Glad you enjoyed your trip. Regarding the very narrow roads these are officially know as "single track roads with passing places" that means it is only wide enough for one vehicle to pass at a time but every hundred meters or more there is a wider spot were 2 vehicles can pass. So what you do is drive along and as you pass one look down the road for the next or anyone else coming, give way if there is someone else there. If you meet someone where you aren't in a passing place the vehicle that can reverse most easily backs up. So if you are following another car don't crowd it as the driver might need to reverse. You might see signs saying "passing place" do not park in these and leave the vehicle you are blocking the road. You can pause if you want to look around or need to read a map. Parking in major cities, particularly ones that tourists might visit York, Bath, Oxford, Edinburgh. USE THE PARK AND RIDE. You park the car outside the city and get a bus service that usually runs every 10 to 15 minutes until sometime in the evening. The bus takes you right into the heart of said city, ask the driver if there are multiple stops. Most of these cities everywhere you might want to visit is going to be within a mile of the centre where the bus drops you and you can walk there more easily than trying to park. Driving in central London just NO. I wouldn't attempt it and i am British, but not a Londoner. Parking is nearly impossible and very, very expensive and still not convenient and then there is trying to find your way around. Get a travel card / Oyster card it gives travel on all the trains and buses in central London those run all day and most of the night. Shame about the car rental firm, they all do some version of trying to chiesel you with extra charges on the rental. Basically, because they are all trying to show the lowest rental rate on price comparison which wont actually make a profit, to get you to select them and then try and make it up by applying expenses you hadn't anticipated.
Thank you so much for the tips. I think these will be valuable info for any tourists intending to drive in the UK. Yah we did our research and did not drive in both Edinburgh and London. Public transport is sufficient for touring around London in particular. Cheers!!
You are clearly an intelligent and considerate person _and_ driver. I know this because of two things you said. Firstly, that you decided not to drive in London. This was probably the very best decision you made! Secondly, that you found other drivers to be friendly. Outside of big cities and rush hour, most UK people - be they drivers or not - will be friendly, helpful and polite to foreigners who show politeness and careful behaviour themselves. I am happy that you had, overall, a good experience, despite the rental car problem. I don't know that any one company is better than another; it will depend on the individuals in that particular branch or franchise.
Thanks for the compliment! I am not sure if I deserve that, haha. Yah We did enjoy our UK trip and had a great experience here. Wish we had more time though. Cheers!
in the uk google maps is pretty accurate with the lane you need for the junction, only times I've known it to be wrong is if there are roadworks or if the layout has recently changed. For future reference we don't have "highways" we have motorways, A roads and B roads. The roads at about 4:30 you can avoid 99% of the time. For parking google it before you go to the place EVERYTIME, as a brit I always google it. Car hire companies are absolute scammers, unless you absolutely need a car, stick to public transport.
Yes we do have highways. A highway is any road or path that the public has right of access over. Motorways and other major roads are managed by "National Highways". The rules covering the use of roads is called the "Highway Code".
Thanks for the info. Parking in Bath was particularly hard to find. After Bath we did google for parking before arriving in any major cities, and you're right life is much easier that way. Cheers
HI. Not sure how much you ended up paying for the car rental in the end, but it seems very high. Your basic cost seems reasonable. But the additional costs are big. I guess it is a case of buyer beware as there are some operators who will try to charge what they can. I'd say most of the well known names are usually ok. As a comparison, I hired a 7 seater VW Tourneo which would be tight for luggage space if had 7 passengers. But it cost me £255 for 4 days. It came with a free additional driver and unlimited mileage. If I had taken out their "All inclusive Protection", they were going to charge me £5 per day Yours is over £20 pd (inc VAT)! Then you have approx £140 for additional drivers. Fuelling at about £20 (what's that?). One way fee - fair enough. It's the upgrade stuff that is terrible. It's a tricky one as they never guarantee a particular vehicle. I wonder if the best plan would have been to ask to cancel the original car and take a new upgraded one earlier. But still seems a rip-off for the on-the-spot upgrade.
It was unfortunately a well known brand which I had no issue with in other country. You're right, we would had upgraded online if they gave us the correct info during our email exchange before the trip, and it will be at least around £300 cheaper. The on the spot upgrade fees was ridiculously if you ask me. But we did not want to hassle with the staff about the wrong email info which gotten us into this situation, I mean after 13 hours of flight and travelling with a old age mother in law and kids. We just wanna get it over and done with. But it gotten out of hand when they added more than £300 on top of our upgrade fees to our final bill when we were back home. I had to hassle with them over several emails for about a week in order to get them to admit its their admin mistake to get the refund back. I think I may think twice of using this company in the future.
Re speed limits - that Volvo you were driving has a “tourist” setting which lets you display the speed in both KPH and MPH (I have the same car and use that travelling to France from the U.K.). But I’m puzzled - how come a U.K. hire car displayed the default speed in KPH? Re car hire companies. They seem to be the same everywhere in Europe when it comes to dreaming up excess charges after the rental event. Not sure why they are so bad in Europe, I’ve rented in the USA and South Africa and never had this - by the way South Africa is by far the best quality and fastest service, at best best value, car hire anywhere (in my experience) if you’re thinking of another holiday!
Did not know about the tourist setting. But i love the handling of this car, and it is pack with a lot of features. No, the default display is in mph, which is the same as their road sign. Seems like I am not the only one having bad experiences with the car rental company here. We actually used the exact same company in Thailand branch and had no issue. And experiences in Australia and New Zealand with other companies were good as well.
@@papayajuice OK, I get it. You looked at the speedo registering 60mph and instinctively thought of it as 60kph? Surprisingly easily done, especially on highways - I used to live in France and sometimes briefly thought I was going way too fast when my car registered 130, the highway speed limit.
I believe it is a matter of law that car rental firms are obliged, on fear of heavy fines, to hire crooks as employees. They are always trying to bilk you. NB If there is a white line down the centre of the road and the vehicle approaching you is on the other side of that line then, 999 times out of 1000 there will be no problem, Pretty much every car fits into painted carriageways. Country lanes, not so much.
Yup. A very disappointing experience with the rental company. We rented vehicles from different countries and companies..but this is the first time having such issue.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Glad you enjoyed your trip.
Regarding the very narrow roads these are officially know as "single track roads with passing places" that means it is only wide enough for one vehicle to pass at a time but every hundred meters or more there is a wider spot were 2 vehicles can pass. So what you do is drive along and as you pass one look down the road for the next or anyone else coming, give way if there is someone else there. If you meet someone where you aren't in a passing place the vehicle that can reverse most easily backs up. So if you are following another car don't crowd it as the driver might need to reverse. You might see signs saying "passing place" do not park in these and leave the vehicle you are blocking the road. You can pause if you want to look around or need to read a map.
Parking in major cities, particularly ones that tourists might visit York, Bath, Oxford, Edinburgh. USE THE PARK AND RIDE. You park the car outside the city and get a bus service that usually runs every 10 to 15 minutes until sometime in the evening. The bus takes you right into the heart of said city, ask the driver if there are multiple stops. Most of these cities everywhere you might want to visit is going to be within a mile of the centre where the bus drops you and you can walk there more easily than trying to park.
Driving in central London just NO. I wouldn't attempt it and i am British, but not a Londoner. Parking is nearly impossible and very, very expensive and still not convenient and then there is trying to find your way around. Get a travel card / Oyster card it gives travel on all the trains and buses in central London those run all day and most of the night.
Shame about the car rental firm, they all do some version of trying to chiesel you with extra charges on the rental. Basically, because they are all trying to show the lowest rental rate on price comparison which wont actually make a profit, to get you to select them and then try and make it up by applying expenses you hadn't anticipated.
Thank you so much for the tips. I think these will be valuable info for any tourists intending to drive in the UK. Yah we did our research and did not drive in both Edinburgh and London. Public transport is sufficient for touring around London in particular. Cheers!!
You are clearly an intelligent and considerate person _and_ driver. I know this because of two things you said.
Firstly, that you decided not to drive in London. This was probably the very best decision you made! Secondly, that you found other drivers to be friendly. Outside of big cities and rush hour, most UK people - be they drivers or not - will be friendly, helpful and polite to foreigners who show politeness and careful behaviour themselves.
I am happy that you had, overall, a good experience, despite the rental car problem. I don't know that any one company is better than another; it will depend on the individuals in that particular branch or franchise.
Thanks for the compliment! I am not sure if I deserve that, haha. Yah We did enjoy our UK trip and had a great experience here. Wish we had more time though. Cheers!
Good tip for country lanes, keep your eyes open for passing spots, small sections wide enough for cars to pass each other and gates to fields
I'm really happy that you didn't just stick around London, I'm really happy you went to other parts of the UK.
Thanks. We only wish we had more time in The UK!!
in the uk google maps is pretty accurate with the lane you need for the junction, only times I've known it to be wrong is if there are roadworks or if the layout has recently changed. For future reference we don't have "highways" we have motorways, A roads and B roads. The roads at about 4:30 you can avoid 99% of the time. For parking google it before you go to the place EVERYTIME, as a brit I always google it. Car hire companies are absolute scammers, unless you absolutely need a car, stick to public transport.
Yes we do have highways. A highway is any road or path that the public has right of access over.
Motorways and other major roads are managed by "National Highways".
The rules covering the use of roads is called the "Highway Code".
Thanks for the info. Parking in Bath was particularly hard to find. After Bath we did google for parking before arriving in any major cities, and you're right life is much easier that way. Cheers
Ahem ... Highways and Byways ...
HI. Not sure how much you ended up paying for the car rental in the end, but it seems very high. Your basic cost seems reasonable. But the additional costs are big. I guess it is a case of buyer beware as there are some operators who will try to charge what they can. I'd say most of the well known names are usually ok. As a comparison, I hired a 7 seater VW Tourneo which would be tight for luggage space if had 7 passengers. But it cost me £255 for 4 days. It came with a free additional driver and unlimited mileage. If I had taken out their "All inclusive Protection", they were going to charge me £5 per day Yours is over £20 pd (inc VAT)! Then you have approx £140 for additional drivers. Fuelling at about £20 (what's that?). One way fee - fair enough. It's the upgrade stuff that is terrible. It's a tricky one as they never guarantee a particular vehicle. I wonder if the best plan would have been to ask to cancel the original car and take a new upgraded one earlier. But still seems a rip-off for the on-the-spot upgrade.
It was unfortunately a well known brand which I had no issue with in other country. You're right, we would had upgraded online if they gave us the correct info during our email exchange before the trip, and it will be at least around £300 cheaper. The on the spot upgrade fees was ridiculously if you ask me. But we did not want to hassle with the staff about the wrong email info which gotten us into this situation, I mean after 13 hours of flight and travelling with a old age mother in law and kids. We just wanna get it over and done with. But it gotten out of hand when they added more than £300 on top of our upgrade fees to our final bill when we were back home. I had to hassle with them over several emails for about a week in order to get them to admit its their admin mistake to get the refund back. I think I may think twice of using this company in the future.
Re speed limits - that Volvo you were driving has a “tourist” setting which lets you display the speed in both KPH and MPH (I have the same car and use that travelling to France from the U.K.). But I’m puzzled - how come a U.K. hire car displayed the default speed in KPH?
Re car hire companies. They seem to be the same everywhere in Europe when it comes to dreaming up excess charges after the rental event. Not sure why they are so bad in Europe, I’ve rented in the USA and South Africa and never had this - by the way South Africa is by far the best quality and fastest service, at best best value, car hire anywhere (in my experience) if you’re thinking of another holiday!
Did not know about the tourist setting. But i love the handling of this car, and it is pack with a lot of features. No, the default display is in mph, which is the same as their road sign.
Seems like I am not the only one having bad experiences with the car rental company here. We actually used the exact same company in Thailand branch and had no issue. And experiences in Australia and New Zealand with other companies were good as well.
@@papayajuice OK, I get it. You looked at the speedo registering 60mph and instinctively thought of it as 60kph? Surprisingly easily done, especially on highways - I used to live in France and sometimes briefly thought I was going way too fast when my car registered 130, the highway speed limit.
Keep your speed down, horses and people could be around the next shape bend
I believe it is a matter of law that car rental firms are obliged, on fear of heavy fines, to hire crooks as employees. They are always trying to bilk you.
NB If there is a white line down the centre of the road and the vehicle approaching you is on the other side of that line then, 999 times out of 1000 there will be no problem, Pretty much every car fits into painted carriageways. Country lanes, not so much.
Yup. A very disappointing experience with the rental company. We rented vehicles from different countries and companies..but this is the first time having such issue.
Rule one. Don't hire/drive a Volvo, everyone will assume you are an idiot.