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Car rental pickup outside of London city center

Posted by on

Hello! My husband and I are traveling to London at the end of May and trying to figure out if a one night stay in the Cotswolds makes sense for us and it involves some car rental logistics. (I realize this won’t even be scratching the surface of the Cotswolds.)

We will be spending 4 nights in London to start our trip. We obviously do not want to have a car in London. My question: is there a recommended car rental location (general vicinity) outside the London metropolitan center that we can get to by tube/train (with our luggage) to pick up a car that can then get us to the Cotswolds and then to Liverpool? We would probably drop the car off at the Liverpool airport before a flight to Dublin several days later. (I know this will be more expensive than a same location return.)

My husband would rather not drive in the busy city center if we can avoid it. Thank you!

Posted by
876 posts

I think the best place to collect a car for the Cotswolds from London is Swindon. It's a quick train ride from Paddington and I understand that there are agencies close to the station. Swindon will win no beauty awards itself but it's the best combination of ease to get to and closeness to the destination.

But I would refer you to my last post on your other thread recommending better places to visit near Liverpool.

Posted by
32757 posts

I would choose Oxford, right on the A40 and A44 (once you get past the road works, add 15 minutes or so for that) and bang you can start at Burford - a lovely place. Are you ok with parallel parking on a hill?

Trains to Oxford from Paddington and Marylebone stations right to Oxford and the car rentals are right there.

I have reluctance to recommend Swindon (been going there since I were a lad) due to the chance of winding up in the Magic Roundabout.

You could also get a car at Heathrow on the way out of town and then it is just M4 to M25 to M40 to A40 and beyond, but unless you need a car that only they have, I would stick with Oxford.

Posted by
8671 posts

I double down on Oxford as well. Have done this to get to areas outside London. Places like Broadway and Winchcombe.

Posted by
19 posts

Are there rental companies near the station in Oxford? Would we need to take a cab/walk with luggage? We would definitely need automatic transmission. Is it reasonable to assume they'd have that in Oxford?

Heathrow doesn't look terribly different in terms of driving time, but I'd imagine it'd probably be busier inside.

Posted by
19 posts

Thanks, we’re very much considering the GoCotswalds tour you recommended on the other thread, just trying to get as much information as possible about all of our options.

Posted by
6 posts

We are going in Aug and I am getting a rental from Enterprise at the Hammersmith location. It is about 2 blocks from the Ravenscourt Tube station. It also looks to be only a short couple of blocks from the M4. The advantage for us was 1. travel cost is just tube fair vs cost to get back to one of the airports (x 4 people that gets expensive all by itself) and 2. Much cheaper rental rate due to not having airport surcharges.

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