Car Rental- London

Two quick points - Mayfair is within the Congestion Zone . If you drive at all within the Congestion Zone between 0700-1800 Monday to Friday you need to pay. Also, London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly is an easy 2:08 ride on the train every 20 minutes all day with no changes and only 3 stops. Driving using Finchley Road, M1, M6, M62 and the maze of roads and motorways into Manchester is shown on the computer as pushing 4 hours. In reality, it is likely to take substantially longer because of over 20 miles of road works between junctions 11 to 14 between Luton to Milton Keynes on the M1, the rebuilding of a bridge at the Catthorpe Interchange of the M1 and M6, and many miles of road works between Birmingham and Wolverhampton on the M6, and various other attractions through Cheshire. You won't see much from the motorways, although the countryside is lovely; if you were to switch to the train it follows the Grand Union Canal from the M25 to Rugby and from Stafford to Crewe, very scenic indeed. You even pass the ruins of Berkhamstead Castle (in Berkhamstead) although at 125 mph you won't see it for long. I don't wish to convince you to change your mind, just to be sure you have the whole picture. All the major car rental places have many locations throughout that part of London. For clarity - the 20 miles of roadworks I referred to between 11-14 on the M1 are one solid block of roadworks. If you are very lucky it can mostly be done at 50mph (enforced very strictly by speed averaging cameras).

Nigel, The only problem is that my husband and I are planning on going to a Many U/ Stoke private training. I'm not sure there will be good transportation outside their private training grounds other than using a taxi which with the taxi etc may cost more than renting a car. If you think so then maybe ... but I do feel seeing the countryside may be great!

Why not catch the tube out to Heathrow and rent a car from there? All the agencies are in the one spot and getting out of there to the M25/M40/M42/M6 would be a LOT easier than trying to get out of central London.

Its up to you, Zahra. I drive into London (would never drive into Manchester) and Birmingham, and all over England all the time. I can easily take the train, too. Just wanted you to have a realistic expectation of the drive.

Zahra, I agree with the suggestions that Nigel offered. Travel by car from London - Manchester is NOT the quickest or most efficient method, and with ongoing roadworks it's the LAST option I would choose. I'm not sure why, but I usually find that driving in the U.K. takes longer than planned (sometimes considerably longer). On one of my trips from Manchester to the south, I found myself driving well into the "wee hours of the morning". I eventually stopped at a Little Chef to get some coffee and a snack before continuing. One method you could consider would be to take the train from London to Manchester, and rent a car when you arrive there, which will allow you to get to the event. Return the car and take the train back to London. Happy travels!

It's easy to rent a car right at the train station in Manchester. Also, cheaper than renting from the London area, too.