We are going to fly into Bristol, rent a car, and tour Bath and the Cotswolds before heading to London. Where should we drop off the car on the way to London? We want to be rid of it before traffic gets bad and take public transportation to our hotel in the Kensington Gardens area.
Posted by
Land of La
9261 posts
At Heathrow.
Posted by
2599 posts
If you are actually staying in Bath, a car could be a hindrance as parking is limited/expensive and the centre is relatively easily walkable. A bus service links Bristol Airport with Bath -https://visitbath.co.uk/travel-and-maps/explore-the-area/bristol-airport-to-bath-bus-service-a4-route-p1520043
So, consider hiring a car when the time comes to leave Bath - but check out where you can turn in such a car. Rail stations in or near the Cotswolds with direct trains to London include:> Moreton-in-Marsh, Kemble, Oxford, Swindon, Didcot.
Trains > www.nationalrail.co.uk
Posted by
Moncton NB
1127 posts
Oxford is probably your best bet in terms of having the car rental company you are looking for, near the station, and direct connections to London.
Posted by
1221 posts
Heathrow is probably going to give you the most flexibility in drop off times and is actually pretty non-horrible to get to when approaching from the west- get off the motorway well before the worst of London traffic, a couple obligatory and simple traffic circles and you're at rental car drop off. From there, you have multiple ways of getting into the city.
Posted by
Alton, IL
22 posts
I have the same question, but we will be driving a Hertz rental car from York to London. We originally planned on taking the train form York to London as Rick suggests, but the train tickets are so expensive.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
@PMG, you wrote: "driving a Hertz rental car from York to London. We originally planned on taking the train form York to London as Rick suggests, but the train tickets are so expensive."
Not if you book far enough in advance. Looking at https://www.virgintrainseastcoast.com/ tickets for May (York to London) are currently available at £29 and it takes 2 hours.
Driving, it will take you 3-4 hours to get to your car drop-off point, then drop off the car, then get to the station, then get a train to London, which will take 30 minutes and cost about £10-15. Plus time to pick up the car, plus petrol.
Coming from the north, possible drop-off points with good train access are Luton (M1), Stevenage (A1).
Posted by
Alton, IL
22 posts
We are not renting a car just for the trip from York to London. The trip we have planned is similar to Rick Steves 14 day England/Wales tour. We will be flying into Heathrow, taking a coach to Bath. Renting a car in Bath & driving to Snowdonia, Lake Region, and on to York. Right now all our lodging has been booked. The trip in planned for late August.
Posted by
Royaume-Uni nul points, pas plus
2600 posts
The trip in planned for late August.
The best value Advance tickets are not yet on sale for late August - look again in a few weeks
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
PMG, you don't say how long you are staying in York, A car is also useless in that city, it is a place to walk with limited parking.
"We originally planned on taking the train form York to London as Rick suggests, but the train tickets are so expensive" - how can you say that, when tickets for August are not yet available?
I would return the car when you arrive in York, and buy tickets from York to London as soon as they become available. You can set up an e-mail alert on the Virgin trains website.
Posted by
Alton, IL
22 posts
We plan on sleeping in York for 2 nights. Maybe drive to somewhere outside of York on one day. I did just sign up for the fare notices on the Virgin site.
Posted by
OP
Laguna Niguel, CA, USA
37 posts
Thank you everyone! I've always gotten good advice from the contributors to this site.
Posted by
Tennessee
442 posts
I have rented cars at Heathrow many times. I agree with a prior post that if you are driving from the west, it's not difficult to get to Heathrow.
If you are considering dropping off your car outside London, I recommend you check the available drop off times. Some car rental locations outside London may be not open on weekends or might have more limited hours, whereas those at Heathrow will be open daily with long hours.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
@PMG
You wrote "plan on sleeping in York for 2 nights. Maybe drive to somewhere outside of York on one day.". If you have only 2 nights in York, that is one full day, and a part day each side depending on your travel. I don't think you have time to visit anywhere outside York.
But, if you had, I would recommend The North York Moors and Whitby.