Reserved Taxi's - dependable in UK ?

[TenneSea]

Following our Transatlantic cruise next month, we are traveling to various parts of England.  As we are not renting a car this trip (last trip ended with a collision with a bus), we have reserved several taxi rides to get to our destinations.  My fear is that we will be left stranded somewhere.  I would like to know if my fears are justified or not.  Are the taxi services reliable?  (i.e.,one reservation is a taxi from Southampton to Moreton-In-Marsh, in the Cotswolds).  Really appreciate any information.

[ziggyuk]

I can only say that my experience, living here, is pre booked taxis are very reliable in the UK.

It would not hurt to confirm the reservation 24hrs in advance for peace of mind, but I do not consider this nessesary.

 

[fruitmachine]

46 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

I can only say that my experience, living here, is pre booked taxis are very reliable in the UK.

It would not hurt to confirm the reservation 24hrs in advance for peace of mind, but I do not consider this nessesary.

 

I'd endorse this.

 

The only time I've heard of a complete no-show was when someone was using Uber.  After the driver accepted the journey, surge-pricing started, and the they just cancelled the fare leaving the passenger stranded and scrabbling to catch a train on time.

[TenneSea]

Good to know.  Thank you.

[TenneSea]

ZiggyUK, You are the person who lives in New Forest?  

 

We did not get to NF last August.  But, we're coming back in May and spending 2 days in New Forest and 2 days on Isle of Wight.  I am so excited to see everything.  I have booked a taxi for a day to take us through New Forest, picking us up where the WightLink drops us in Lymington and then dropping us at our hotel in Beaulieu. 

 

Thank you for all of the information you have shared.\

 

[ziggyuk]

11 hours ago, TenneSea said:

ZiggyUK, You are the person who lives in New Forest?  

 

We did not get to NF last August.  But, we're coming back in May and spending 2 days in New Forest and 2 days on Isle of Wight.  I am so excited to see everything.  I have booked a taxi for a day to take us through New Forest, picking us up where the WightLink drops us in Lymington and then dropping us at our hotel in Beaulieu. 

 

Thank you for all of the information you have shared.\

 

 

Yes I am 🤩

Fantastic, I know you will love the New Forest. If you have a taxi for the day, it will be a great way to see it.
It might be worth checking his/her knowledge of the NF ahead of time, some of the Southampton taxi drivers don't know the forest for sight seeing that well, so if they don't you might want to plan a good route.

Edited April 7 by ziggyuk

[John Bull]

@ziggyuk Since the pick-u is Lymington & the drop-off in Beaulieu I feel sure the taxi driver will know the Forest. And how to avoid the log-jam of Lyndhurst.

 

Ask the driver to include Rhinefield Ornamental  Drive (which also means automatically avoiding Lyndhurst) and Bolderwood Arboretum then Beaulieu (about 25 miles).

And - if time & pocket allow - from there to Linwood, Ringwood and back via  Burley & Brockenhurst to Beaulieu, showing you the different aspects of the Forest (about 40 miles total).

What say you, Ziggy?

 

JB 🙂

 

[ziggyuk]

1 hour ago, John Bull said:

@ziggyuk Since the pick-u is Lymington & the drop-off in Beaulieu I feel sure the taxi driver will know the Forest. And how to avoid the log-jam of Lyndhurst.

 

Ask the driver to include Rhinefield Ornamental  Drive (which also means automatically avoiding Lyndhurst) and Bolderwood Arboretum then Beaulieu (about 25 miles).

And - if time & pocket allow - from there to Linwood, Ringwood and back via  Burley & Brockenhurst to Beaulieu, showing you the different aspects of the Forest (about 40 miles total).

What say you, Ziggy?

 

JB 🙂

 

 

JB, I agree, a walk at the Ornamental Drive and maybe see the near-by Knightwood Oak (oldest tree in the forest dating from 1600), Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary is close as well (but be aware you may not see deer) is another nice walk.
I always recommend Fritham, close to your Linwood selection, but it's lovely by the lake and I always take people there for practically guaranteed horses.
I think Burley is a do-not-miss, the old cottages (some dating back to 18th century) and again in the village centre and near the cricket pitch almost guaranteed horses and donkeys.

 

There are lots of lovely old pubs in the New Forest for lunch and I really would recommend that option to step back in time. I can give that some thought, but the Royal Oak at Fritham is an nice old thatched pub which you might be near at lunch time.

I only warn about the taxi drivers as some of the Southampton ones have little knowledge of the New Forest, in terms of a days sight seeing. Don't get me wrong, they know how to drive people from A-B and avoid traffic but if you ask some of them to take you on a sight seeing tour they might get a bit lost for ideas, hence the possible advance planning recommendation.
I think you have that here in spades.

Edited April 9 by ziggyuk

[TenneSea]

Such great information.  This is the company doing our private tour: https://www.southamptoncruisetours.co.uk/ 

 

They (he) seemed to be very knowledgeable about New Forest and is great to respond quickly to any question or suggestion I have. If you have heard anything negative about them, I'd appreciate knowing that.  I had a hard time finding a tour guide that was available.

 

We are staying at Montagu Arms in Beaulieu and doing Beaulieu the next day on our own.

 

The tours that we have planned and all of the taxi reservations are pricey, but if they just all show up, I'll be a happy camper ! 

 

Thank you for your reassurance on the taxis and for all of the helpful tips.

[John Bull]

17 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

 

There are lots of lovely old pubs in the New Forest for lunch and I really would recommend that option to step back in time. I can give that some thought, but the Royal Oak at Fritham is an nice old thatched pub which you might be near at lunch time.
 

 Hi, Ziggy,

 

I'll strike a deal with you. 

I promise to visit the Royal Oak sometime this summer, if you promise to do likewise with our favourite Forest pub, the Alice Lisle in Rockford 🙂

 

JB 🙂

[ziggyuk]

2 hours ago, John Bull said:

 Hi, Ziggy,

 

I'll strike a deal with you. 

I promise to visit the Royal Oak sometime this summer, if you promise to do likewise with our favourite Forest pub, the Alice Lisle in Rockford 🙂

 

JB 🙂

 

I will, I have not been the the Alice Lisle in a while, I also like the close by Royal Oak at North Gorley, we often drop in there for a pint while on a bike (electic, I'm a cheat 😂) ride on the forest.
The Red Shoot is also OK at Linwood, It's a Wadworth pub but it's nice and has a Micro Brewery.

On the subject of Brewery's, Ringwood Brewery has closed down now, very sadly for us, it was always going to be a disaster after Marston's took it over and were subsequently bought by Carlsberg to become Carlsberg-Marston's.
It was always a decent brewery tour there for tourists and locals alike, they even let people behind the bar hand pulling their own pint's.
Ringwood beers will now be made near Birmingham 😢

[ziggyuk]

13 hours ago, TenneSea said:

Such great information.  This is the company doing our private tour: https://www.southamptoncruisetours.co.uk/ 

 

They (he) seemed to be very knowledgeable about New Forest and is great to respond quickly to any question or suggestion I have. If you have heard anything negative about them, I'd appreciate knowing that.  I had a hard time finding a tour guide that was available.

 

We are staying at Montagu Arms in Beaulieu and doing Beaulieu the next day on our own.

 

The tours that we have planned and all of the taxi reservations are pricey, but if they just all show up, I'll be a happy camper ! 

 

Thank you for your reassurance on the taxis and for all of the helpful tips.

 

Nothing bad that I'm aware of, taxis are unfortunatly expensive in the UK, day rates can work out well though. To be honest, although expensive there is no better way to get around, if you hired a car you would be planning your own routes and possibly miss so much.

I don't know if you like cars but Beaulieu National Motor Museum is fantastic, I love it as I love my classics, I have a 1958 Austin Healey Sprite and a 1957 Triumph Thunderbird.
https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/attractions/national-motor-museum/

[TenneSea]

8 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

 

Nothing bad that I'm aware of, taxis are unfortunatly expensive in the UK, day rates can work out well though. To be honest, although expensive there is no better way to get around, if you hired a car you would be planning your own routes and possibly miss so much.

I don't know if you like cars but Beaulieu National Motor Museum is fantastic, I love it as I love my classics, I have a 1958 Austin Healey Sprite and a 1957 Triumph Thunderbird.
https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/attractions/national-motor-museum/

My husband is a car guy/collector.  He has several classic, old Porsches and and old Land Rover truck.  He doesn't know it yet but, we are spending most of the next day at the Motor Museum in Beaulieu - just bought the tickets last week.  

 

This whole trip is made possible by taxis (and 2 Uber rides).  Our trip over the Atlantic is on Caribbean Princess, then 10 days in England, then fly home.  This is our first transatlantic cruise and we're just a little apprehensive but love cruising so, we'll be fine.  Yep, the taxis are pricey but we don't want to haul luggage on trains and busses.  Our last UK car rental ended in a collision with a bus so it's a big no this trip.  We have some really, really awesome private tours lined up.  This trip will be epic !

 

Thanks for your helpful tips !

[ziggyuk]

1 hour ago, TenneSea said:

My husband is a car guy/collector.  He has several classic, old Porsches and and old Land Rover truck.  He doesn't know it yet but, we are spending most of the next day at the Motor Museum in Beaulieu - just bought the tickets last week.  

 

This whole trip is made possible by taxis (and 2 Uber rides).  Our trip over the Atlantic is on Caribbean Princess, then 10 days in England, then fly home.  This is our first transatlantic cruise and we're just a little apprehensive but love cruising so, we'll be fine.  Yep, the taxis are pricey but we don't want to haul luggage on trains and busses.  Our last UK car rental ended in a collision with a bus so it's a big no this trip.  We have some really, really awesome private tours lined up.  This trip will be epic !

 

Thanks for your helpful tips !

 

Fantastic, it's a great museum, gardens and house, something for everyone.

 

I am probably telling you something you already know but Uber is a bit difficult in the UK. They are licenced by the different cities and can't operate where they are not licenced.

 

They can operate in Southampton so a trip to or from that city is no problem, however you can't use them to travel in unlicensed areas. 

As an example, living in Ringwood, I can ask for a pick up to go the Southampton even though Uber have no licence to operate in my town, but I can't order and Uber from Ringwood to Bournemouth as neither of those places licence them.

Licenced areas in the south and South West are:

 

South East:

Southampton

Brighton

Portsmouth

 

South West:

Bristol

Bath

 

https://www.uber.com/en-GB/blog/changes-to-where-drivers-can-receive-trips/

[TenneSea]

52 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

Fantastic, it's a great museum, gardens and house, something for everyone.

 

I am probably telling you something you already know but Uber is a bit difficult in the UK. They are licenced by the different cities and can't operate where they are not licenced.

 

They can operate in Southampton so a trip to or from that city is no problem, however you can't use them to travel in unlicensed areas. 

As an example, living in Ringwood, I can ask for a pick up to go the Southampton even though Uber have no licence to operate in my town, but I can't order and Uber from Ringwood to Bournemouth as neither of those places licence them.

Licenced areas in the south and South West are:

 

South East:

Southampton

Brighton

Portsmouth

 

South West:

Bristol

Bath

 

https://www.uber.com/en-GB/blog/changes-to-where-drivers-can-receive-trips/

Wow, thanks for that list of Uber areas.  We have an Uber reserved from Hinkley to Retford and a local short ride in Hinkley.  I think I could have reserved others but I just didn't know where they operate and where they didn't.  Most of our reservations are taxis.

 

 

[Harters]

On 4/6/2024 at 3:21 PM, TenneSea said:

 Are the taxi services reliable?

Yes and no. 

 

Most services will be reliable. They'd go out of business if not. The only times we use a taxi is if we are going to the airport or nearby mainline train station. There used to be a very reliable company in town (in fact, my brother in law used to drive for them). But it became less reliable - not failing to turn up but cutting the time to the train/plane worryingly close. So we stopped using them. For the train, I now drive to the station and pay an exorbitant fee to park for couple of days. And we now use the airport's own "preferred partner" taxi service. Dearer than most but hasnt let us down.