• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 1416 0

and expensive, and traffic is tediously slow at most times of the day; during rush hours—from 8 am to 9:30 am and 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm—it often grinds to a standstill, particularly on Friday, when everyone wants to leave town. Avoid city-center shopping areas, including the roads feeding Oxford Street, Kensington, and Knightsbridge. Other main roads into the city center are also busy, such as King’s Cross and Euston in the north. Watch out also for cyclists and motorcycle couriers, who weave between cars and pedestrians and seem to come out of nowhere, and you may be fined heavily for straying into a bus lane during its operating hours—check the signs.

If you are staying just in London on this trip, there’s virtually no reason to rent a car since the city and its suburbs are widely covered by public transportation. However, you might want a car for day trips to castles or stately homes out in the countryside. Consider renting your car in a medium-size town in the area where you’ll be traveling, and then journeying there by train and picking up the car once you arrive. Rental rates are generally reasonable, and insurance costs are lower than in comparable U.S. cities. Rates generally begin at £42 a day for a small economy car (such as a subcompact General Motors Vauxhall, Corsa, or Renault Clio), usually with manual transmission. Air-conditioning and unlimited mileage generally come with the larger-size automatic cars.

In London your U.S. driver’s license is acceptable (as long as you are over 23 years old, with no endorsements or driving convictions). If you have a driver’s license from a country other than the United States, it may not be recognized in the United Kingdom. An International Driver’s Permit is a good idea no matter what; it’s available from the American (AAA) or Canadian Automobile Association and, in the United Kingdom, from the Automobile Association (AA) or Royal Automobile Club (RAC). International permits are universally recognized, and having one may save you a problem with the local authorities.

Remember that Britain drives on the left, and the rest of Europe on the right. Therefore, you may want to leave your rented car in Britain and pick up a left-side drive if you cross the Channel ().

Congestion Charge

Designed to reduce traffic through central London, a congestion charge has been instituted. Vehicles (with some exemptions) entering central London on weekdays from 7 am to 6 pm (excluding public holidays) have to pay an £8 daily fee; it can be paid up to 90 days in advance, on the day of travel, or on the following charging day, when the fee goes up to £10. Day-, month-, and year-long passes are available on the Congestion Charging page of the Transport for London Web site, at gas stations, parking lots (car parks), by mail, by phone, and by SMS text message. One day’s payment is good for all access into the charging zone on that day. Traffic signs designate the entrance to congestion areas, and cameras read car license plates and send the information to a database. Drivers who don’t pay the congestion charge by midnight of the next charging day following the day of driving are penalized £120, which is reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days.

Information Congestion Charge Customer Service (Freepost NAT 6416, Box 2985, | Coventry | CV7 8BR | 0845/900–1234 | www.cclondon.com). Transport for London (www.tfl.gov.uk).

Gasoline

Gasoline (petrol) is sold in liters and is expensive (at press time in spring 2011 about £1.20 per liter—around $7 per gallon—at this writing). Unleaded petrol, denoted by green pump lines, is predominant. Premium and Super Premium are the two varieties, and most cars run on regular Premium. Supermarket pumps usually offer the best value. You won’t find many service stations in the center of town; these are generally on main, multilane trunk roads out of the center. Service is self-serve, except in small villages, where gas stations are likely to be closed on Sunday and late evening. Most stations accept major credit cards.

Parking

During the day—and probably at all times