Bank Holiday?

Yesterday, I came close to a major meltdown when DH called the auto rental company in GB, only to find out THEY entered the wrong rental date and incorrect email confirmation for our booking. It seems renting a car on a Bank Holiday has limited options. Hotels are booked for our road trip to Wales, Salisbury and Cornwall & Devon.

After three nights in London, we booked rail to Bath for May 3rd, and the following day, [yes, May 4th], is a holiday and no car rental place in open in either the 3rd or 4th. After some three hours of negotiating and working with this major rental company, we are now picking up the car in London on May 3rd, near Marble Arch. At least it's Sunday and we avoid a congested zone fee. We had to "eat" the loss of the pre-paid rail tickets, but the rental company worked the rate due to their admitted error. They actually played back the recording of the original booking and heard DH inquire about the Bank Holiday to which they replied no problem. Further limiting rental options - we are dropping the car in Bournemouth the night before the cruise.

As I look at the calendar for the time we'll be in the UK, I'm wondering if there are not additional bank holidays that will impact our travel plans. Will the upcoming election find businesses closed? That's the day we plan to take in the Eden Project. VE Day is May 8th, is this also celebrated as a holiday?

Thanks much.

Darcy

Sorry about all the problems :(

May 4th is indeed a Bank Holiday - and road traffic will probably be very heavy :o

Election Day will be business as usual - though you may find more traffic with people out and about voting :rolleyes:

May 8th is not a holiday either

.....and the next Bank Holiday is on 25th May in the UK

Have a great visit to my side of the pond :)

I'm surprised that the computer system accepted a booking for a day when the depot is closed. And that the clerk goofed.

But at least they had the decency to use their own evidence to admit their mistake.

I'm guessing you're getting the car a day early at no extra charge, though that's not much of a concession - I've regularly rented a panel van on a saturday at a one-day charge & returned it to a closed depot at any time up to opening time on the Monday.

A lot of rental depots are closed on sundays, but there are no other bank holidays til Monday 25th May, as Darcy's post.

In my experience, on the sunday of a Bank Holiday the traffic is pretty easy, especially in London - the grief is on roads radiating from London on a Friday or a Saturday morning, and on roads towards cities like London on the Monday.

Train from Bournemouth to Southampton is simple, then a short £10-or-less taxi hop to any cruise terminal

JB :)

JB

Thanks for the empathy. The final cost was about $95 less than the original booking, and we have the car one day earlier - also a slight upgrade. Apparently, the agent who entered the manual booking, put in the wrong dates and email address. Strange that Bath had two car depots - the one at Bath Spa did indicate it was closed both Sunday and Monday, but the other on Windsor Road was open on Monday according to the agent.

Since we are leaving London on Sunday morning, I'm not anticipating heavy traffic heading towards Bath. DH learned to drive "left" while attending school in Nairobi and living in the Seychelles. There are times I think he continues to think he's in the UK, as he's always in the far left lane in the US! We'll have Sat Nav, plus a couple of turn by turn sets of directions to guide us through dense areas.

Our road trip takes us from Bath, to Cardiff, Cardigan and a visit to Snowdonia before we had back to Newport Wales. Then we are meeting a friend's daughter in Salisbury to continue our trip together - we'll park at Wilton and take the bus into the city to visit the Cathedral. From there, we're off to Tintagel for a few days to explore Cornwall. After a night in Bournemouth, our friend will drive us through New Forest and to Southampton to meet the ship.

We are in for lots of driving, but when you travel this far, got to maximize all of the tourist options.

darcy

If you're taking the straightforward motorway route to Bath, most is on divided highway - a gentle introduction to driving on our side of the road.

Remember in the UK we overtake only on the right, no overtaking on the inside lane. So keep to the left (slow) lane except when overtaking.

Ditto onward to Cardiff.

But from Carmarthen onwards, you'll be on much slower Welsh roads. Scenic, but slow.

In Snowdonia, take a ride on one of the "little trains of Wales" at Blaenau-Ffestiniog, narrow-gauge railways built to transport slate from the quarries & mines, then aim for Llanberis & its former slate works / museum.

And on the way back south to Newport, depending on your choice of route, its only a 30 minute diversion to Coalbrookdale / Ironbridge / Bliss / Coalport, the birthplace of the industrial revolution. Lots of sights & museums.

I don't entirely see the need to bus into Salisbury from Wilton - apart from street-parking or the Market Place carpark, which are a bit hit-and-miss on availability, there's a huge carpark at Millstream Approach then a five-minute riverside walk to the Market Place.

The north Cornwall coast is very scenic, but the roads aren't quite motorway standard ;)

Lot of route choices back to Bournemouth. If time permits, consider via Princetown & Widecombe on Dartmoor, & the Jurassic coast from Bridport to Portland Bill to Lulwoth Cove, and Corfe Castle.

Interesting & varied itinerary, have a great trip.

JB :)

Thanks JB for the suggestions. I already have DH repeating "drive left, pass right." He has a copy of the motor vehicle booklet our friend used to study for her exam, plus at the urging of the rental company, DH picked up an International Permit. Might never be asked for the permit, but just in case.....

I will look at the car park at Millstream instead of using the one suggested by the Wiltshire Council on their web site.

So much to see and not enough time to do everything on this trip. We plan to fly over in the early fall and concentrate our travel within a smaller geographic area.

Darcy