Renting a car and driving in UK

[Bad kids]

I was lucky to have a good GPS system I'm my car.

Agree
Parking tend to be expensive especially near tourist attractions
Driving in a city area tend to be expensive

Sharing
My years in driving allow me to enjoy a stress less trip. I only make one detour due to miss cue at a roundabout. And one re-route due to construction on a minor road.

I also manage to found cheap parking area in the city at Bath (£5 overnight parking) and Stratford Upon Avon (£2 overnight parking), both walking distance to my hotels.

Do drive to Stonehedge (between my journey from Bath to London) for the experience.

Do drive to Bichester Village (factory outlet).

Don't drive in London, only return your car there.

 

[alpc]

Driving in UK is not a breeze.
You have to pay for parking almost everywhere (hotel, even ulu places).

Places like Lake District, you can't find any place to park when you want to see-see, look-look. And this was only the shoulder season (May/June). Can't think what it like in high season (July/August).

Lots of roundabout to navigate. Without GPS, no chance.

Places like Isle of Skye, there's only one lane for 2 way traffic. Need to know when to let the other side pass and always wave back.

Don't recall having issues with Lake District, but it was in April, so off peak but it was their Easter break so also a bit of traffic. Still managed to get around and some photos too.

Peak District is even worse... Some places no parking place except a very small lane to stop maybe max of 3 cars, and we can be gone for like hours! But places like Chatsworth and Lyme, they have plenty of parking space but still full!!! Again, Easter break and considered as off season (mar/apr).

 

[ashethen]

Driving in UK is not a breeze.
You have to pay for parking almost everywhere (hotel, even ulu places).

Places like Lake District, you can't find any place to park when you want to see-see, look-look. And this was only the shoulder season (May/June). Can't think what it like in high season (July/August).

Lots of roundabout to navigate. Without GPS, no chance.

Places like Isle of Skye, there's only one lane for 2 way traffic. Need to know when to let the other side pass and always wave back.

Got any itinerary to share for driving around Skye isle?

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[ashethen]

just want to share,

using parkopedia is very useful if you're driving to cities and want to save money on parking. have to plan where to park your car

 

[WWH123]

Got any itinerary to share for driving around Skye isle?

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Most would spent a couple of nights in Portree (aka Isle of Skye capital).


Day 1 - Would spend all day just reaching there (assuming from Edinburgh) with a couple of stops along the way such as Stirling Castle, Glencoe, Fort William for lunch. On reaching Isle of Skye stop at Sligachan for a photo of the bridge. Dinner in Portree.


Day 2 - From Portree, northwards, first stop should be Old Man of Storr.
Then towards Trotternish Peninsula for Kilt Rock Waterfall. Onwards to The Quiraing. Lunch In Uig. Maybe Castle Dunvegan, then Neist Point. Maybe Talisker Distillery if you are into whisky. To wrap up the day, Fairy Pools against the backdrop of Black Cuillin hills. Dinner in Portree.


Day 3 - Basically to get back to Edinburgh or to Inverness. Stop at Eilean Donan Castle, Fort Augustus (for lunch) or cruise on Loch Ness (not really worth it). Fort Augustus is smack in the middle between Inverness and Fort William.

 

[ashethen]

Most would spent a couple of nights in Portree (aka Isle of Skye capital).


Day 1 - Would spend all day just reaching there (assuming from Edinburgh) with a couple of stops along the way such as Stirling Castle, Glencoe, Fort William for lunch. On reaching Isle of Skye stop at Sligachan for a photo of the bridge. Dinner in Portree.


Day 2 - From Portree, northwards, first stop should be Old Man of Storr.
Then towards Trotternish Peninsula for Kilt Rock Waterfall. Onwards to The Quiraing. Lunch In Uig. Maybe Castle Dunvegan, then Neist Point. Maybe Talisker Distillery if you are into whisky. To wrap up the day, Fairy Pools against the backdrop of Black Cuillin hills. Dinner in Portree.


Day 3 - Basically to get back to Edinburgh or to Inverness. Stop at Eilean Donan Castle, Fort Augustus (for lunch) or cruise on Loch Ness (not really worth it). Fort Augustus is smack in the middle between Inverness and Fort William.

Wow thanks. Is 3 days enough? I read that a minimum of 5 days should be spent there. Anyway I booked 3 nights at a nice property there on airbnb

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[TitanSmall]

Most would spent a couple of nights in Portree (aka Isle of Skye capital).


Day 1 - Would spend all day just reaching there (assuming from Edinburgh) with a couple of stops along the way such as Stirling Castle, Glencoe, Fort William for lunch. On reaching Isle of Skye stop at Sligachan for a photo of the bridge. Dinner in Portree.


Day 2 - From Portree, northwards, first stop should be Old Man of Storr.
Then towards Trotternish Peninsula for Kilt Rock Waterfall. Onwards to The Quiraing. Lunch In Uig. Maybe Castle Dunvegan, then Neist Point. Maybe Talisker Distillery if you are into whisky. To wrap up the day, Fairy Pools against the backdrop of Black Cuillin hills. Dinner in Portree.


Day 3 - Basically to get back to Edinburgh or to Inverness. Stop at Eilean Donan Castle, Fort Augustus (for lunch) or cruise on Loch Ness (not really worth it). Fort Augustus is smack in the middle between Inverness and Fort William.

nice.. and interesting.. thinking of going ur way..

 

[geddit]

I am also planning a trip to UK end of year. Hope to get cheap pounds after Thursday.

Taking sleeper train to Inverness from London. Anyone tried and any feedbacks?

Drive from Inverness-> Edinburgh, is it better to go via the Fort Williams/Glencoe or just go via A9 (Pitlochry)? Notice the car rentals rate do not differ much between additional 1-2 days.

 

[WWH123]

Going via A9 motorway would cut short the travel time obviously. Unless you have not passed through Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, Glencoe, Fort William, Fort Augustus on the way up from Edinburgh.

 

[WWH123]

I rented from Enterprise Glasgow which was the only one opened on Sunday.

Not sure about others, they took a GBP200 deposit via Credit Card.

It translates to a S$30 loss which adds to the overall car rental. Not like hotels which take a deposit on check-in but no actual deduction from the CC was done.

 

[ashethen]

I am also planning a trip to UK end of year. Hope to get cheap pounds after Thursday.

Taking sleeper train to Inverness from London. Anyone tried and any feedbacks?

Drive from Inverness-> Edinburgh, is it better to go via the Fort Williams/Glencoe or just go via A9 (Pitlochry)? Notice the car rentals rate do not differ much between additional 1-2 days.

I'll be going via Glencoe from Edinburgh to Skye as it's one of the scenic routes recommended on some websites.

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[ashethen]

I rented from Enterprise Glasgow which was the only one opened on Sunday.

Not sure about others, they took a GBP200 deposit via Credit Card.

It translates to a S$30 loss which adds to the overall car rental. Not like hotels which take a deposit on check-in but no actual deduction from the CC was done.

Thrifty will take a GBP 150 deposit as well. Hopefully they accept my UK debit card

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[WWH123]

Think it should be the same. Deduct then refund. Exchange Rate losses..

 

[geddit]

Can one explore Inverness without a car with only 1 night stay (assuming not exploring the isle of skye) ?

Contemplating to take train back to Edinburgh instead of driving back.

 

[ashethen]

Can one explore Inverness without a car with only 1 night stay (assuming not exploring the isle of skye) ?

Contemplating to take train back to Edinburgh instead of driving back.

When will you be going? I'll report back if you're going after August. Most likely you will only be able to explore the city. Can forget about taking public transport to see attractions at the outskirts of Inverness city. At most visit one at the outskirts by bus as the wait times are long

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[geddit]

Only in Inverness mid December. I will probably only have a full day and 1 night there. Sleeper Caledonian arrives 8.30 am in Inverness itself.

 

[happy_bear]

Thrifty will take a GBP 150 deposit as well. Hopefully they accept my UK debit card

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For my case with europcar uk, they do have many tricks.

I reserved my car model online and prepaid the basic rental amount. Noted that gps is addiTional cost and is payable at the counter.

Upon reaching there, they mentioned that my reserved car model was unavailable and recommended premium cars which incur additional cost .i insisted to wait for my car model and the next second they mention it is available -_-, but they mentioned that there is no portable gps available unless i the the premium cars with in built gps. In the end i rely on google map on my phone for direction, v tedious for roundabts.

As for the deposit, they asked for my cc to charge the insurance [22pounds] plus deposit [200pounds] and would refund the 200 pounds when i return the car intact. Upon chking my statement , i realise they only charge 22 pounds. No charge of the 200pounds.

Returning the car is another nightmare. The staff was not available to check the car condiTions and the counter staff just asked us to drop the key and take pictures of the car to verify the condition of the car for our reference. We took tons of pictures. Do note to take pic and note down pre exisitng problems before u drive out.

Overall experience for uk driving was unpleasant as compared to the other countries i had experienced. I hope yours will be smooth =)prehaps go for reputable ones like hertz or avis

 

[ashethen]

For my case with europcar uk, they do have many tricks.

I reserved my car model online and prepaid the basic rental amount. Noted that gps is addiTional cost and is payable at the counter.

Upon reaching there, they mentioned that my reserved car model was unavailable and recommended premium cars which incur additional cost .i insisted to wait for my car model and the next second they mention it is available -_-, but they mentioned that there is no portable gps available unless i the the premium cars with in built gps. In the end i rely on google map on my phone for direction, v tedious for roundabts.

As for the deposit, they asked for my cc to charge the insurance [22pounds] plus deposit [200pounds] and would refund the 200 pounds when i return the car intact. Upon chking my statement , i realise they only charge 22 pounds. No charge of the 200pounds.

Returning the car is another nightmare. The staff was not available to check the car condiTions and the counter staff just asked us to drop the key and take pictures of the car to verify the condition of the car for our reference. We took tons of pictures. Do note to take pic and note down pre exisitng problems before u drive out.

Overall experience for uk driving was unpleasant as compared to the other countries i had experienced. I hope yours will be smooth =)prehaps go for reputable ones like hertz or avis

Yeah I'm worried they don't have the car i booked. I booked a premium model though.

Why was your driving experience in UK bad? Something to do with how the local drivers drive?

Did they give you a form to note down the pre existing damages?

For your 200gbp deposit, they put a hold for that amount on your card and not actually charge it, which is the right thing to do.

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[happy_bear]

Yeah I'm worried they don't have the car i booked. I booked a premium model though.

Why was your driving experience in UK bad? Something to do with how the local drivers drive?

Did they give you a form to note down the pre existing damages?

For your 200gbp deposit, they put a hold for that amount on your card and not actually charge it, which is the right thing to do.

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My exerience was made bad by the rental company and the lack of gps (i used hp google map), fellow drivers are ok. There was once i got cut abruptly by a car at a roundabt but i think it was my signalling problem. You need to get used to their tons of roundabts.

They provided a slip with preexisiting defects which u ack b4 drivng out. I found more defects and ask them to add on. So u need to chk n take pictures before driving off.

Not sure if they will entice u to further upgrade even u are on premium car, just stick to your original selection.

 

[sink257]

Is it possible to rent if you don't hold a credit card? I'm still studying right now.