OK- arriving Heathrow/ staying central London 3 nights (near Hyde Park)/ then travelling southern England clockwise, i.e. Canterbury, Dover, Portsmouth, Salisbury, Cotswolds/ then back to same central London hotel for 2 nights/ and Heathrow for home. Is it best to pick up/drop off rental car in central London and try to drive out on a Mon morning, drive in on a Sat morning or, haul luggage by tube/train to some point outside London-possibly Heathrow- and rent the car from there? Much appreciated..
Posted by
Santa Rosa, CA, USA
1446 posts
We have always been told to not rent in London. We get our car at Heathrow. So, for us, it does mean taking the tube back to the airport to get the car.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7207 posts
I always get my car at the airport. There's a fee for driving in the city.
You should enjoy your itinerary as all the places you listed are nice. If you enjoy old ships, visit the dockyard in Portsmouth and visit the HMS victory. Dover has the castle and the underground tunnels used during WW-II.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11948 posts
Perhaps take a train to your 1st destination and avoid the extra taxes that usually come with car rentals at an airport. Just a thought
From everything I have heard about London traffic and the "city driving" tax, I would look for a 'fringe' area to rent from
Posted by
Beverly Hills, MI
813 posts
By all means pick up and drop off at Heathrow, it has easy access to motorways and gives you a reasonable chance to get used to driving on the others side of the road. The last thing you want is to start out in London traffic and the restricted driving zones.
Posted by
San Francisco area
1891 posts
Looking at a map it appears that Gatwick would be closer to Canterbury your first destination. However there may be good reasons for choosing Heathrow.
Posted by
Troy, Oh, USA
2805 posts
I highly recommend renting a car outside of London. Since you are going to Canterbury, I would suggest taking the train from London Victoria station to Canterbury East train station. Rent car from Kendall Cars Canterbury, their office is a 5 minute walk from Canterbury East train station. We are renting from them in September.
Posted by
Long Beach, California, USA
3398 posts
Definitely pick it up outside of the city! London is extremely difficult to drive in and you'll waste a lot of time just trying to extricate yourself from the city center, especially on a Monday morning.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thanks all. Your advice is pretty consistent!
Posted by
2599 posts
Here is a map of London. Zoom down and take a closer look - the colours represent the live traffic flows when you click it. Grab the yellow man and place on a road to see what it looks like. Move the map to try and follow your intended route from place to place - or use Google Earth. That way, you can get some idea of what it is like to drive in southern England.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5050569,-0.1596449,11z/data=!5m1!1e1
Posted by
Seattle, WA, US
1005 posts
If you have never driven on the left side of the road before, do not drive in London.
If you are not used to driving in big-city traffic, do not drive in London.
However, if you've driven on the left and are used to city traffic--and you are staying near Paddingon, it's possible to pick up a car at Paddington and quickly get on the A-40 (the Westway) which is a limited access roadway (for the most part) which takes you to the M-25 ring road. You'll end up on the west side of London, not very convenient if you're going to Canterbury, but it may be an option if your hotel is in walking distance of Paddington. You also could return the car to your Paddington agency site via the A-40.