Hello-my family of 4 with 2 teenage boys are traveling to London in June. We are wondering if anyone has hired a car service to see sites outside of London that are not reachable by train. We are hesitant to drive ourselves.
Which sites?
I agree that it would be interesting to know which sites. Sites that can't be reached by train can often be reached by bus, and if it's really not possible to visit them without a car it can often be a better option to take the train out of London and a taxi the last bit, that usually saves both time and money.
Without knowing where it's hard to say. But like others have suggested, train followed by taxi (or Uber, depending on location) is probably going to work out cheaper and faster than driving from London. There are some great sites outside London that are either directly reachable by train, or are a short taxi ride from a station.
I do understand your hesitancy, given it will be the other side of the road for you, and if it's a day trip, train+taxi may be cheaper than train+hiring a car.
yes, please do share where you hope to go.
I'll kick off with one possibility, if you are hoping to go to Harry Potter studios, there is frequent train service from London Euston station (at the underground station with the same name) out to Watford Junction station in just zero, one or two stops, then right outside the station entrance is the stop for the Knightbus right to the studios at Warner Brothers nearby. You do need your tickets well ahead though.
Thank you all!
We plan to go to Stonehenge but want to return through Richmond (my boys are big Ted Lasso Fans). We know we can do the train but we are thinking from a time perspective it may be faster to have a car. We did look into rental for a day but are nervous about driving out of London.
I would expect trains to always be faster than driving.
We know we can do the train but we are thinking from a time perspective it may be faster to have a car.
Trains will be fast and much more interesting to your sons, probably. It's a very easy train ride to Richmond from London. If you want to see Stonehenge, you could take a day tour but it's just as easy to get there by train on your own. And you can fit Salisbury in as well. Here is another thread that has more detail in it. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/stonehenge-tour-02f5cf9d-390f-4c8e-9d21-9a06b344bb04