Renting a car at Heathrow-should we drive?

We are going to the UK on the 17th of April and are considering renting a car at the airport.  We will be staying until the 22nd.  This is going to be our first trip to the UK and it will be business and pleasure combined (mostly business).  We will be mostly in the Ascot, Berkshire area.  We do have trips scheduled to see the ACS schools at Egham and Cobham and will also travel to Swindon.

We are from the Chicago area and are accustomed to driving in heavy traffic.....on the opposite side of the road!  What is it like driving there?  Is it recommend for first time visitors?  Should we just take public transportation and hire taxis?

We are going into London on Saturday the 21st, but that will be on public transportation for sure!

I would recommend you taking public transport instead of renting a car!
Why?
You will be tired and not in the best mental shape.
You probably will have trouble getting the rental car because they will want a sizable deposit to cover damages. A big company like Hertz may be able to accommodate you so you wont need the large deposit. I know because I've stood in line and listened to other would be renters protest over the insurance and large deposit that was required.

Try taking a 'coach' from the airport to your hotel. They have very good bus service to different parts of the country from LHR.

Have a nice trip.

If you were staying in a city centre, I'd never recommend you to rent a car. However, since you will be out in areas where public transport is not as frequent, you may be better off with a hire car.

Please keep in mind that adjusting to driving on the left can be mentally intensive if you're not used to it. Your urban driving skills will come in handy, but it's staying on top of your natural instincts that is the hard part. Developing a mantra like "driver in the middle" can help remind you what side you should be on when there are no other cars to orient you.

Speaking generally, drivers here are better trained and more polite. When roads are narrow, which is often, drivers will make way for each other so you have to ease off the natural aggressiveness that comes with US urban driving. Take your time and be patient. If someone makes way for you, giving a little wave is polite and appreciated. Have a look at the types of road signs you may encounter so you are prepared: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/Signsandmarkings/index.htm

You MUST hire a satnav or you will get lost. Seriously. Addresses here do not follow the same rules and postcodes will be your best friend in the UK. Also get used to the idea of signs that will tell you the direction you are going based on destination rather than direction. For example, if I am traveling on the M4 from Cardiff to London, the signs will not say M4 East, they will simply say London. This is fine if you know where you are going. But if you have no clue this is another time the satnav will keep you on track.

Are you able to drive a stick (manual)? That would be helpful, although you have to shift with your left hand. (The clutch/gas pedals are in the same config as the US though.)

I've never hired a car in the UK so I have no idea about extra changes, but it's worth looking into in advance to avoid any unpleasant surprises.

I think it's totally doable if you know what you're in for. Good luck! 

Please keep in mind that adjusting to driving on the left can be mentally intensive if you're not used to it. Your urban driving skills will come in handy, but it's staying on top of your natural instincts that is the hard part. Developing a mantra like "driver in the middle" can help remind you what side you should be on when there are no other cars to orient you.


You MUST hire a satnav or you will get lost.

Great tips-- when I first moved here my driving instructor mentioned that if you are driving a car designed for the country you are driving in, then you always are sitting in the middle of the road as the driver. In moments of brief panic as turning on to an empty road- this is a great thing to remember!

I agree with the sat nav-- driving in an unfamiliar place, on different sides etc the last thing you want is to be worrying about directions too.

For me personally the part that was tricker than then the other side of the road was the narrowness of the roads- having to know when two cars can fit down a road or when you have to give way to someone.

I agree with the GPS/satnav advice.  The route from Heathrow to Ascot doesn't look like it'd be too difficult, but figuring out where to look for important information on road signs in the UK takes a little getting used to if you've never driven here before.  GPS/satnav will help alert you a) something's coming up, and b) what to look for.

Thank you all so much for the replies.  Lots of great info and lots to think about.  Most especially thank you for the link to UK signs!  I have been going on YouTube watching videos of people driving in the UK to get a feel for the look of the road markings, signs and such.  I've also watched some instructional videos of how to navigate a roundabout.  So I have been trying to prepare myself in some small way for the experience.  We do have a car already hired to drive us to our hotel, but are thinking of canceling that for a rental.  

Do they not rent automatic cars there?  We do know how to drive a manual, but tbh its been about 5 years since we have.  I just downloaded UK maps to my satnav yesterday.  The company would be paying all bills on this trip, so fees and insurance are no issue.  I myself think driving would be preferable, now to convince my wife!

Again, thank you for all the wonderful answers!  You've been a help beyond what I could have wished for!  And if my wife takes the job they are going to be discussing with her on this visit and we move to the UK in the coming months.   I promise I will take driving lessons and learn to drive properly in the UK!!  No need to panic! 



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We do have a car already hired to drive us to our hotel, but are thinking of canceling that for a rental. 

Just remember though, that you're going to be jetlagged when you arrive in the UK and you may not be physically or mentally up to driving as soon as you arrive. You might find you're grateful to have a car hired to drive you there .

I've made the trip from the US to the UK about 13 times now, and no matter how many times I've done it, I always feel like a zombie after getting off a flight from the US (I've usually only had about 2 hours of sleep and my body thinks it's about 3 a.m.) - so even though I'm British and have been driving in the UK for 11 years, but I don't risk trying to drive after a transatlantic flight unless I absolutely have to (I usually take a bus or train back home).

Do they not rent automatic cars there?  We do know how to drive a manual, but tbh its been about 5 years since we have.

You can rent automatic cars, but they are less common (a smaller selection I would imagine) and are more expensive to rent...although if cost isn't an issue, then you'll probably be okay.

I thought of two things that are not related. One, when you are on the motorway do not stay in the extreme right lane because that lane is for passing only. When you have overtaken a car, and you can only do that on the right side unlike in the US, you must get out of the passing lane and move back to the left. That is the law as stated in the Highway Code.

The other item is on my last trip I pulled off the the M4 motorway and had spent some time traveling on the city streets and I pulled over to check my directions (where is a fish and chip shop?)and I was subject to a lot of verbal abuse, read obscene language, from a 'bloke' on a motorcycle who had been following me. I think he was ready to kill. This is something you can do without after being on a plane for 12 hours, driving in an unfamiliar (stick shift) car, driving with unfamiliar road rules and in a strange place and I don't like to irritate locals. May I ad I learned to drive in England but that was a gillion years ago.

Cheers

Well, we are not driving.  We've hired cars to drive us where we need to be.  Any trips that are not too far we will take taxis or trains.  Wife didn't want to risk upsetting the locals with bad driving! hehe!

We leave in two days! Looking forward to this trip, and now I can relax and not worry about driving!! Wish us luck!

Well, we are not driving.  We've hired cars to drive us where we need to be.  Any trips that are not too far we will take taxis or trains.  Wife didn't want to risk upsetting the locals with bad driving! hehe!

We leave in two days! Looking forward to this trip, and now I can relax and not worry about driving!! Wish us luck!

I would have made the same choice I think. Your driver should be waiting for you outside of baggage claim and you should be on your way as soon as he takes you to his car. Compare that with having to wait for the shuttle to take you to the rental car office then stand in line for ever to see the agent then go the rounds with them over something then you get in the car and find your way out as well as competing with the local airport traffic that is in a rush.
Newbury is close by and on the other side of Windsor so may be 20 minutes and you are there.
Again, good move.
Cheers

Hi,

Some good tips above for you and for the longer term on the forum for knowledge sharing!

I'm currently in the US and I always hire a car here. I will definitely agree that it's much 'easier' to adjust to USA roads/driving styles than it is for a US person visiting the UK. I think back to when I first started renting cars on US visits which was around 2003'ish. I remember being able to get from Manhattan>Cincy>Detroit>Toronto>NYC all with no GPS and just using a book style map. I found it very easy to adjust, however, I am a pure petrolhead and love cars/driving etc and I'm lucky to have an excellent sense of direction as well. When I try to imagine being a USA person like me, coming to the UK, I know it'd be substantially more mentally challenging to drive as things are smaller and more compact, people drive closer to you as a result and generally things 'appear' faster, again due to things being 'smaller' in size.

It looks like you aren't driving this time, but next time, do indeed give it a shot though!

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Well, we got back from England Sunday the 22nd.  Dennis, you are right about things seeming faster over there!  Most of the roads are much smaller than we are accustomed to here in the USA.  Maybe it was just the drivers we had, but they seemed to drift into and out of their lanes on a regular basis.  We did have fun, and are glad we didn't drive on our first trip.  Although having your own car does give you freedoms that hiring a car does not!  If we go again it will mean that my wife has taken the job and will be house hunting.  We will drive the next time for sure.  I paid close attention to and asked many questions of our drivers while we were there.  I think roundabouts even make sense to me now!

I also have to add that I was rather surprised when we had our hotel call us a taxi and a Mercedes S class sedan pulled up!  We just ignored him, thinking there was no way this was our car.  The driver explained that Mercedes is a common taxi in the Ascot area.  Who'd a thunk it!!