Heathrow. I took it a year ago and it was really slick, 45 minutes from the time the train left Waterloo to the time I was in the Air Canada queue in T3. I recommended this recently on another posting; Kate@tidal responded that this was no longer a viable option (it would take hours, I believe her comment was) because of the mess the British transportation system is in. So, FWIW, <BR> <BR>Ron