Planning Your Perfect UK Road Trip: Expert Tips and Itinerary Ideas

Ready to kickstart the New Year with a bang and embark on a memorable UK adventure? In this week's episode Tracy and Doug Collins discuss 12 tips for planning a UK road trip.

They recommend using Tripiamo - a resource for North American drivers planning to drive in the UK. They stress the importance of booking car hire in advance, choosing the right size of car, and considering hidden costs like toll roads and roadworks. They also emphasise the need to request an automatic transmission if necessary.

They share their own experiences with recent road trips in Cornwall and Scotland and signpost to several road trip itineraries available on the UK Travel Planning website.

Show notes - Episode 79

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast. Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website, tracey Collins. In this podcast, tracey shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation. Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns.

Speaker 2: 0:39

Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the UK Travel Planning Podcast. First of all, doug and I would like to wish you a happy and prosperous New Year 2024. Happy New Year and if this is the year you are planning your UK trip, stay tuned to the podcast and our UK Travel Planning and London Travel Planning websites for lots more exciting travel inspiration and research to help you plan your trip. Following on from last week's episode, where we focused on how to plan your UK vacation, this week Doug and I share 12 tips to planning a UK road trip. So if you are considering a UK drive-in vacation, this is the episode for you. So let's dive or drive right in.

Speaker 3: 1:24

Yeah, okay. So if this is your first time driving in the UK on the left on side of the road or want to refresh it, we recommend Trippie Armour. This is designed specifically to prepare North American drivers for the UK roads and it's the most comprehensive guide for Americans driving in the UK.

Speaker 2: 1:46

It consists of 360 degree drive-in tours, expert instructional videos and on the go resources to teach you how to drive on the left side of the road, the driving rules across the UK, how to identify and follow local road signs and much more, and you can hear more about Tripiama in episode 12 of the UK Travel Plan and podcast. There's also a link in this week's show notes for more information. We've had excellent feedback from those who have used the Tripiama materials to prepare for navigating the UK roads and we highly recommend purchasing their materials. We actually have had feedback to from people who have said that the biggest regret they had was not purchasing the Tripiama materials, so really we highly recommend that you do consider going through our link and purchasing Tripiama to prepare you for driving in the UK.

Speaker 3: 2:39

Most definitely. Yeah, people have said that, haven't they?

Speaker 2: 2:40

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 2:41

Okay, so you can also check out our articles on the UK Travel Planning website. These include our UK road trip itinerary planner, which has seven detailed itinerary suggestions for you, as well as the podcast episode about our road trips around Cornwall and around Scotland.

Speaker 2: 2:58

I'd say, yeah, we've done a couple of podcasts about our road trips, which are really popular. Also, we've done we did the North Coast 500, we've driven around Cornwall, so yeah, those are worth listening to. Obviously, you listen to the podcast, you like podcasts, so it'll be worth listening to those. And obviously we've got a lot of detailed information on the website. So again, I'll link to those articles in the show notes. So, yeah, should I do the next?

Speaker 1: 3:22

one.

Speaker 2: 3:24

Okay. So with Car Hire, it's best to book in advance, and we highly recommend that you avoid planning your itinerary to collect your car on a Sunday or drop off your car on a Sunday unless it's an airport because you might find that at weekends it's actually more difficult to be able to book a pickup or drop off. It's also more expensive if you pick up and drop off at different locations, which we found out last year didn't we?

Speaker 2: 3:48

We certainly did yes, and when we're down in Cornwall- yeah, yeah, so we had to change where we're dropping the car off. We're going to drop it off in Exeter, but we actually changed that to Birmingham Airport because we had a change in our itinerary.

Speaker 3: 3:59

Last minute change Last minute change.

Speaker 2: 4:00

Yeah, so that cost us £100 for a different drop off location. So definitely find out about that if you want to drop off, pick up and drop off in a different location. Next thing is really to ensure you rent the right size of car for your needs, you know.

Speaker 3: 4:16

Most definitely yeah, because you don't want to be having to drive a small car and it's packed solid, because that takes the enjoyment away.

Speaker 2: 4:23

Yeah, but also you don't want to call that's actually too big either. So big is not necessarily better, because there's a number of reasons for that in UK, because petrol is extremely expensive and it's probably going to be a lot more expensive than it is in your home country, and parking spaces are small.

Speaker 3: 4:37

That's right, and if you're not used to driving a vehicle that size, you know it can be tricky yeah.

Speaker 2: 4:42

Definitely. I mean, we tend to rent an SUV. That's what we drive here in Australia and it's just something we're comfortable with. So we tend to buy, kind of a rent. You know, an SUV, don't we? We?

Speaker 3: 4:53

do we do? We're familiar with it because it's a little bit high as well, which we like, don't we? Yeah?

Speaker 2: 4:56

definitely so. There's also a comprehensive article on the UK Travel Planner website, which I'll link to in the show notes, which is everything you need to know about renting a car in the UK. Obviously, don't forget relevant paperwork including your driving license when picking up your car.

Speaker 3: 5:12

Yeah, so yeah and the majority of the cars in the UK are manual transmission. So if you require an automatic transmission you must specifically request one. I mean, it is a bit more pricey and there is less availability.

Speaker 2: 5:28

Yeah, we can't really stress this enough. We actually picked up a higher car at Edinburgh last year and there were a couple who had gone to pick up a higher car and they had not said they wanted an automatic and there was no car available and because they could not drive a manual car, they actually ended up having to call a taxi and the left really disappointed and it was really really busy in Edinburgh. It was June last year, you know. This is when you've really got to think ahead. If you really want an automatic if that's what we used to drive in and I'd highly recommend it if you are an automatic driver, um, a manual is going to be more stressful because even though we're used to driving a manual, we have got used to driving an automatic in Australia and it was a bit stressful for you last year, wasn't it?

Speaker 3: 6:11

it was because I've been a while since I've driven with the manual again and uh, driving from the car hire garage pickup Straight through the middle of edinburgh was a little bit traumatic. And there's one thing that will stress for that it's not just stress over the driver, it's stressful for everyone else in the car.

Speaker 2: 6:27

Um, absolutely. Actually, the good thing to do is really is to have someone else who's helping navigate. So you're not going to be sitting listening to music and, you know, necessarily enjoying the drive at some parts of it, because you will have to help with and with the navigation. Um, so point five is to pace yourself when planning your itinerary. So the UK might be small in comparison to unabove countries and when you know where you're from as well, might maybe much smaller, but there are lots of cars on the road, lots of congestion, and it may take far longer than you expect to get from A to B. You could get stuck in traffic and, believe me, that's happened to us as well. Also, consider hidden costs when planning your route, because there are some toll roads, toll bridges and tunnels which may have charges in the UK too.

Speaker 3: 7:10

So definitely worth considering and also to consider it. Consider is the road the UK love road works.

Speaker 2: 7:16

Oh true, that's true, they are very, very good at road works.

Speaker 2: 7:18

Yeah, so, yeah, so you might find yourself stuck. So I want to say, really on this as well, is that if you're planning your itinerary, don't plan to drive from the south of England up to Edinburgh on a Well any day. Really it's going to be a long drive, going longer than you expect, but certainly on a public holiday or when the schools have just broken up or something like that, expect the roads going to be really congested places like Cornwall over the summer months. You don't get anywhere quickly at all because it's a lot of narrow roads. So you really got to. You cannot think, oh, on this day I'm going to go from here to here. It says it's only three and a half hours when I put it in. Really, you're going to plan for longer, don't you? Yeah?

Speaker 3: 7:59

you do, and it all takes long because you're always going to have rest stops. Yes, just time. Time is breaks, true true, and you know, look at that. Let's stop off there and have a look type.

Speaker 2: 8:08

Yeah Well, you want to be able to do that as well and I would suggest as well that you don't just do back to back days drive and because that's a lot it is and it catches up with you.

Speaker 3: 8:16

Yeah, after a few days it catches up with you with tiredness and fatigue.

Speaker 2: 8:20

Absolutely, and I think uh, don't think driving in the UK will be the same as what you used to at home. So road conditions, size of the roads, speeds, congestion, roundabouts, motorways, single track roads, high hedgerows, blind bends and even livestock in the road may be very different from what you used to.

Speaker 3: 8:39

Most definitely so, yeah, uh. So it's plain and simply put. The next one is don't drive in London.

Speaker 2: 8:45

Yeah, point seven yeah don't drive in London. Really not gonna. I don't need to say anything more than that. Those people who have have said why did we do that? It was crazy. Really I would not. I've it's years since I've driven in London and I don't think you could pay me enough to drive in London.

Speaker 3: 9:00

You don't need to London. London is an illegal public transport you absolutely don't need to.

Speaker 2: 9:03

Yeah, public transport is excellent.

Speaker 3: 9:05

So next one is prepare for the famous UK weather and consider the time of the year when you're visiting. The weather is changeable and you can get all the weather in one day, even in winter freezing cold, the sun can't shine and the sun is low in the sky, and you know. You've got to take that in consideration.

Speaker 2: 9:22

Yeah, definitely can have an impact on your driving.

Speaker 3: 9:24

Most definitely.

Speaker 2: 9:25

So point nine is to book accommodation with parking. Some accommodation may only have limited spaces or on-street parking, which may have a cost. So we recommend booking accommodation with private parking where possible. We found that accommodation with on-street parking can be an issue later on the day as spaces may be taken and then you may end up parking some distance from the accommodation and then you've got to walk, take your luggage and all the belongings out of the car for quite a distance. So it's really important to do that and we have got links to lots of articles accommodation articles and we do put in there accommodation that does have parking, particularly in some of the major cities in the UK. You're going to struggle. You know Edinburgh is really difficult for parking and places like.

Speaker 2: 10:14

so you really need to plan ahead when you're booking your accommodation and look for that parking space because you don't want to be driving all day and then you're parked 20 minutes away from the accommodation because that's not much fun.

Speaker 3: 10:27

Exactly, if the weather is poor as well, it's not a lot of fun. Okay, so the next one is download the relevant route planning apps. There's quite a few out there, and obviously you've got lots of Google Maps, but we also, just in case IT fail, we always carry a paper map, don't we?

Speaker 2: 10:46

We do. We always have a map with us and we do use I know your favourite app, but it's also on website is the AA route planner?

Speaker 3: 10:56

Yeah, I do like that one. It's a long established company in the UK, the AA, and I find it very reliable and you can put in your different times of the day, you plan on traveling and you can avoid toros motorways. You can sort of select the. It gives you sometimes one or two options, the route that you want to choose. So you've obviously got a fast this one, and then there might be a more scenic one which obviously is going to take a little bit longer. So you choose the route that you wish to take.

Speaker 2: 11:20

Okay, that's great. I know often when we do itinerary consults and people kind of talk to us about potential routes that they're considering taking through the UK, often we'll share some different maps and different options and kind of talk through those with them. So yeah, we do. Give them more scenic routes, or if they're looking at getting from A to B faster, we'll say, well, this is probably your best bet, and we also kind of will recommend where to avoid.

Speaker 3: 11:43

Yeah, and also when you look at that, you can sort of put in some stop-off locations that you might not previously considered. Absolutely yeah.

Speaker 2: 11:54

So parking in the UK can be difficult, if not impossible, at times. In fact, we in Yorkshire last year we struggled on a couple of locations that we actually could not get a parking space at, which is. It's so disappointing when you really want to go visit a place and you've got it and you, you know your itinerary and you get there and you literally cannot find a car parking space. So a useful app is Parkopedia, which provides info on parking spaces in UK cities, including length of time, cost and availability, so that's probably worth downloading. We do recommend that if you're going to some of UK cities and if they have a park and ride scheme, that you avoid driving and completely into the city and you take advantage of that park and ride scheme. So I will just explain what one of those is. So basically it entails parking out of town in a free car park and then taking a provided bus into the city. So there is a. You have to buy a bus ticket. It's usually not too expensive at all because they're trying to encourage people not to drive into the city.

Speaker 2: 13:02

So we've done that quite a few times. We did that in Oxford, didn't we? This year, actually, we went to the park and ride, parked the car and then took the bus into the centre of Oxford. We've done that before in Winchester. We've done it in Durham. Numerous cities across the UK have a park and ride. So just do a search when you plan to see if there's a park and ride. This is if you're only plan to visit, you know during your trip and you've gone another destination in mind for the rest of the day. But rather than avoid having to try and find somewhere to park and they do free parking in the UK nope, nope, doesn't really happen- so you say very, very rarely.

Speaker 2: 13:37

Very, very rarely. So you need to have some cash because some machines will it still only take cash and coins, though we did find last year that some require access to an app which could, which can cause issues. We struggled because we couldn't actually download the app and then because I couldn't make phone calls from my phone, I we weren't able to phone and sort out being up to the park. So I guess the key to this is have some cash, because we could have paid at that car parking machine but we didn't have cash. The only other way to do it was via an app which we just struggled to download.

Speaker 2: 14:12

So often in the Facebook group I hear people say no, you don't need any cash whatsoever. When you go to the UK and I would I always disagree with this Take some cash with you. Particularly, you know, if you're doing a driving trip, you want to have some cash on you and some places that you may be going to. For example, if you go to a far north Scotland or more remote areas, you may not be able to use your card to pay because the card machine might be down and then. So you need to have access to some cash.

Speaker 3: 14:42

Yeah, Most definitely so, and there is parking apps, but sometimes the local counts are one, so they're different throughout the country.

Speaker 2: 14:50

Yeah, there's not one app that we could say just download this app and that that would get you sorted. It just unfortunately doesn't work that way, so tip number 12.

Speaker 3: 14:59

Is don't leave things in your car. In viewing your car, put your valuables hidden away, stored away, and some of the high cars we found ourselves don't always include a parcel shelf to hide things from view, and so I've been a nest, and never once have I been refused.

Speaker 2: 15:17

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3: 15:17

I'm unclear as to exactly why they take them out, but it asks for one to be put back in.

Speaker 2: 15:22

Yeah, but absolutely do not leave valuables in your car. Really, genuinely don't. If you know, check in your accommodation, put your suitcases in your accommodation. If you're stopping off, take the valuables out of your car.

Speaker 2: 15:36

Most definitely, because there's nothing worse than your on holiday. You come back and somebody's broken in your car and nicked all your stuff. Horrible, you know, just not a nice feeling. So just remove that temptation for somebody walking past your car by just taking your valuables out. That's just really important point to think. So really, in conclusion, the UK is a great country for a road trip, isn't?

Speaker 3: 15:58

it? Oh, certainly is. Yeah, yeah, most certainly.

Speaker 2: 16:00

I mean there's possibilities. You can satisfy all interests from coast to coast, Because so we're sure that these tips will help you plan your ideal drive on holiday. There's certainly loads of inspiration on the website about what you can include in your road trip.

Speaker 3: 16:15

And if a UK rail adventure is something you are considering or you maybe want to combine a road and rail trip, don't miss next week's episode where we show our tips for planning a train trip itinerary.

Speaker 2: 16:27

That's right. So that's a very exciting episode, especially for somebody who loves train travel as much as Doug does.

Speaker 3: 16:32

That certainly do so.

Speaker 2: 16:34

You'll find links to relevant articles and the excellent Trippiama resource in this week's show notes at uktravelplanetcom forward slash episode 79. Just remember, take your time, stay safe and have fun For lots more exciting travel inspiration and resources to help you plan your trip. And if your plans involve travel further afield, don't forget to tune into our global travel planner podcast for practical tips and info to help you make the most of your worldwide travels. So, from both myself and Doug until next week happy UK travel planning.