We're arriving at Heathrow at 6:00 am, one week from today. Will pick up an Enterprise rental car and drive to Kingsnorth in Ashford (staying with our son for the first part of the trip). My husband has driven in England (two years ago) and Ireland (last year), so he's confident about the left side of the road thing, but I'm just wondering if there are any navigational issues we should look out for when getting away from Heathrow. The last time we were in England we picked up a car in Exeter, so no experience with Heathrow (haven't flown into Heathrow before, either). The drive looks pretty straightforward on the map, but one never knows what it's like on the ground. Since we arrive so early, should we be concerned about weekday commuting traffic? It will take some time to clear customs and pick up the car, of course, so perhaps we'll be outside the rush hour by the time we get on the road.
Also, we'll be returning the car on a Friday at the end of the trip, driving from Asthall in the Cotswolds for a 2:30 pm flight. Any traffic concerns? Google says it's about a one hour drive, but is that realistic? We'll leave post-rush hour ( after 9:00 am?), so I think we should have plenty of time to return the car and comfortably make our flight, but let me know if there is any potential for delays en route.
Thank you!