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Manchester -York: car or train?

Posted by (Chicagoland) on

Mom and I will be flying into Manchester and going directly to York, where we will be spending a few days before hitting the road for Scotland and Northern England. When we last did Britain in 2012, we had picked up our car rental in York, but we were disappointed that the Avis people didn't have the small automatic trans sedan we had booked but gave us an unasked for (and undesired!) upgrade to a small SUV since that was the only automatic they had on the lot.

I won't be going with Avis again (lots of issues with them that trip!), but I am still wondering if it might be better if we just get the car at Manchester Airport, where I am guessing we'll have no problem getting our small automatic this time, and then just parking it in York for the few days. We will be dropping it off at the airport, anyway, which might offset the cost of the extra days' rental.

I don't mind driving the 90 minutes or so drive fresh off the plane, but the train would be convenient, so I am a bit torn!

Has anyone else had better luck with renting a car in York?

Thanks for your input!

Posted by
544 posts

By small sedan are you looking for a car with a trunk? I don't think I've even received a rental car with a trunk, always a hatchback/wagon/SUV type car over there. Unless you pay for the specific model, you just get what they have.

Posted by
2501 posts

doesn't seem much sense hiring a car in Manchester only for it to sit in York for a few days.

Train direct from Manchester airport to York, then hire a car in York. All the usual suspects have offices in York besides Avis so no need to stick with them if you don't want to.

I would have thought all the big brands are much of a muchness.

Posted by
6113 posts

The train from Manchester to York is fairly straight forward and you should not attempt such a drive if you are just off a transatlantic flight.

Most hire cars in the UK are small / medium sized cars with a manual gearbox - few operators will have any automatics so it will probably be pot luck as to what you get, if indeed they have any automatic available. The extra days rental will be more than the one-way drop off fee. Parking in York is not easy unless the place you are staying has free off road parking.

Depending on the time of day you are arriving, Manchester to York is likely to take you 2 hours+, not 90 minutes.

Posted by
203 posts

I would attempt to have a rental car in York for as short of a time as possible.

The traffic is crazy hectic there! It is very hard to find a reasonable place to park, even when your accomodations state that they have plenty of free parking.

We planned to keep our rental car in York for 4 days this past May, but turned it in 3 days early due to the hassles and risk of having it in such a hectic driving climate.

Posted by
30 posts

I often drive between York and Manchester and prefer it to the train, which I find can be cramped with little space at busy times to get a seat, let alone store luggage. The drive from the Airport is not problem at all, however, the real issue is the time of day when you plan to be on the road.

From the airport you will have to go on the M60, a ring road around a large city, then into several miles of 50mph restriction on the M62 leading up to the Pennines. Then, on the other side of the hills, the M62 goes through the large metropolitan area of West Yorkshire (Leeds and Bradford). If you are driving the route between 7am - 10am or 4pm - 7pm then allow for about 2 1/2 hours if not more. At any other times then it can be only 90 mins, as you say and a much easier drive.

As for York itself, as long as you are not planning to be driving in the rush hours and do not expect to drive within the historic centre then there are no real problems. Parking is no issue either and there are plenty of good spots that I know of - however they are costly so if your hotel/b&b offers parking then definitely make use of such!

I hope you enjoy your stay.

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