What are the rules on Renting Cars in London???!!

Question

My family and I are thinking about visiting London sometime in the next few years and I was wondering what are the rules on renting cars in London if I'm a U.S. citizen and obviously don't have an English license... Thanks for the help!

And any additional ideas on making our trip better will be greatly appreciated!! :)

Answer 1

An international driving permit (IDP) is fairly inexpensive and can be useful in some countries. In most of Europe it is not necessary. I know when I was in the Middle East I used an IDP.

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No one rents a car in London. Even most Brits don't drive cars in London because of the congestion charges, petrol costs, parking fees, and overcrowded roadways.

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Americans find driving especially difficult. Driving on the opposite side of the road is one thing, some of the Carribean island have opposite side driving in American style cars. In UK, you also have your seat on the opposite side, You must shift with your left hand since automatic cars are very expensive. And England has a lot of roundabouts which are fairly rare in the US.  In addition the cost of renting and driving in UK is much higher than in the US.

Answer 2

so long as you are only in England temporarily, an international / US drivers licence will be fine.

i've rented cars over here and it's not too hard to do, try Europcar, and the manual cars are much cheaper than automatics.  You will need a credit card with an "unused" limit on it of around £500 for when you make the booking, and make sure you fill it up with petrol before you take it back, if you don't they will charge you and arm and a leg to do it for you!

Answer 3

Your question is actually hard to answer, if not to say unable to answer.

The driving licenses of some U.S. states are fully recognized to be used in the United Kingdom, however licenses  of some states require a theoretical examination, others a full renewed license.

Without knowing the State of your orign, a detailed answer is not possible.

Those provisions however just apply for a stay of a duration longer than 6 months, like being on a residence permit.

If you plan to visit the United Kingdom just for tourist purposes at a duration not to exceeed 6 month, you are free to travel with your U.S.license.

Answer 4

If you are staying in central London, the best rule about renting a car is 'don't'. The best way of getting around central London is on foot or by public transport. If you are foolish enough to rent a car, you will quickly find that:

The road system is confusing, especially for someone who comes from the US and is therefore driving on the wrong side of the road.

There is nowhere to park. where there is somewhere to park, the cost will be astronomical.

Traffic is dense, other drivers will be unforgiving of your mistakes and the general atmosphere approximates to that depicted in the chariot race in 'Ben Hur'.

Petrol (gasoline) currently costs about £1.15 a litre. This approximates to around $10 per US gallon. No, I didn't mistype that.

You will burn most of that petrol either stationary in traffic, in short bursts of intense acceleration trying to beat the other chariot racers to a gap in the traffic or to the next set of traffic lights before they turn red, or driving round in increasingly frustrated circles looking for a parking space.

Still not discouraged? Make sure you ask for an automatic transmission, otherwise you'll get something with three pedals and a funny stick.