Driving in England

[sheeper370]

Most things are covered in the posts above, but the only thing I noticed not mentioned yet is the congestion charge for driving in London. Yes, you have to pay for the priviledge of driving through the capital. Most people would advise not to bother, as traffic is horrendous & public transport very efficient. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/congestioncharging/ will tell you all you need to know.

Generally driving in England is pretty straight forward - certainly more straight forward than Ireland, where up until about a year ago, you didn't even have to pass a driving test to be able to drive on the road! :eek:

 

It's actually only a small part of central London, not the whole 609 square miles of the capital.

 

The boundary of the enlarged zone, as of 19 February 2007, starts at the northern end of Vauxhall Bridge and (travelling in a clockwise direction) heads along the northern bank of the River Thames as Grosvenor Road, the Chelsea Embankment and Cheyne Walk. From here, it heads north, along the eastern edges of the Kensington and Earl's Court one-way systems (classified as part of the A3220), encompassing Edith Grove, Redcliffe Gardens, Earl's Court Road, Pembroke Road, Warwick Gardens and part of the Addison Road, before continuing to the A40 Westway as the Holland Road and the West Cross Route.

 

 

The boundary then includes parts of North Kensington, but the actual boundary is defined by the West London Line railway track, which runs between Latimer Road (inside the zone) and Wood Lane (outside the zone), until Scrubs Lane, before turning east, following the Great Western Main Line out of Paddington towards Ladbroke Grove. Here, the boundary follows the Grand Union Canal and rejoins the existing zone at Edgware Road after skirting Paddington, by way of the Bishop's Bridge Road, Eastbourne Terrace, Praed Street and Sussex Gardens.

[compass09]

Thanks very much everyone for all the great info ! :)

 

I will pass it along to my son. I did reserve him an automatic, so he won't have to worry about shifting.

 

I was really surprised that you all list the speed limits in mph. I would have thought it would be in Km/hr, like in Germany. Then I checked Googlemaps for some distances between towns, and realized they also listed distances in miles. Don't you use the metric system there?

 

Again, thanks for the help.

 

No, its still miles and mph and always has been. Most other things have finally gone metric over here (we're slowly being dragged kicking and screaming into line with the rest of Europe) but mph, driving on the left, the Pound and a decent pint of beer (it's supposed to be warm) is about all we're left with.

 

Your concerns about driving over here are groundless. Just do it and go with the flow. It all pales into insignificance next to taking our right hand drive cars accross the chanel to Europe. Have you seen how they drive in Rome? Terrifying!!

 

Have a great time in GB

[sddsddean]

Thanks very much everyone for all the great info ! :)

 

I will pass it along to my son. I did reserve him an automatic, so he won't have to worry about shifting.

 

I was really surprised that you all list the speed limits in mph. I would have thought it would be in Km/hr, like in Germany. Then I checked Googlemaps for some distances between towns, and realized they also listed distances in miles. Don't you use the metric system there?

 

Again, thanks for the help.

 

OUCH!! How to touch a raw nerve!! I'm one of the generation that was taught both imperial and metric. Metric is much easier to work out, but I still estimate in inches and pounds!! Its like why in the US do big machines weigh 'a million pounds', rather than about 450 tons? Just what you are used to. We have even had 'metric martyrs'. Market sales people who refuse to sell fruit and veg in kilos, 'cos everyone knows what 'a pound of tomatoes' looks like. The best example of all this officialdom was in Sweden in '67. They decided to change from driving on the left (like us) to driving on the right (like the rest of Europe). The authorities decided to do it at 4.50 am on a Sunday, when everyone was in bed. Unfortunately, everyone dedided to get up early so the could take part in the change and say 'they were there'. Result...the worst traffic chaos in Swedens history!!

Simon

[Globaliser]

Then we got involved in the EC (the European Community) who said EVERYTHING must be metric. So it is illegal to sell a pound of plums as opposed to a kilogram. And a few years later this was challenged, and from this year you CAN sell a pound of plums provided the value in kilograms is also displayed.

We have even had 'metric martyrs'. Market sales people who refuse to sell fruit and veg in kilos, 'cos everyone knows what 'a pound of tomatoes' looks like.

Actually, it was never illegal to display and price in lbs; it was only ever illegal to display and price only in lbs and not to do so in kg as well.

 

The "metric martyrs" were people who point blank refused to display prices in kg alongside their prices in lbs. It was a display of complete petty-mindedness; they were the sort of people who gave rise to the term "little Englanders".

The boundary of the enlarged zone, as of 19 February 2007, starts at the northern end of Vauxhall Bridge and (travelling in a clockwise direction) heads along the northern bank of the River Thames as Grosvenor Road, the Chelsea Embankment and Cheyne Walk. From here, it heads north, along the eastern edges of the Kensington and Earl's Court one-way systems (classified as part of the A3220), encompassing Edith Grove, Redcliffe Gardens, Earl's Court Road, Pembroke Road, Warwick Gardens and part of the Addison Road, before continuing to the A40 Westway as the Holland Road and the West Cross Route.

 

The boundary then includes parts of North Kensington, but the actual boundary is defined by the West London Line railway track, which runs between Latimer Road (inside the zone) and Wood Lane (outside the zone), until Scrubs Lane, before turning east, following the Great Western Main Line out of Paddington towards Ladbroke Grove. Here, the boundary follows the Grand Union Canal and rejoins the existing zone at Edgware Road after skirting Paddington, by way of the Bishop's Bridge Road, Eastbourne Terrace, Praed Street and Sussex Gardens.

It's probably worth pointing out that there are two routes inside the congestion charging zone that are not chargeable. You can see these clearly on the maps on the TfL site (which can also be easily reached via the URL http://www.cclondon.com).

 

The main one is the road going north from Vauxhall Bridge to Victoria Station (including the whole of the Victoria one way system), Hyde Park Corner, Marble Arch and then up the Edgware Road. You can drive along this without having to pay the charge, but you must not deviate from that route because it runs through the middle of the zone and all side streets off that road are chargeable.

 

The other one is the elevated section of the A40 west of Paddington, which goes over part of the zone but is not itself chargeable.

[kwk1955]

I posted this on another thread, but didn't get much response, so thought I'd ask again here from all you British experts ! :D

 

 

My son will travel back to Heathrow from London on the underground to pick up his rental car, and drive off to other places. I tried to call Avis and find out which terminal he would need to go to, to pick up the car. They had no answer other than "in the terminal, walk right out across the street". So, I checked the map of Heathrow and found that there is an Avis counter in Terminals 1 , 2 , 3 , and 4 .

 

My question, does anyone have info or an opinion on which terminal they should go to, for ease, convenience, less crowd, etc in picking up their rental car?

 

As always, thanks very much for the help.

[Globaliser]

My son will travel back to Heathrow from London on the underground to pick up his rental car, and drive off to other places.

...

My question, does anyone have info or an opinion on which terminal they should go to, for ease, convenience, less crowd, etc in picking up their rental car?

The first question I have is "Why?" He could pick up an Avis car at one of their London locations, and the rental may even be cheaper because airport locations have a nasty habit of incurring extra fees payable to the airport. He just needs to see whether there's a one-way drop-off fee.

 

There are Avis desks at all Heathrow terminals, not just the first four. There are pros and cons with travelling to all five of them for this purpose. Personally, I think I'd be picking Terminal 4. Reasons: the Terminal 4 Tube trains stop at Terminal 4 before they go on to Terminals 1, 2 and 3; the car hire desks are relatively close to the Tube station exit (your son will need to follow the signs for Arrivals to get there); and the shuttle will almost certainly not go into the central terminal area, but go straight from the terminal to the depot.

[h3rjp]

From what I remember from dropping off, most of the rental companies are located in one area just outside the airport. So whichever desk you go to, in whichever terminal, they will bus you out to the depot to pick up your car (we're talking a few minutes here).

 

Certainly we rented with National / Alamo (or whatever they are called now), dropped the car at the depot and they then took us to our terminal.

 

Oh and just picking up on what the other poster said. Don't plan on driving in central London; but for the rest of the country enjoy!

[kwk1955]

The first question I have is "Why?" He could pick up an Avis car at one of their London locations, and the rental may even be cheaper because airport locations have a nasty habit of incurring extra fees payable to the airport. He just needs to see whether there's a one-way drop-off fee.

 

There are Avis desks at all Heathrow terminals, not just the first four. There are pros and cons with travelling to all five of them for this purpose. Personally, I think I'd be picking Terminal 4. Reasons: the Terminal 4 Tube trains stop at Terminal 4 before they go on to Terminals 1, 2 and 3; the car hire desks are relatively close to the Tube station exit (your son will need to follow the signs for Arrivals to get there); and the shuttle will almost certainly not go into the central terminal area, but go straight from the terminal to the depot.

 

 

Thanks for the info, Globaliser. I did check in London, and it actually turned out cheaper at Heathrow for an automatic, which was very hard to find at that time. They didn't start planning this trip early enough to get the best deals on some things, either. I also thought, as some others said, that it might be a bad idea for them to try driving on the left side of the road in downtown London. Also, they will return the car at Heathrow on the last night, spend the night in a hotel there, and leave from the airport very early the next morning. So, for the convenience I thought this was the best plan.

 

Anyway, thanks for all your help. I will suggest that they go to T4 and find the Avis desk there. :)

[kwk1955]

Thanks for all the help everyone ! :)

 

Great info, and especially interesting info on converting to the metric system.

[agabbymama]

Remember the advice Tufty the Squirrel used to give....."Look right; look left; look right again: and if all is clear, it's safe to cross the road".

 

Who is Tufty the Squirrel? I've never heard of it. But that saying is the opposite of what we do in the States. We look left first, then right, then left again. But I did find the wording actually written on the street "LOOK RIGHT" to be a big help in London, but the smaller towns didn't have that.

 

I still would never drive in England or Australia. Just my preference, many do, but I wouldn't feel safe with the conversions necessary.

[bigwally]

The first question I have is "Why?" He could pick up an Avis car at one of their London locations, and the rental may even be cheaper because airport locations have a nasty habit of incurring extra fees payable to the airport. He just needs to see whether there's a one-way drop-off fee.

 

But then, if you collect a car from an Avis location within the congestion zone won't you have to pay the congestion charge to drive the car away?

 

Some earlier was talking about the boundaries of the zone. I think it's important to note that avoiding the zone in central London will keep you from driving to probably 90% of central London hotels.

[bigwally]

Who is Tufty the Squirrel? I've never heard of it.

 

"Tufty" was a children's road safety campaign creation from the 1970's.

 

[Elaine0138]

Thanks very much everyone for all the great info ! :)

I was really surprised that you all list the speed limits in mph. I would have thought it would be in Km/hr, like in Germany. Then I checked Googlemaps for some distances between towns, and realized they also listed distances in miles. Don't you use the metric system there?

 

Again, thanks for the help.

 

This is Britain not Europe :)

[kwk1955]

This is Britain not Europe :)

 

 

??? Clearly !! :)

[sheeper370]

Actually, it was never illegal to display and price in lbs; it was only ever illegal to display and price only in lbs and not to do so in kg as well.

 

The "metric martyrs" were people who point blank refused to display prices in kg alongside their prices in lbs. It was a display of complete petty-mindedness; they were the sort of people who gave rise to the term "little Englanders".It's probably worth pointing out that there are two routes inside the congestion charging zone that are not chargeable. You can see these clearly on the maps on the TfL site (which can also be easily reached via the URL www.cclondon.com).

 

The main one is the road going north from Vauxhall Bridge to Victoria Station (including the whole of the Victoria one way system), Hyde Park Corner, Marble Arch and then up the Edgware Road. You can drive along this without having to pay the charge, but you must not deviate from that route because it runs through the middle of the zone and all side streets off that road are chargeable.

 

The other one is the elevated section of the A40 west of Paddington, which goes over part of the zone but is not itself chargeable.

 

Everybody should search specifically for Globaliser's posts every day. He is so accurate and is rapidly becoming an institution.

 

He knows that through routes are not chargeable...

[Missus Makkem]

Thanks very much everyone for all the great info ! :)

 

I will pass it along to my son. I did reserve him an automatic, so he won't have to worry about shifting.

 

I was really surprised that you all list the speed limits in mph. I would have thought it would be in Km/hr, like in Germany. Then I checked Googlemaps for some distances between towns, and realized they also listed distances in miles. Don't you use the metric system there?

 

Again, thanks for the help.

 

Not for distances.

All other things are usually dual marked, apart from petrol which is litres.

We golden oldies refuse to accept our weights and measures in metric,hence the Metric Martyrs

[debsjc]

I posted this on another thread, but didn't get much response, so thought I'd ask again here from all you British experts ! :D

 

 

My son will travel back to Heathrow from London on the underground to pick up his rental car, and drive off to other places. I tried to call Avis and find out which terminal he would need to go to, to pick up the car. They had no answer other than "in the terminal, walk right out across the street". So, I checked the map of Heathrow and found that there is an Avis counter in Terminals 1 , 2 , 3 , and 4 .

 

My question, does anyone have info or an opinion on which terminal they should go to, for ease, convenience, less crowd, etc in picking up their rental car?

 

As always, thanks very much for the help.

 

I would vote for Teminal 4 as well, because if he picks up in Terminals 1, 2 or 3 he will have to drive out through the tunnel, which might not be good fun having only just got into the car.

 

Just to confirm a couple of points other people made, which I think are really important. I think we are quite aggresive drivers, especially in the South on the very busy motorways and A roads. If you get in the wrong lane, don't move over, stop too long at a roundabout, drive slowly in front of someone ...don't be surprised to get flashed or beeped!

Also on the motorways if you leave a little gap in front of you as a breaking distance, someone will cut into it. :rolleyes:

[sheeper370]

I thought this link could be useful, it's to the motoring section of "The Very Best of British (The American's Guide to Speaking British)".

 

It's quite amusing in places...

 

http://www.effingpot.com/motoring.shtml

[insidecabin]

if you want to see the roads have a look at maps.google and zoom in to see the roads and the cars.

 

here is an example with a bit of motorway and some other roads

 

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=51.963268,-0.202968&spn=0.007074,0.013711&t=h&z=16

 

Note that the motoway exits are very different to many US ones.

[kwk1955]

if you want to see the roads have a look at maps.google and zoom in to see the roads and the cars.

 

here is an example with a bit of motorway and some other roads

 

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=51.963268,-0.202968&spn=0.007074,0.013711&t=h&z=16

 

Note that the motoway exits are very different to many US ones.

 

 

Wow ! Thanks for the cool map. It sure gives you a great idea of what the roads look like.

[kwk1955]

I thought this link could be useful, it's to the motoring section of "The Very Best of British (The American's Guide to Speaking British)".

 

It's quite amusing in places...

 

http://www.effingpot.com/motoring.shtml

 

 

Thanks ! Lots of useful things to learn there - especially the food and drink, and slang. :)

[jocap]

Thanks ! Lots of useful things to learn there - especially the food and drink, and slang. :)

All the children I've taught the metric system seem to have babies, all weighing 7lb 2oz. The big difference in our weights is "stones"- a UK guy was put in prison (briefly) for cheek in the US because he answered his weight as 12st 4lb....- jocap.

[SteveH2508]

But then, if you collect a car from an Avis location within the congestion zone won't you have to pay the congestion charge to drive the car away?

 

Some earlier was talking about the boundaries of the zone. I think it's important to note that avoiding the zone in central London will keep you from driving to probably 90% of central London hotels.

 

You would need to pay the Congestion charge if it is Monday to Friday within the time (the hire car company will add it to your bill I think).

 

The other big issue about driving in London is parking. IF you can find a space or a multi-storey car park it will cost you a fortune to park. In Westminster you need to pay the parking charge by mobile phone as well. I live within Central London and I would not dream of driving there (I like as stress free a life as possible!)

 

For the cost of parking and car hire you can get quite a few taxi rides and loads of Tube journeys (use the pre-pay Oyster Card).

 

Tufty the Squirrel was the 'mascot' of the Tufty club - this was a road safety campaign for kids from about 40 years ago (I was a member so that dates me!) It was replaced by the Green Cross Code later.

[Globaliser]

But then, if you collect a car from an Avis location within the congestion zone won't you have to pay the congestion charge to drive the car away?

I'm not sure why the congestion charge should be such a big deal in this equation. It's only £8. For perspective, that's less than it costs me to go to work one-way, if I get a cab.

 

Also, if the alternative is going to Heathrow, look at it like this for another perspective: If two people were going from central London to Heathrow to pick up the car, and each paid a cash single fare on the Tube, that would also be a total of £8.

 

Now, you could box and cox about how to get to Heathrow to save a bit on the cash single fares, but you have to remember that we're talking here about a potential maximum saving of only a few quid.

I would vote for Teminal 4 as well, because if he picks up in Terminals 1, 2 or 3 he will have to drive out through the tunnel, which might not be good fun having only just got into the car.

Actually no - because there are no rental cars in the central terminal area. You are picked up from all the terminals by shuttle bus and then taken to the relevant depot outside the airport.

 

There's nothing difficult about the tunnel, anyway - each main bore is a one-way two-lane tunnel, wide enough to take two large buses side by side.

[Globaliser]

Some earlier was talking about the boundaries of the zone. I think it's important to note that avoiding the zone in central London will keep you from driving to probably 90% of central London hotels.

The other big issue about driving in London is parking. IF you can find a space or a multi-storey car park it will cost you a fortune to park. In Westminster you need to pay the parking charge by mobile phone as well. I live within Central London and I would not dream of driving there (I like as stress free a life as possible!)

 

For the cost of parking and car hire you can get quite a few taxi rides and loads of Tube journeys (use the pre-pay Oyster Card).

Just for clarity, can I say that I absolutely agree that in general, a visitor to London who is staying in London to see sights in London shouldn't be thinking of renting a car. The total cost of renting it, parking it, fuelling it and paying the congestion charge is usually pretty much wasted money given the alternatives for getting around central London.

 

However, the OP's question and my suggestion were directed at someone who is in central London already, and simply wants to pick up a car and drive away from London to tour the rest of the country. Given that situation, and the pros and cons of picking up in central London or at Heathrow, a central London pickup may well make sense. But I understand why it didn't work for this trip.