We will depart from London, arriving by train to Bath on a Sunday. We thought we could pick up a rental car in Bath on Sunday and continue our trip to Llansawel, Wales for one night, to visit the house where my grandfather was born. We will return to Bath on Monday to pick up a RS tour. Now we have discovered car rentals are closed on Sunday in Bath. Has anyone ever used a company that will drop off your car rental at your hotel either Saturday night or Sunday? We will be staying at the Henrietta House Monday night? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11948 posts
I think the best you could do is get the car on Sat. and return it Mon AM.
Enterprise has pickup service in Bath. They close at 2PM on Sat. and do not offer after hours drop off.
Sounds like they will come get you, take you to the office to do the paperwork and send you on your way.
Posted by
OP
London trip
46 posts
Would it be worth picking up a rental car in Bristol on Sunday? We saw online Enterprise had an office open on Sunday (unless the info is not correct), and the train has a stop there on Sunday. Either that or we can cancel one night in London and arrive in Bath on Saturday and pick up the car by 2pm. We're trying to get these details worked out and what would work best. We have 2 days booked in Bath after our trip to Wales. Thanks for your help.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34007 posts
so you will have been in London for some time before Bath? Why not collect your car at Heathrow on the way out of town, then it is a straightforward M4 run to Bath. They will be open at Heathrow, And have a better selection of cars.
Posted by
OP
London trip
46 posts
Since we can't pick up up a car on Sunday in Bath, but we can pick up a rental in Bristol from Enterprise (20 mile away from Bath), then we could return it Monday for a round trip price to Bath. Then we could take the train to Bath where we would be staying before our RS tour begins. We are still looking into what would be best and perhaps cheaper than renting one way from the airport in London to Bath. Does that sound workable? Thank you for your help.
Posted by
2599 posts
I take it that the Llansawel you mean is out in the wilds north of Llandeilo? That being so, the nearest large city with direct express trains from London (Paddington) is Swansea - which is around a 3 hour trip from London.
It is a pity that you are driving all the way from Bristol to this area and then not bothering to see anything else in Wales. The fastest route is the M4 across south Wales but the more scenic wiggly route would be the northern A40 route that goes via Llandovery. If returning on the northerly route - use A40 to Raglan (castle is a hard left just off the A40) and then take A442 down to the M4 near Newport in order to travel back over the Severn estuary. AVOID the A4042 route via New Inn.
I take it that you have checked out the route on Google Maps and gone to streetview to see what the roads are like.
This is the area that lies to the west of Llansawel that you could have spent time visiting with the hire car instead of bombing all the way back to Bath for the tour:> https://www.discoverceredigion.wales/areas-of-ceredigion/
This will give you an idea of the scenic (slower) northern route across south Wales:> https://visitbrecon.org
More on the land of your ancestors:> https://www.visitwales.com
Posted by
181 posts
We picked up our rental car at the airport in Bristol. I don't have concrete evidence, but I've got to believe that car rentals will be available if the airport is operating.
Posted by
OP
London trip
46 posts
Thank you for the route suggestion on A40. We definitely like the sound of the more scenic route. We'll drive it either going to Llansawel or back from there on our trip. My husband will have to adapt to the driving, so we will use google maps to check the roads out. We wished we had more time to travel the area. On our RS tour we will seeing northern Wales. Can't wait. Thanks again for your travel tips.
Posted by
2599 posts
If you wish to take a look at Raglan Castle, it is much easier to do this when going east due to the road configuration. When (if) you leave this castle, you will need to get in the lane marked A449 Newport in order to reach the M4. So, I suggest you head west on the southern M4 route.
https://cadw.gov.wales/visit/places-to-visit/raglan-castle