My two friends and I are planning on renting a car from Edinburgh and driving it down to London. We would get the car on Thursday August 10 in the morning (9am) and then we're supposed to give it back in London at Friday August 11 at 9pm.

We were thinking of stopping in the following places: 1 place in North part of England (preferably a castle, maybe go to York?) then Oxford, stay overnight at oxford and then go to Bath, Stonehenge and another place close to London.

Does this seem feasible? Stupid? Any suggestions? Anything to look out for?

Any help would be really really appreciated

well i live in the north west england, and it takes about 3 hrs to get from edinburgh to mine.-

from york to oxford would take a while depending on which bit your in. it does seem feasible though, if a little rushed. what you should look out for is what the type of roads they are.

for example you can get anywhere quite fast if there is a nice big motorway running through- i.e. like driving down from edinburgh you have a couple. however if your going to visit castles- odds are your going to be in country/ hilly areas where roads wind round stuff- and although they have high speed limits they are a bit deceptive.

for example on a map it looks like i live fairly close to places in north wales, but in reality it takes ages to get anywhere in north wales coz the roads really slow and windy- and there are no motorways *cry*

so get a nice big map! (you can pick these up in any service stations)

also if your getting pushed for time note the rush hours and don't travel in them if you can help it... for example friday afternoons can be quite trafficy because some people finish work earlier. this only applies really to the cities- especially london- but its like that in all cities i guess?

i think thats about it... your gonna have a great time... I love edinburgh!

hope this helps

To get to all those places in a day and a half, your pushing the limits with time i think, but i suppose you could make it. Driving in London is a bit of a bastard. And keep to the left hand side of the road. . .And try to learn how roundabouts work . . .

Thanks for the tips. My friend is getting a map and we're supposed to be planning tomorrow, Maybe we will cut down some sights to spend more time in others.

Are there any castles or sights in the northern part of England that you would recommend?

Thanks, a lot of ppl have been saying that it is a bit of a stretch, so I have to talk to my friends and see if we want to spend some time seeing things or making it a trophy trip lol.

Roundabouts in Portugal goes to the right, will they be going to the left in England? Or still to the right? I should read up on this.. great tip! Thanks a lot

To the right aswell here.

Wow. Definitely ambitious! I agree with the above, it is doable but you'll have an absolute minimum of time to see anything - you're talking nearly 12 hours of solid driving total. Much kudos if you decide to go for it for the trophyness!

Hmm, I'm unsure what to tell you, will you have already spent time in Edinburgh before you rent the car? because that really is a great place. Plus once you have seen one castle, you've pretty much seen them all.

Actually you know, I reckon if you'll already have seen Edinburgh, then go for it. Whatever you decide you've got a lot of driving ahead, so you might as well cram as much in as possible. Some points I would mention though:

1. Durham is a very beautiful city, and it has a castle (though I don't know what it's like) and is easier to get to than York, which is also very pretty, but very touristy with it. The time difference would probably be fairly marginal though.
2. The Yorkshire moors/dales are very beatiful to drive over, if a pain in the arse for the driver.
3. If you want to skip the north, go down the west side - the motorways will be far quicker.
4. If you want to go down the west side and still want to see some of the north, Chester is also an old town and has a castle. (Though it won't be nearly as impressive as the other places you're going)
5. If you take the west, make sure to take the M6 toll. £3.50 at non peak times, and way quicker. (I didn't tell you this: there are never ever police on the toll, and no speed cameras...)
6.Avoid Birmingham, and if at all possible any of the London suburbs.
7. If you can do without a full nights sleep, and the place you are staying will let you check in anytime, consider doing the big leg of the journey at night, or after 6.30. Much lot quicker, though obviously might not be possible/practical. Also you won't see anything from the car (duh).

Finally, before you decide, find a map of the UK showing all motorways and A roads (if you haven't already) and use the routeplanner at the AA routeplanner to judge times. Also stick by their directions they are usually very good.

Sorry if I've stated the obvious here, but good luck anyways and enjoy it!

http://www.theaa.com/travelwatch/inc/planner_places_redirect.jsp

8 hours 12 minutes apparently.

I went to a place called Gair Loch with a pal for New Years last year. It's an incredibly remote, tiny seaside village in the Scottish Highlands. Now according to the AA routefinder, that journey should've taken us close to nine hours by car, and going there it did (it was also incredibly scenic... driving along Loch Lomond with snow capped mountains on either side was astonishing). The way back, however, took a butt numbing 13 hours due to traffic.

We rarely stopped, and when we did it was only for toilet breaks and/or meals. By the end of the journey home we were both broken men.

I'd certainly do something like it again, but I wouldn't recommend anyone attempting to drive that far for fun over a 24 hour period. It's doable, but you're not likely to have much time to do anything apart from stare at landmarks from your car and service station windows.

Make it a two day journey.

I'm guessing this is for Edinburgh - oxford(?) direct - I think you'll find if you total all the stops, its nearer twelve.

Don't listen to Snrub, he's got what basically amounts to a quiff. Do it for the hell of it!

Oh! For some reason I thought he said he had to have the car in London for 9 AM the following day... not PM. Having just re-read his initial post, I noticed my error. That's plenty of time! Do it! Do it! You'll have a right laugh, though you still may find yourself regretting not stretching it out for one more day.

And Ben... a quiff? A QUIFF?!

Thank you!

Your only real problem will be falling asleep on those monotonous motorways, there just so straight and non-challenging, damn the UK's top notch road system.

Get a reasonable car and hit 120 on the m6 toll - challenging enough...

Actually the bit where you go through the toll booth is brilliant for testing your 0-60 (or 100) time. My friend and I once went up against a TVR Griffin. We were in a great big diesel estate and (got) completely pwned (by) the bastard.



Welcome.

In the North of England i would suggest taking the A1 south from Edinburgh and stopping of an Alnwick Castle and Gardens, it may be a little slower journey that way, but the scenery is fantastic and the whole town is steeped in history. I used to live in the area and i think its a great place (Harry Potter was filmed there as well). Here's some pictures:








http://www.alnwickcastle.com/

I am a little biased towards this place though.... i went to school in part of the castle

From there you can hit the A1/M1/M69/M40 south to Oxford, just suggesting a little alternative

Oh and i didn't like York, there's really not that much there of interest.

agreed on the york front... worth skipping.