Planning for about 10 days in the UK, flying in to LHR, out of Manchester
Thinking 3 days / 2 nights in London, then see the Harry Potter studios, then maybe drive, see Salisbury, Stonehenge, Bath, Liverpool, Manchester
2 adults, 2 kids, grades 4 and 9, both Beatles fans
Looking for any suggestions
Some particular questions
- the first couple of nights, we will stay near Tower Bridge. No car. Get an Oyster card?
- About a rental car, where is a good place to pick it up? I have driven in some big European cities and some are more chaotic than I like. Not sure that I want to pair heavy traffic and other side of the road learning on the job. Is it best to get out to Luton or Stansted and pick up a car?
- any recommendations along that general route for things to check out?
(It’s be great to see darts live - have you seen those crowds!!? ..but I don’t think there are any while we are there)
Heathrow is on the western side of London so you wouldn’t have to deal with central London traffic if you rented from there. You could get the heathrow express from paddington station out to the airport and then rent a car from there.
The other option I would maybe look into would be getting the train from London out to Bristol and renting a car from Bristol airport. It’s been a long time since I was there but I remember it being easy enough to drive from there and it’s close to Bath.
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Bear in mind London has a $30 a day congestion charge to drive in and there is no need for a car in London at all.
You should also take into account UK roads are narrow as hell and everyone drives twice as fast as in Canada and on the wrong side of the road, I love it but it will test you driving skill
I never rent cars in London, I go out to my mums in the west country and rent a car there.
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Bear in mind London has a $30 a day congestion charge to drive in and there is no need for a car in London at all.
You should also take into account UK roads are narrow as hell and everyone drives twice as fast as in Canada and on the wrong side of the road, I love it but it will test you driving skill
I never rent cars in London, I go out to my mums in the west country and rent a car there.
Much appreciated
I’m not looking to drive in London, for sure. I think I’m looking for guidance for where to get a car, and how best to get there, thinking the Harry Potter studios in Watford are our next stop outside of London before heading west and north.
Wear a Liverpool jersey, everyone will be your friend.
Seriously do not wear a soccer jersey of any kind!
So if I get a car with an antenna (that’s still a thing, right?) and fly a Liverpool flag off of it, all of the other drivers will give me the right of way?
I live in London and would strongly advise against renting a car for the London leg of your trip. London is not built for driving around in cars - despite there being millions of them. It is so much easier, and faster getting around by public transport.
I’ve been to the Harry Potter Studio Tour. My son and his friend - about 9 at the time loved it. I was about 44 at the time, and loved it. We did the tour independently and the staff there were fantastic - I’d do the tour independently rather than on a guided tour.
You’ll probably find yourself in or near Victoria for large parts of the London leg. There is a coach station there and trips run regularly to Harry Potter Studios. That said, given that you’re likely to do the tour as you leave London, you could probably start renting your car from this point of your trip.
Once you’re out of London, you’ll be travelling on motorways to your other destinations. That is where the car is convenient.
In London, there is one attraction, that not many know about because it is essentially public transport, but offers incredible views. I suspect your kids will enjoy it as well.There is a gondola crossing over the Thames that offers spectacular views over London and of the O2 arena as well as planes coming in to London City Airport. I take all visitors to London there and we spend a day at the restaurants there and if you book in advance you could if you choose, also Climb the O2 - kids aged 10 and up are ok to do this.
The above link is from a site I use for all manner of things from choice of electricity supplier to travel. Use the advice here and you will not get screwed like a typical tourist. Tip 6 gives details of the gondola over the Thames and there are other good ideas - 15, 18, 22, 28 for example.
Edit: As pointed out by Slava, below - the museums are fantastic attractions - the Natural History Museum was a particular favourite of my son’s. It is located near a load of other museums including the Victoria and Albert and the Science Museum. All of these are free entry and at the very least a great backup plan if the weather is iffy. They are all located near South Kensington underground station. Funnily enough, I was down there yesterday accompanying my son to the Imperial College open day.
Last edited by Barnet Flame; 09-18-2022 at 09:31 AM.
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Driving in the UK is fine. I'd find a rental place near a freeway and transit stop. Take transit, then it's a short hop onto a freeway to get you out. Just don't time it for rush hour.
You don't need an Oyster card, you can use your credit card like one. Though I'm not sure how it works with kids, as I was buying indivdual. Might want to Google it.
Don't miss seeing the Magna Carta in Salisbury Cathedral, I didn't know it was there, and just kinda stumbled into the room with it.
Stonehenge is a half hour stop, so don't budget too much time there. Bath is great. If you are a Geologist, they have a stop of interest...
Exciting stuff!
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I don’t have much to add, but wouldn’t drive in London and I’d get an Oyster card. You can just use your phone, but for some reason mine wouldn’t work when I was there and I had my old one anyway.
The museum’s in the article that Barnet posted above are basically incredible. The British National has what has to be an unrivalled collection of Egyptian and Middle-Eastern artifacts (it’s free because they went around the world and stole everything, I assume!). The National Gallery is also excellent and there are a lot of world famous paintings there (also free).
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So if I get a car with an antenna (that’s still a thing, right?) and fly a Liverpool flag off of it, all of the other drivers will give me the right of way?
Especially in London and Manchester! All of the honking will be in the spirit of friendship and the things they throw at your car are offerings.
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There's a concept called the visitor's Oyster card now. It seems kinda neat and apparently there's some discounts you can take advantage of. Main difference solely seems like you don't have to wait in line in London to get the card. You can get it mailed to you. I don't know how new it is, but that's neat.
I personally wouldn't drive in central London. It seems like it'd be a hassle and be expensive for parking etc. which would seem to be less convenient and more expensive than using the Tube. I'd use the Oyster card and do my best to plan days where I max it out (stops charging you after you hit a certain amount per day). Plus no need to worry about change or pulling out cards to buy individual tickets etc. Just scan a whole wallet or bag.
I wonder if using the trains more would make sense. I took the trains to HP Studios and it was fine although I did get accidentally add 45 minutes to my trip by hopping on the wrong train.
Entrance tickets... damn those prices are nuts at times. However, when I was in London, I found that keeping tabs on the websites for last minute cancellations was a great way to avoid scalper prices if you missed an opportunity to grab it. Warner Studios (Harry Potter) for instance was like $200 CAD per person plus transport when I was there. I had resigned to the idea we weren't going until I nabbed a pair on the Studio website for $40-50 per ticket (which is what they were supposed to be back then) at like 2-3 AM. I also noticed that a few more days and time options were available, but they were all gone by 10-11 AM the next day. I think it cost an additional $10-15 bucks per person round trip via train (not pounds, I recall translating it into CAD$) and that factored into an easy Oyster card max out daily charge so we added a few additional trips to water front spaces, London eye etc. "for free" and saved like $20-30 ish of travel to a few touristy areas by combining it together.
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UK travel advice - London to Manchester
