UK in Sept 3week car hire, Which car do you recommend 2 people?

[jastel]

Just got back form 3 weeks driving around UK/Europe.
Bought a GPS satnav in London on the day I landed...80 pounds on special with UK and western Europe maps.
Travelling by myself so no one to help navigate and spot signs.
GPS was great except in tunnels in cities which is where you need it most.
Compared the phone sometimes and it worked ok in cities but rural areas you are often on Edge (2G) or even nothing depending where you are.
And you need a decent data plan as satnav will chew data and battery.
Didn't look into the legalities of using phone but assume its like Aust.
Used Hertz, Gold member, no problems, they downgraded my car at Heathrow to a smaller one but it saved me money and was easy to park.
In Germany France etc the satnav had some trouble pronouncing the street names so following the pink track line was easier.
The Autobahn, well the unlimited speed parts, are great, only time I wanted a bigger better car.
Parking is a PITA just about everywhere. Even pulling over safely to check maps etc is hard.
French autobahns cost big $$$, German ones are free.

 

[Hvr]

Another piece of advice, get the post code for your address and the street number. Like this postcode [FONT=&quot]WC1B 4BH, enter it on google maps and you'll get the address. Don't need anything else for the GPS.

I purchased my GPS at Argos, went i read the catalogue and got it immediately. Still have for my next trip.

Roundabouts are hell and I was glad some of them had traffic lights.

I hired a manual Fiat from Hertz at LHR, lots of the in the UK and it drove well.

Have fun and enjoy.
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[ychan]

Thanks to all who responded to my Enquiry. I've just learnt that there's a congestion tax in London, anyone has picked up car in LHR and had to pay this tax?

 

[TheRealTMA]

Thanks to all who responded to my Enquiry. I've just learnt that there's a congestion tax in London, anyone has picked up car in LHR and had to pay this tax?

Yes, there's a congestions tax but the car hire company garages are outside the congestion zone.

 

[ychan]

Thanks mate, good to hear as I'd like to avoid this tax as after collecting car, I'm heading towards Cheltenham. Cheers

 

[david1]

I hired a car in the UK for 2 weeks last year. I used Hertz, but only because I had to pay age surcharge, and Hertz was the only company I found that stopped charging it after 10 days. It was still more than half the total cost, but any other company would have been significantly more expensive for me just through the surcharge. Fortunately I am over 25 in a few weeks and the days of age surcharge will be done!

I booked the second cheapest tier available, mainly because the cheapest didn't have air-con. In June, I was glad to have it. It was a diesel Seat Ibiza, manual, tons of space for one, and would be fine for 2.

I used my phone as a GPS, it worked great. Just make sure you have a car charger and a windscreen mount if possible. It tracked live traffic conditions and keeping me off motorways if they were busy. I did find it sent me down a lot of crazy narrow single lane B roads with tall hedges, which were not great to drive down. I also had a large book of maps which was good for planning.

I can agree with previous posters, England is so small and easy to get around, I kept getting early starts planning on driving for quite a while only to have hours and hours spare to do things.

I picked the car up out of London, you could consider taking a regional train out to a smaller town and pick the car up. The trains are really easy and work well, so it might be worth considering.

I really enjoyed my driving trip, hope you do too.

 

[ychan]

Hi David1, thanks for sharing, there's 4 of us, so the costs are defrayed somewhat. I guess we'll just pickup LHR and head out!