Our family of 4 has a teenager who's 6'1" and his dad who is 6'6". We're planning a 2-week trip to England & Scotland - London, Bath, Cotswolds, Edinburgh. Any tips for tall travelers? We are thinking that any savings we might get by renting a car would be cancelled by having to get a bigger car, so we think we'll do trains & buses. Are we right? We're also wondering if the budget hotels where the kids stay free (the kids are 12 & 15)are comfortable, i.e. room size and bed size. Are the kids' beds a sofabed or trundle, or something my son could actually sleep on? Thanks for the input.
Posted by
Queensland, Australia
87 posts
I can't actually answer your bed question, but wonder if you are aware that there is a family railcard/pass that you can get that will make some of your rail trips cheaper. My kids were the same age as yours in 2006 when it was suggested we buy one. I think it was cheaper to buy one and then purchase the walk up tickets for Bath to London, than just buy the tickets if that makes sense. I think we also used it when we travelled from London to Windsor, but I stand to be corrected.
Posted by
Nottingham, UK
658 posts
Being tall isn't any kind of problem when it comes to car rental in the UK, so long as you stay with the major companies. As there are four of you plus luggage you'll need a decent size car anyway.
Anything around the Ford Mondeo type of vehicle will be fine. As an added bonus if you prefer an automatic they are much easier to supply if you order a medium/large car like the Mondeo or VW Passat. Stay away from the hatchbacks and you shouldn't have a problem.
I'm 6'2".
Posted by
Boston, MA, United States
1806 posts
The amount of leg room on a train or public bus in Europe is equal to the U.S. (not much!), so either get the car and stop frequently to stretch or take the train for the ability to move around in the aisles.
Always expect room sizes of hotel rooms (especially budget hotels) and B&B's to be smaller than what is the norm in the U.S. As for bed sizes, in a year of travelling, I only came across maybe 1 or 2 places where the bed was a little smaller than its American equivalent. Most "family style" hotel rooms have daybeds, twin beds, bunk beds, sofabeds or trundles for the kids (sized same as an American twin mattress). Others are 2 double or 2 queen size beds in a room (kids get same as what the adults get).
They're more likely to have a problem with having to duck down a bit in showers. I thought a lot of the shower heads were placed very low in Europe. I'm only 5'5" so they worked for me, but I kept wondering how anyone who is over 5'7" would deal with it!
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
522 posts
For those extra tall folks, I highly recommend always going with a pint, not a schooner or half-pint.
Posted by
Atlanta
800 posts
Kathy-have traveled each year with my family of 4 including husband (6'2") and teen son (6'4"). A car to seat 4 or 5 - we have often gotten a Ford Mondeo - is comfortable enough for our family. You can decide for yourself if it is worth the money, but comfort was not a problem.
On the bed issue, however, it appears you are asking about a room for all 4 of you to stay together? You can easily email the different hotels/B&B's and ask about the exact room configuration. We have been in some places where the extra beds are narrow, but not short and my son was fine. But I do try to get 2 rooms as often as I can or at least mix it up staying all together in the more expensive cities and staying separately in smaller places. It is often worth the extra money for us to have a little more alone time, with more comfortable sleeping arrangements, especially when we are all together for 2 weeks.