RIck mentions doing a one way car rental from Bath to York (on his travel talk). Enterprise is ~$1000 a week for an economy automatic. Avis will rent from Bristol Airport to Leeds for 2/3 of that cost. Hertz won't at all. Auto Europe won't either (they are an aggregator of car rental agencies).
What have other travelers done? Is Enterprise the only choice here?
Thanks in advance,
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Do you need the car while you are in York? If not look at the train; from Bath to Bristol Meads and then direct train to York. Takes about 4.5 hours and costs under £100. Have a look at the plan your journey function of the National Rail website for more info.
Thanks Lesley. We are visiting Cotswolds, Conwy, Keswick and Edinburgh before York so need the car for 3 weeks from the time we pick it up in Bath. Rick suggested returning it in York and taking the train into London and ending the trip there.
I am hoping this is actually possible!
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It is eminently possible . I did it this past October - Dropped the car in Edinburgh , and then used rail from Edinburgh - Durham - York - Cambridge - London . I had the car for a month ( during a three month sojourn . ) and the price was very good -1,360 pounds for four weeks . Rent from Celtic Legend / Arnold Clark . Best rental I've ever had look here - https://www.celticlegend.co.uk/locations/ price included full insurance ( no excess , glass and tires , all covered )
Thanks Steven. Celtic didn't have a Bath location in their drop down list of locations. Where did you pick up the car?
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I picked up the car at Manchester Airport . While they don't have a Bath ;location . you might be able modify your pickup to make it work
where is your inbound arrival ?
Thanks again, Steven. Going to Manchester to get a rental isn't practical for our planned itinerary. It's just that Rick states it so confidently that Bath to York one way rental is possible. Maybe when he did the Travel Talk. Not today, at least not without double the cost of what his guide book indicates.
I'll figure something out. But if anyone has info on how to make this work, please share!
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Steven, we arrive at Heathrow, and were planning to take the train to Bath and enjoy a few days there before picking up a rental car.
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I wasn't suggesting going to Manchester to pick up. but if you are flying into , say , LHR you could pick up there and then drive west to Bath
Well that would work easily , why not ?
Thanks Steven, We may have to do that, get the car at LHR. I didn't want to have to bother with it when we won't need it until after a few days in Bath. As I am learning, the logistics of the car is the tail that wags the dog in this trip planning process!
:)
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Even if you have to leave it parked in Bath for a few days , , the first day , you won't need to pay for rail tickets to Bath ( find those prices at National Rail ) and depending on your hotel the daily parking charge might vary from a reasonable price to gratis .
You will need a car for the places that you want to see in between Bath and Edinburgh. The problem is probably that Bath and York are both quite small cities so won’t have as many rental options as bigger cities. You could try Birmingham to Edinburgh or Bristol to Edinburgh for the car hire. Then the train from Edinburgh to York is easy.
I was curious about this so had a quick look on Expedia and there were loads of options for Bath to York car rental at about £450 a week. This was a random week in April.
This issue is being substantially overthought.
The cost of renting a car from Heathrow to Bath merely to park it up there for several days will substantially outweigh the cost of the train tickets, let alone the bus tickets which many forum travellers use to get from Heathrow to Bath.
Then we have the issue of driving on a busy freeway/motorway straight after arrival on a long haul flight
There is an hourly direct bus from Bath to Bristol Airport so that is a non-issue.
If Avis are 2/3rd the cost of Enterprise, then why not use them? There is a bus several times an hour from Leeds/Bradford airport to Leeds City for trains with multiple departures an hour to York.
A very easy journey.
The bus is £2 each and a train ticket is often less than £5 each.
There are also two fast bus journeys an hour from Leeds to York.
With Avis I can see mid size automatics for around £440 a week.
With Enterprise the office is at York Railway station. In May, for a week Bath to York I can see their prices from £326 for an Economy automatic to £410 for a Standard/Standard SUV and £630 for a people carrier.
So there is little difference between Avis and Enterprise (Enterprise are probably a bit cheaper overall), and where your $1000 a week comes from is a mystery.
There is also a lot of over hype on this forum about needing a car in the Lake District. For a standard tourist itinerary you don't. In many ways it is a liability and a hassle. Frankly both the local authorities and many of us locals are weary of those who insist on driving everywhere in the area.
Thank you Helen and isn31c. I really appreciate your help and guidance.
I think I have all the info I need to make this reservation now!
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I looked into this exact thing. My decision was to book a tour for what I would have driven in Bath, take the train to York, and book a car to pick up and return to York with Enterprise.
