London North-east car rental options

Long Melford and Bury St Edmunds aren’t in Sussex they are in Suffolk, and Sussex is not North East of London.

Sorry, absolutely. I have corrected my post. I was originally saying Surrey, which isn't right either!

Any thoughts on my actual location, Camborne?

I think I would go to Stansted Airport from Liverpool Street Station and pick up/ return car there.

This may be too far into the city centre for you, but there is an Avis across the street from Euston station, and from there it is just a couple of blocks to walk to St Pancras. I believe the ULEZ fees etc already get included in the rental price.

What about hiring a car from Stansted airport - quick and easy to get to from London.

Thanks we'll look at Stansted also. We are hoping for not a lot of changes or walking from our hotel in Blackfriars. Stratford stn is good that way.

Cat did you use that rental spot? I was thinking St Pancras/Euston was deeper into the city than we'd want to drive, but I'd be happy to be corrected on that. We have driven out of/into Munich recently, with no real issues--and at least in London the signs would be in English!

Blackfriars Tube Station to Stansted Airport is one change, at Liverpool Street.

Stratford is actually a very sensible place to hire a car from - it’s only about a mile to the A12 to head out of the city. It’s also very easy to get from and to central London. It’s outside the congestion zone. It’s inside the ULEZ zone but that won’t be a problem if you’re hiring a car.

Note though that the Sixt office is at Stratford International station and not the regular Stratford station. They are on opposite sides of the Westfield shopping centre - walkable but also connected by one stop on the DLR. The big advantage is that you can catch the high speed train from Stratford International to St Pancras, where the Eurostar starts from, in 9 minutes.

We did return a car to that Avis next to Euston once when we had to drive home from the Lake District on a day the trains weren't running. It wasn't that bad- if you're coming from the north you won't be going through the very centre of London. I think Stansted Airport as suggested here is also a good idea- you would get the Stansted Express to Liverpool Street (about 50 mins) and then four stops on the Circle/Hammersmith and City/Metropolitan line to St Pancras.

John that's super helpful, thanks.

Cat, we'll keep that in mind. We are probably going to stick with Stratford for now but we may keep shopping for a better deal.

the A12 and then the M11 are not simple roads in east London. The lanes are narrow, some of the junctions are a bit confusing and there are a lot of local trucks.

I'd weigh in on the side of Stansted. Easy train from London, easy roads. Convenient to Bury St Eds. Or you could continue the train as far as Cambridge.

regarding the train issues - there are two different routes to Cambridge from London, the route from Kings Cross and the route from London Liverpool Street and they don't meet until Cambridge.

LEZ and ULEZ are only for older more polluting vehicles. The Congestion Charge applies to everyone, well nearly everyone.