Renting a car at Heathrow

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Anybody ever do this?

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Plenty, but I switched to Uber for a while but that is now gone. There is a tram that takes you to the rental car place.

It is not as easy as one might think to driving on the opposite lane in the opposite seat. Be advised it will take some adjustment, especially with all of the roundabouts.

I would highly recommend NOT renting a car your first day in England. But, I did it after a layover in Dublin so I was even more tired arriving to Heathrow around 1 compared to 10am for a direct flight from the states.

Here's the issue, you are tired and jet lagged then have to drive on the left side and go through all the traffic circles. It was honestly EASILY my most dangerous day of driving in my life. I drove to the countryside in Kent too and the roads were basically 1.5 lane.

I would fly in, then train or taxi your first day. Then when you are not tired from your flight, drive.

The thing that I NEVER got used to was the damn gears are still the same place in the manual. So you are using your left hand to shift which is weird enough. But first is still top left, where as in america first is top left which is closet to you, but England its top left which is furthest away. I grinded the CRAP out of gears because of that. Constantly going to 5th instead of first. It seemed common sense to have first gear closest to you, but in England first is furthest away.

Contrary to popular belief, most rentals are automatic now.

Last time we visited I did. First few days were in London, so we didn't get one till we were done in London. Underground back to the airport and then to the rental car. Auto cars, GPS, good on driving on opposite side, until my 1st roundabout. Exited in the wrong lane, but fixed quickly.

We drove out to Cornwall, then up to the British Open at Lytham St. Annes.

My first time in England, we got in a shuttle van to take us to London from airport. I remember saying to my friend just 2 minutes into the ride, "I would have crashed twice by now".

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"Contrary to popular belief, most rentals are automatic now."


You sure about that? When we went both of our cars were Manual.

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Yeah, there are a LOT of places where the cars are mostly manual. Usually you can reserve an automatic, though. I do that when driving on the left. Just keeping the windshield wiper/turn signal straight is bad enough, I know better than to get a left side manual - that way lies madness.

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In fairness I carry elite status with Hertz, but yes the last 7-8 times I have gotten a car in Europe I have gotten an automatic. I think it’s a selection but they have plenty of automatics.

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Ah, ok that makes sense. You are certainly correct, that choosing an automatic is definitely always a possibility when in Europe. To be honest I probably chose a manual for fun or chose a manual to be cheap. I don’t remember. I had no damn idea a UK manual had the gears like they are though, I’ll never do that again.

Still though even without the gears, I’d absolutely not recommend driving the first day after a trans ocean flight. It’s not hard after a day, but I just don’t think it’s a good idea at all getting used to it when tired.