Automobiles
Renting a car and driving in the U.K.
The wind in your hair, the M4 stretching before you, the freedom to explore at will, the daily reminders that you have to drive on the left and navigate roundabouts... A car is the only way to see all of England's nooks and crannies.
Except for the driving on the left thing, British road rules are similar enough to North American ones that you'll get by fine; here are the important differences
Rental cars links
- Autoeurope.com - Wholesale prices on rentals (and short-term leases) from major rental companies. You end up picking up the car at the local Avis, Hertz, Europcar, or whatever office; you just pay less than the rack rate from those companies.Partner
- Rentalcars.com - Comparison shop the rates at multiple rental companies all at once.Partner
- Momondo.com - Comparison shop the rates at multiple rental companies all at once.Partner
- Europebycar.com - Offers both short-term rentals and short-term leases, making it easy to compare prices on a single site.
- Priceline.com - Actually finds good prices on U.K. rentals.Partner
- Vayama.com - aggregatorPartner
- Carrentals.com - This Expedia.com property searches about a dozen major rental companies at once.Partner
Driving links
- Gov.uk - Official UK governmental rules of the road, guides to road signs and their meaning, and more
- Amazon.com - A link to get road maps of Great Britain.Partner
- Slowtrav.com - Nice article introducing all of the quirks of driving in the United Kingdom—not just how to drive on the left, but roundabouts, highway types, speed cameras, and handy tips.
- Orcutt.net - Almost comically in-depth blog entry—with loads of links—about driving in the U.K. This guy went way above and beyond what's necessary when planning to drive on his British vacation, but it is about the most complete explanation of being on the British road from a Yankee's point of view as you'll ever find. Some good tips.
- Theaa.com - The British version of AAA provides, among other things, a monthly gas prices chart and a map of traffic incidents and slowdowns.
- Parkopedia.co.uk - live parking maps
- Tfl.gov.uk - Driving in London
- Cclondon.com - All about the infamous "congestion charge" you have to pay if you happen to drive in central London.
- Urbanaccessregulations.eu - Central clearinghouse for information on every city in Europe (most, nowawdays) that has some sort of limited access to the city center, congestion charging, Low Emission Zones, or other wrinkle you need to be aware of.
Car leases links
- Autoeurope.com - Since Auto Europe does both short-term leases (they call it their "Peugeot Open Europe Buy Back Program") as well as regular rentals (at the best rates in the business), they're the best place to shop first to see which method—renting or leasing—will cost you the least in the long run. They do cheap cell phone rentals and consolidators airfares, too.Partner
- Europebycar.com - Europe By Car saves you some legwork by grouping together both of the factory programs, allowing you lease a brand-new automobile direct from either Citroen or Renault
- Renaultusa.com - Direct line to the Renault short-term leasing program.
Find parking links
- Parkopedia.co.uk - Search for lots, garages, and other public parking options.
- Parkatmyhouse.com - Like Uber for parking, a "sharing economy" site allowing individuals and private entities to offer parking, often just a space or two but for far than garages and lots (plus it is reserved in advance and gauranteed).
