Hi ted,
We just returned from a 2 week trip to Scotland and England. Don't take driving on the "wrong"/left side of the road lightly if you haven't done it before; it takes concentration. After 3 nights in Edinburgh we rented a car at the airport on our way out of town. My husband did all the driving (about 900 miles over 9 days) and I did the navigating. I would not recommend getting off an international flight and driving to Bath. Here's a list of our driving experiences and rules.
1) Our Scottish friend dropped us off at the airport and we planned on following her to their house , so Hertz suggested we drive to the Hilton (literally around the corner) and meet her there. Have to say the less than 1/10 of a mile to the Hilton was rather exciting. We only had one round about, hit a curb on the left side, then drove into the Hilton's round about the wrong direction. Then we just parked waiting for our friend. So rule 1, if as a passenger, I felt we were too close to the curb, I'd say "CURB". after that we only hit another 5 curbs, and luckily no flat tires
2) GPS- We brought our own Garmin loaded with UK maps. change language to British English :)
No problem with Satellite reception. The ETA time on Garmin was fairly accurate, even on slow windy narrow roads. But use Garmin in conjunction with signs. It's good to have a smartphone GPS as backup, but can really eat up data so use only if necessary. We had one destination that Garmin couldn't find, so we used our iphone to get us to destination. Last trip to Italy, Europe maps disappeared our last day driving, so Iphone came in handy.
3) GB LOVES roundabouts of every shape and size imaginable. (Just think about converting 90% of 4-way stoplights in the US into roundabouts.) There are multi-lane, multi-exits (up to 8) or small 1 lane roundabouts with a mini "hump" in the center. Tom drove over the first couple, not realizing they were roundabouts. Rule 2: If Navigator hasn't digested the signs and which exit to take, driver is just to continue driving around until navigator makes decision. Rule 3: If you take wrong exit, not to worry, there's another round about not too far away so you can just sling shot around and go back the same direction to try again.
4) Back roads can be very narrow to the point it's a two way road with only one lane. There are little pull outs to allow two cars to slip by. Tom said this made driving very stressful/not relaxing Rule 4: we are not in a hurry, so take your time
5) You have to concentrate on staying on the left side. We came across roads that kept switching from dual carriageways to 2 lanes. Rule 5: Stay in the far left lane. Only change to the right lane if you are passing. Do not hang in the right lane.
6) Roundabouts- The signage is excellent labeling each exit out of the round about. In multi-lane roundabouts, signs also tell you what sign to be in. Rule 6: As navigator I would state which exit, then count the exits and point toward the correct exit and which car to follow.
7) Fuel- be sure you know whether you use Petrol or diesel when you rent the car and make note of which side the gas tank is on.
8) The narrower the roads are the bigger the roadside bushes. So if you are on a windy narrow road, you can not see around blind corners. Back to Rule 4: We are not in a hurry
9) Lots of traffic cameras- Plenty of speed limit signs and warnings that the speed limit is decreasing. speed limits in towns are generally 30mph. Back to Rule 4:
10) per previous posters UK is miles and MPH, but gas is in liters.
11) We rented a manual transmission. My husband said the strangest thing about right side driving was shifting on the left. On hindsight, wish we had rented automatic car.
12) Back to Roundabouts- Cars in the roundabout have the right away, so enter roundabout when clear. Rule 7: Look right, no need to look left.
