renting a car at Southampton

[CruzinNoony]

I need help on how best to do our car rental. We will be arriving in Southampton on a Saturday and we wish to rent a car to drive to the Cotswolds for 6 days, then return the car to Heathrow where we will fly out the following Friday. Is there an agency near the pier that we could use, then return the car to Heathrow?

[John Bull]

Most of the major players have depots near Southampton docks including Hertz, Alamo, Europcar, National, SixT, Thrifty, Enterprise, and they all have depots at Heathrow.

 

The main exception is Avis, whose nearest depot is at Southampton airport - about 8 miles / 15-20 minute drive from the docks. Does have the marginal advantage of your driving starting outside the city & close to the motorway, to help offset the £15 to £20 taxi fare to Southampton airport.

 

Heathrow is on the outskirts of London - importantly, on the Oxford / Cotswolds side of the big bad city. So no London driving required :)

But unlike at other airports, rental agencies aren't all clustered together so get good directions to your chosen agency's Heathrow location.

 

Do bear in mind that unless you specify automatic gearbox, most rental cars in the UK & Europe are shift-stick.

And one suggestion - to make driving easier on the UK's little roads, choose as small a car as will fit you & your luggage.

But if you'll be touring & sight-seeing with several changes of accommodation, you're best with one which will carry all your luggage out-of-sight - you'll be in areas with low crime-rates, but you don't want to make your parked car a target. We use soft-sided bags, and split our luggage into a number of small bags - even bin-liners - to make maximum use of trunk space in small rental cars.

 

A lot of visitors do the same as you, and it works very well.

 

JB :).

[ReturnCruiser]

We did a similar driving trip in 2015 from Southampton. We used Enterprise and an Enterprise representative met us in the pier terminal. The rental car was a short walk from the pier, actually in the pier parking lot.

 

After several days in the Cotswolds, we returned the car to Enterprise in Oxford. We used rail for the rest of our trip. The only reason for a mid-trip rental return was that we were ultimately spending a week in London and didn't want/need a car.

 

I agree about considering use of a manual transmission. We reserved a compact automatic transmission vehicle but received a larger station wagon. We were informed that the only compacts left were manual transmission cars. Post-drive, we wished we would have taken the manual smaller car. Everyone tells me that shifting with your left hand is not very cumbersome (after a while).

 

Bob

[CruzinNoony]

Thank you both for your help. It gives me something to work with.

[Bob++]

The other thing you should consider is a satnav (GPS). The rental company will supply one, but you can probably buy a used one from ebay and sell it after the trip. This has the advantage that you can learn how to use it at home, rather than on the street in a strange city. Just make sure it comes with reasonably up-to-date maps of the UK.

[John Bull]

The other thing you should consider is a satnav (GPS). The rental company will supply one, but you can probably buy a used one from ebay and sell it after the trip. This has the advantage that you can learn how to use it at home, rather than on the street in a strange city. Just make sure it comes with reasonably up-to-date maps of the UK.

 

 

You and I are apparently dinosaurs, Bob. :p

Lots of folk use their multi-function phones.

 

But yep, that's what we've done for the USA, Aus and South Africa.

Well, not exactly. For the US we re-programmed our Aus GPS for about £40. So we had Bruce and Sheila's dulcet tones guiding us around the US, but they made a good job of it.

 

Buying before your trip also allows you to programme in your routes in your own home, using the A to B function.

 

Or buy a new GPS when you get to Southampton - from about £80 for UK. Or £95 for UK & Europe, which is much easier to re-sell back at home. (don't throw away the receipt, box and instructions)

 

Worst value of the lot for a trip of more than 3 or 4 days is to rent one with the car, at about £15 per day..

Sorry, make that "second-to-worst", cos worst is to think you can get by with just paper maps.;)

 

JB :)

[TMLAalum]

As usual Bob & John to the rescue! We haven't yet booked our rental car for our week in Sussex, but in my cursory searching did not realize we could return the vehicle close to the cruiseport! That will be helpful if we can do that!

 

Thanks!

[Bob++]

Sorry, make that "second-to-worst", cos worst is to think you can get by with just paper maps.;)

 

JB :)

 

I would never rely on GPS alone. They are great for getting you from A to B, by the shortest, quickest or most economical route, but useless for finding the scenic route or a potentially interesting location. For that you need a reasonably large scale, at least 4 miles to the inch, paper map. Fortunately, we in the UK are spoiled for choice in this respect.

 

I would recommend the Ordnance Survey Landranger series and you would want No 197. https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/shop/maps.html?cat%5B0%5D=20&cat%5B1%5D=23

[John Bull]

I would never rely on GPS alone. They are great for getting you from A to B, by the shortest, quickest or most economical route, but useless for finding the scenic route or a potentially interesting location. For that you need a reasonably large scale, at least 4 miles to the inch, paper map. Fortunately, we in the UK are spoiled for choice in this respect.

 

I would recommend the Ordnance Survey Landranger series and you would want No 197. https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/shop/maps.html?cat%5B0%5D=20&cat%5B1%5D=23

 

 

Yes, Bob, I'd certainly agree with not relying on GPS alone.

 

But I'm more inclined to go with a paper road map, minimum 2.5 inches to the mile. More-detailed means either maps the size of a bed sheet or confusing hopping from page to page - I do like to see a day's route all on one sensibly-sized page.

But that's a matter of personal opinion - each to their own. ;)

 

For scenic routes, I usually figure them on googlemaps and then pump the appropriate waypoints into the GPS. For instance Salisbury - Old Sarum - Middle Woodford - West Amesbury - Stonehenge in order to take the Avon valley road rather than a main road - depending on the difference in journey time.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Salisbury+Cathedral,+6+The+Close,+Salisbury+SP1+2EJ/Old+Sarum,+Castle+Road,+Salisbury/Middle+Woodford/West+Amesbury/Stonehenge,+Amesbury/@51.1321409,-1.7953999,12z/data=!4m32!4m31!1m5!1m1!1s0x4873ebf226b4f265:0xc791533ec0f618ce!2m2!1d-1.7972886!2d51.0649085!1m5!1m1!1s0x4873e944df23e597:0xd7d3f3123d47485c!2m2!1d-1.8048782!2d51.0932288!1m5!1m1!1s0x4873e8ff9c1a7057:0xe05904fb10558c16!2m2!1d-1.827764!2d51.122497!1m5!1m1!1s0x4873e60366681745:0x7af44815b170aacf!2m2!1d-1.800552!2d51.1719859!1m5!1m1!1s0x4873e63b850af611:0x979170e2bcd3d2dd!2m2!1d-1.826215!2d51.178882!3e0

.

JB :)

[Bob++]

I just love maps - We always buy the one inch OS map for anywhere we go. Now I have a car with a satnav (or a satnav with a car?) I tend to rely on that for mundane journeys, and especially for driving in a town. Like you I research places on Google Maps (love streetview) but for finding the hidden gems when the interweb is not available, a map is unbeatable.

[sddsddean]

The number of times I get told "the postcode for your satnav is..." and I have to say I haven't got one...I use a map! At least (most of the time) I know where I am! Also, why do all car drivers have to have the satnav stuck to the windscreen right in front of them (blocking the view out!), just to go to the shops or work?! I just don't get it!:mad:

 

I will now go and stoke the boiler of the truck ready for Monday!;)

 

Simon

[Bob++]

Boiler...? Newfangled abominations, belching smoke and sparks everywhere. They will never take the place of a good team of horses.

[sddsddean]

Boiler...? Newfangled abominations, belching smoke and sparks everywhere. They will never take the place of a good team of horses.

 

 

Neigh lad!!

 

Simon