First time UK and Europe - car/motorhome/train ?

[adampenrith]

​Well the SQ J award tickets are booked, we fly into LHR on May 13, want to spend maybe a week in London, then tour the UK - north to Scotland and south to Wiltshire to do some family history stuff.

We then want to take a ferry across the channel, and explore France, Belgium, Holland, northern Italy and back to Zurich for our departing flight to SIN on June 20.

We did a motorhome holiday in NZ and loved it.

So far discovered that car rental will give us one way rentals, but motor homes do not cost much more per day. However in the UK and also France one way rentals are not cost effective, so UK pick up in Toddington near Luton, and in a Parisian suburb.

So what do the experts say, car for ease of parking etc and no back tracking, or motorhome with back track and some connecting train travel.

Open to suggestions

Thanks in advance

 

[Franky]

Parking in Europe is always a problem, and as we've never used a motor home, wont comment on that idea. We have hired cars on many occasions, the smaller the better depending on your luggage. Unfortunately, hiring a car in one spot and returning it somewhere else is quite expensive (E$300-E$500). Either wear the cost and enjoy the freedom, or perhaps get yourself to Zurich airport first and hire your car from the airport there. Then do your Italy, France, Belgium, Holland in a big circle ending back in Zurich. We travelled to similar places in Europe in June/July, and in a number of places, parked the car for free at whatever hotel we were in, and trained it to nearby places we wanted to see. Local rail trips are fairly cheap. Even small three door hatchbacks are OK for two, the rear seat will fold forward and allow you to fit your luggage in one way or another, and we always take about 2m of plastic chain and two padlocks to lock the cases to the seat belt bolts for a bit more security. I know you will enjoy the trip, an auto will make the left hand driving a little easier.

 

[Alh01]

Motorhome is great for low cost, but car and hostel/B&B in Scotland are much more sociable ways to travel. The interesting places in Scotland fairly quickly turn into pretty narrow roads, and the really interesting places like Skye have one lane roads that are even more challenging for motorhomes. You will want to go into the city of Edinburgh, which has nightmarish traffic and parking, so either way I would be staying somewhere outside the city and catching a train in. Waverley Station is right next to the National Records building, which is very handy for family history stuff. So I take a car & train every time in Scotland. Wiltshire is a bit more open, but London is not car friendly at all. We have done a few one way car hires between major centres - London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Southhampton Airports - and those have been reasonably priced.

Europe is generally pretty friendly towards motorhomes, and many of the caravan parks are just outside the city borders, where you can leave the big machine while you explore by local transport (John Ahearn's book "On the Road with Kids", published earlier this year, is an amusing account of European motorhome travel).

So my recommendation would be to take a car in the UK and the motorhome in Europe only, if you really want to that slow, luxurious freedom of travel with no commitments.

 

[RB]

Parking in Europe is always a problem, and as we've never used a motor home, wont comment on that idea. We have hired cars on many occasions, the smaller the better depending on your luggage. Unfortunately, hiring a car in one spot and returning it somewhere else is quite expensive (E$300-E$500). Either wear the cost and enjoy the freedom, or perhaps get yourself to Zurich airport first and hire your car from the airport there. Then do your Italy, France, Belgium, Holland in a big circle ending back in Zurich. We travelled to similar places in Europe in June/July, and in a number of places, parked the car for free at whatever hotel we were in, and trained it to nearby places we wanted to see. Local rail trips are fairly cheap. Even small three door hatchbacks are OK for two, the rear seat will fold forward and allow you to fit your luggage in one way or another, and we always take about 2m of plastic chain and two padlocks to lock the cases to the seat belt bolts for a bit more security. I know you will enjoy the trip, an auto will make the left hand driving a little easier.

Just convinces me more to just use public transport

 

[Dr Ralph]

Car option + 1 vote.

 

[dmitri]

Hi adampenrith, how many people are you travelling with? I have done a few trips through Europe by both car and train. They are both great ways to see the country side. I found trains very easy to use, especially with the multi country passes that are available, but if you are keen to get off the beaten track, a car will always be handy.

 

[andye]

If you do go with one-way car rentals it pays to shop around. The aggregators often come up with a better deal than the car hire sites (making sure you read the T&Cs and that the one-way fee is included).

My experience in the UK if you do not use a major firm (directly or via aggregator) is that you will often have a long drive from the airport to the car.

 

[albatross710]

Around England is easy by car. Plenty of low cost B&Bs in interesting places.

On mainland Europe I always use trains. Trains leave from and arrive right into the heart of each city. The transport hub is then surrounded by hotels and interconnecting transport services.

For the longer journeys is it was 5+ hours I would look at flying on a LCC. Do consider that by the time you travel out of the city to the airport in time to catch a flight, the 5 hour train journey isn't much different.

Can eat, read and photograph while on the train. No navigation family discussions or disagreements.

Enjoy the journey.

Alby

 

[smckay]

UK in a car, EU by train.
Lots of great pubs, B&B in England/Scotland/Wales. Trip Advisor is your friend.

EU trains - book 1st class or at the least book a reserved seat. MASSIVE bun fight when first boarding in economy - arms, legs, bags everywhere.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Did you make a decision adampenrith?

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Also a major consideration in Europe is the cost of fuel ( twice the price of Australia, particularly the UK) and the smaller the vehicle the better to gain fuel efficiency.
Diesel's are easy to find in terms of car rentals.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Also a major consideration in Europe is the cost of fuel ( twice the price of Australia, particularly the UK)

Not quite. UK unleaded fuel around 105 pence per litre.

 

[Buzzard]

Be cautious of the "Free Upgrade". It will often cost you a lot more in fuel.

 

[dmitri]

Also a major consideration in Europe is the cost of fuel ( twice the price of Australia, particularly the UK) and the smaller the vehicle the better to gain fuel efficiency.
Diesel's are easy to find in terms of car rentals.

I've never had an issue with getting a diesel hire car in France, Spain or Italy, and that has been in some peak times.

 

[Franky]

Also a major consideration in Europe is the cost of fuel ( twice the price of Australia, particularly the UK) and the smaller the vehicle the better to gain fuel efficiency.
Diesel's are easy to find in terms of car rentals.

Whilst fuel cost is a factor, places are relatively closer in Europe. Diesel cars are easy to find, and from memory we got over 800km from the tank in our small vehicle. Having done this type of trip 4-5 times, I feel the longer you are there, the more the flexibility offered by a car becomes an advantage.