Car Rental - London

[BRUCENLYNN]

Can anyone recommend a car rental in London? We need transportation to Dover for our 6/3/06 cruise and private transportation is outrageous. I always like to go with someone that has been recommended even though I can find many options.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Lynn

[Globaliser]

On the occasions that I've rented cars in London, I've usually used Hertz. Does that help? :D

 

You're unlikely to find any small local rental operators that are of much use, because they probably won't do one-way rentals to a remote location like Dover. You really need chain operators for that.

 

If private transfers are no good, do you think you might be able to manage the train?

[BRUCENLYNN]

Thanks for the reply. My husband has found a company that will allow one-way drop and they are quite reasonable. I just hope they are reputable -- he says he found a favorable review.

 

The train is also a possibility. He wasn't thrilled with hauling all the luggage.

[dileep]

We rented a car from Hertz too and drove to the Best western Churchill Hotel last May.

 

The Hertz office is quite close by and and easy to find. They will call a cab for you when you drop off your car but it take 10-15 minutes.

 

I dropped my wife off at the ship with our luggage, dropped the car off and walked to the ship (15 minutes).

 

Expect to pay a lot to fill up the gas tank. There is a gas station a block before you get to Hertz too.

 

The drive was pretty easy too, other than driving stick shift in the other side!

[dileep]

The train is also a possibility. He wasn't thrilled with hauling all the luggage.

 

You have to take the train to Central London and then change to the train going to Dover.

 

If you get a reasonable rate on one way rental, that is the way to go if you are brave enough to drive!

[BRUCENLYNN]

Thanks for the info on Hertz. I think we've decided a rental car is best for us. Not only do we need transportation to Dover but we'll need transport to/from Gatwick to our hotel in London which I understand is quite pricey as well.

Fortunately, we lived in England for three years so we've done the left-hand shifting and driving on the opposite side. I'll leave the driving to my husband though as I have no desire to attempt that again!

Thanks Dileep for the post. I know my DH would grumble the whole time if he was hauling suitcases on and off the tube and train. Can't blame him much either.

 

Lynn

[Globaliser]

I think we've decided a rental car is best for us. Not only do we need transportation to Dover but we'll need transport to/from Gatwick to our hotel in London which I understand is quite pricey as well.

How long are you going to be staying in London? Which days of the week? And what are you planning to do while you're there?

 

Renting a car, driving yourself to central London and keeping the car for the duration of your stay in central London may be far more effort than it's worth. On weekdays, you will have to pay the congestion charge in order to drive in the congestion charge zone in the centre of town - £8 per day. Parking meters in central London typically charge £4 per hour. Casual parking in car parks is often more expensive than that, although your hotel may have an arrangement with a nearby car park that is better value.

 

Of course, if you want to spend this time driving to see things outside central London, then much of the above will not apply. But then you would have to ask yourself what is the point of paying for a central London hotel if you're not going to visit central London.

 

You might be better off finding some other way into town, and then only renting the car on the day you go from London to Dover.

[dileep]

We took the bus (pre-reserved) from Dover to Central London aafter the cruise and a cab to the hotel. Cab again (50 pounds) to Heathrow. That worked better than having a car in London.

[BRUCENLYNN]

Who knew driving could be so difficult in London! A congestion charge?

 

Our plan is once we drive the car to the hotel from Gatwick we'll just park it and use the public transportation to sightsee in London. We've checked to see that the hotel (Kensington Hilton) has a car park. We'll be in London two nights (Thursday and Friday) and head for Dover early Saturday morning.

 

On the return from the cruise (Saturday) we'd like to head down to Ipswich and look around because we used to live there. That night we'll be staying at the The Park Tower in London and I'm pretty sure they had parking as well. On Sunday we'll sightsee using public transportation again before heading back to Gatwick to drop off the car. We are staying at the Gatwick Hilton since we have an early flight Monday morning.

 

After reviewing what I've said -- do you see any glitches we may run into?

 

Thanks again for your advice.

 

Lynn

[Globaliser]

Information about the congestion charge is available here on the official website.

 

On the assumption that you are coming in 2006, use the information on the site to make sure that you plan a route to your hotel on the Thursday morning which does not enter the congestion charge zone (which should be pretty straightforward). The cameras are very good at picking up vehicles as soon as they enter the zone, so if you get lost and enter the zone by accident, make sure you pay it otherwise you could be in for a stiff penalty plus the car hire company's admin fees.

 

On the Saturday morning, the congestion charge will not apply so you don't need to worry about that. Likewise, after the cruise you will arrive on the Saturday afternoon/evening and then drive to Gatwick on Sunday so the congestion charge will not apply.

 

So if you're happy with the total car hire cost plus the cost of parking at the Kensington Hilton for two nights, then I can't see any real problems.

[BRUCENLYNN]

Thanks for that info -- we'll be sure to avoid the area if possible.

 

Once we add up the taxi to and from airport plus the trip to and from Dover, we are way better with a car rental.