Looking for advice regarding renting a car to drive to Beachy Head/Brighton and over to Salisbury and onto Bath. We land at 7 AM in Heathrow and by the time we are ready to start driving we hope to be past rush hour. Any advice as to where to pick up the car for better rental fees or less congested roads ? If we don’t take the shuttle straight to the rental car location at Heathrow, we would have to factor in the cost in time and effort to take a train elsewhere to pick up the car. Thank you!
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7383 posts
Just me, but for the ease of picking it up, I’d just get it at the airport. The M25 is about a five minutes drive away. You’d be on the M25 for about 22 or 36 miles depending on which exit you take to go south. There could be congestion and slow going, heavy traffic but moving, or it could mostly be a smooth drive. The M25 is a wild card any time of day. The time I made the drive east, traffic was heavy but moving.
Hopefully you will have time for a few stops between Brighton and Salisbury.
Posted by
Cornwall
521 posts
Have you driven on the left on Europe’s busiest road after an overnight long haul flight before?
Posted by
FL USA
1568 posts
We researched the car rental options for a similar journey last May. A couple of thoughts.........
- We actually rented two mid-size suv's via COSTCO travel and obtained excellent rates and service
- We relied upon our credit card insurance policies and did fine. One vehicle hit a hidden tree stump turning into the grounds of Amberley Castle and blew out the tire. The vehicle had to be towed (I was not the driver!) and the subsequent insurance claims process worked out fine, but took six months to complete.
- This is critical........each driver was solely responsible for driving and the front seat passenger was the ONLY navigator. This tactic reduced stress and maintained focus.
- We used google maps street view to familiarize ourselves with the road network and note some landmarks to help look for exits and signs. This tactic helped a lot.
- Don't speed. Period. Reduce your travel stress by accepting this is a different driving experience. Stay in the slow lane and let the countryside flow by.
- Back roads ARE narrow and often resemble one lane roads. Stay slow, be courteous and chuckle when you may have to pull over to allow an approaching car to pass.
- Your natural driving tendency will be with the left side of the car becoming too close to the left lane, curb, edge of road or tree stump. Something to be aware.............
- Plan on getting lost, making the wrong turn, being a bit frustrated............Just add patience and time.
- If you rent at Heathrow please consider the following: do not rush to the car rental and jump in the vehicle. Stretch your legs out in the terminal, get your mental/emotional/physical bearings awake by taking a walk outside to wake up. We drove from the Alamo/enterprise lot (great service) to Windsor Castle and parked by the Long Walk to enjoy the scenery and again stretch our legs. Literally, this is only 15 minutes away from the terminal.
- We did rent at Heathrow, did item 9, then drove to Shrewsbury. We got a bit turned around, figured it out and had a wonderful time.
- We also drove to Bath and fortunately had plotted the public parking lots. Bath can have some congested driving so please adopt item 3.
Enjoy a great journey!
Posted by
OP
13 posts
jaimeelsabio, thank you for sharing your experiences with the M25. Good advice. We will have time to break up the trip and will only drive 75 miles the first day.
Camborne2018, thank you kindly for your concern for our safety. We do take it seriously. Yes, my husband has the experience to make this drive.
Steven, thank you sincerely for taking the time to share your tips. We will implement the new tips, and we have found the others you offered are indeed helpful.
Posted by
Preston UK
1318 posts
I would never recommend driving from the airport straightaway off a long haul flight - especially if you are not familiar driving on what for you is the “wrong” side of the road. I did it once by necessity years ago and vowed never to do it again, and I was a local driving my own car.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34485 posts
you sound clear that you will do that 2 or 3 hour drive (depending on the M25 and M23) regardless so I wish you a safe trip.
An easy train from Victoria station to Brighton (just down the road from Eastbourne and Beachy Head) would take you to your destination and there are car hire companies in the city of Brighton and Hove.
Posted by
Buckinghamshire
229 posts
I think the easier train journey to Brighton would be to get the Elizabeth Line to Faringdon and then a Thameslink train direct to Brighton. From memory, they run every 15 mins but Brighton is outside the 'oyster' touch card zone, so you will need tickets.
If you drive, the route from Heathrow to the outskirts of Brighton is pretty easy - two Motorways which are, hopefully, not too busy.
From there, you'll either need to go into Brighton itself: beware of the 20 mph speed limits in some places and that parking in the centre is expensive and not all hotels have it. Or, if you go east towards Beachy Head, the road you take from where the main road to the outskirts of Brighton ends is quite good (by British standards) but it runs inland. You'll need to get over to the coast road. Pretty much wherever you do this you will go through one or two pretty villages which usually come with narrow streets and tight turns, so be ready for them.
One other thing I'd suggest - get a Sat Nav or be able to use Google Maps and have the sound switched on (usually I hate the sound). The instructions will guide you towards being in the correct lane at junctions which, after Brighton will consist of many roundabouts.