We just back from London and are already planning another trip - this time to see more of England and also Edinburgh, Scotland. We certainly do not want to drive in London, but would love to drive to Liverpool. Is this a wise thing to do or is Liverpool terrible to drive in?
Posted by
Manchester
497 posts
The drive from London to Liverpool is easy, it's motorway all the way.
No British city (or large town) is particularly car friendly but Liverpool is probably more so than other places of a similar size (certainly more so than central Manchester.) That being said you won't be able to (easily) use the car to get from site to site in Liverpool as you would back home, i.e. driving from the hotel to museums and restaurants etc.
To be honest, driving in cities in the UK (even London) isn't that difficult as long as you have decent directions (or a GPS) it's parking that's the problem and probably the biggest difference from Oklahoma! Depending what you plan to do in Liverpool I'd think if it is worth paying to have a car and leave it parked while you walk around the city? The cost of car parking would certainly be something I'd bear in mind, also be aware that if a hotel advertises they have parking, unless they specify it is free, it almost certainly isn't.
I'm not saying don't drive, especially if you already have a car or plan to use it for daytrips from L'pool, but it's very easy to travel London-Liverpool on the train.
Posted by
Manchester
497 posts
Just to add, and sorry if I'm stating the obvious, if you're not planning on spending time in London next trip and want to see other parts of the UK you don't need to fly into London at all. Manchester airport is only 30 mins from Liverpool and has direct flights from the US or you can go direct into Edinburgh for Scotland. Liverpool airport doesn't have (to my knowledge) direct flights from the US but you could easily connect through another European hub.
Posted by
OP
Guthrie, OK
251 posts
Thank you both for your replies. Liverpool driving is "worse than Guthrie, easier than London"! Steve, I had to laugh. I don't know if you know where Guthrie, OK is, but it has population of 2,000 north of Okla. City. A blind person could drive in Guthrie! We actually live outside of town. Flying in to Manchester might not be a bad idea. It's just that on our first trip to London, we didn't have time to see everything we wanted and want to spend at least 4 more days there. I'm a huge Beatle fan, so I want to go on the Beatle tour in Liverpool.