UK Travel Planning

15 Essential UK Road Trip Tips [+ Mistakes to Avoid]

• Tracy Collins • Episode 155

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Dreaming of meandering through the Cotswolds countryside or cruising along Scotland's North Coast 500? Before you grab those keys, there's crucial information you need to know about driving in the UK that could make or break your road trip experience.

The romantic notion of spontaneously exploring Britain's charming villages and stunning landscapes can quickly turn stressful when faced with the reality of narrow country lanes, baffling roundabouts, and parking nightmares. Having driven thousands of miles across the UK and helped countless travellers plan their journeys, we've witnessed the same mistakes happening time and again.

In this practical guide, we reveal the 15 most common UK driving pitfalls and how to avoid them. From the shocking truth about journey times (that 50-mile drive could take twice as long as you think!) to the critical importance of booking an automatic car well in advance, we cover essential knowledge that guidebooks often miss. We'll explain why driving in London is a mistake most travellers regret, how to navigate the UK's unique parking systems, and why checking if your accommodation actually has parking facilities could save your holiday from disaster.

Whether you're used to driving on the left or not, the UK presents unique challenges that can catch even experienced international drivers off guard. We share insider advice on handling motorway driving, understanding road terminology, and preparing for the infamous British weather. Plus, we reveal the truth about rental car insurance and why paying extra for zero excess might be the best decision you make.

Our goal isn't to discourage you – a UK road trip can be truly magical when done right. With proper planning and realistic expectations, you'll be free to enjoy those winding coastal roads and picturesque villages without the stress. Listen now to transform your UK driving experience from potentially nerve-wracking to absolutely brilliant!

📝 Show Notes - Episode 155

🎧 Listen to next

  • Episode 12 - Preparing to drive in the UK with Tripiamo
  • Episode 112 - Driving in the UK like a local: Expert tips from Tripiamo's John Cortese
  • Episode 79 - Planning your UK road trip (Expert Tips and Itinerary Ideas)

Need help planning your trip? Book your personalised itinerary consultation with Tracy and Doug Collins – UK travel planning experts – for tailored advice based on your travel style, interests, and timeframe. Book your consultation here.

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Speaker 1:

Thinking about the UK road trip. Before you hit the road, there are a few things you really need to know. In this episode, we're sharing 15 essential tips that will help you avoid the most common mistakes we see travellers make, from parking problems and fuel confusion to why you absolutely shouldn't drive in London.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast. Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website, tracy Collins. In this podcast, tracy 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 1:

Hi and welcome to this week's edition of the UK Travel Planner Podcast. So, this week, doug and I are here, hello, to chat about all things driving and road trips in the UK. So we've done plenty of them.

Speaker 3:

We have, and we've made a few mistakes as well.

Speaker 1:

We have. So what we thought we'd do is we would talk about some of the common mistakes we see people make when they're planning a trip. So now I don't want to put you off, because a UK road trip can be absolutely fantastic, but there are some very specific quirks to driving here that catch visitors out. So we thought we would go through some 15 practical tips to help you avoid those pitfalls and plan a smooth, safe and stress-free journey.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, from driving on the left and booking the right type of car to parking, the weather and ferry crossings, we've got you covered.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So whether you're just starting to plan your UK road trip or you already have a written mind, this episode will help make sure you're prepared for the reality of driving in the UK. So I say we're going to talk through 15 tips to avoid common mistakes on a UK road trip. So we'll start with number one, and these are things that we see people making when we do itinerary consults or when we are in the Facebook group who will present us with itineraries? So we just want to help by making some suggestions and talking through why these things can be a mistake. I mean, if you decide you want to do any of these things, that's fine, it's up to you, but we're kind of saying these are things that we would avoid doing if you can. So the first one.

Speaker 3:

The first one is don't underestimate the driving times between places. This has come up time and time again in the itinerary consults we've done and also actually when we've had feedback after people's trips that said well, maybe we should have listened a bit more yeah, because it's really easy to underestimate how long it's going to drive.

Speaker 1:

It take you to drive between two places in the uk so you might think, oh, it's only 50 miles, it's only 70 kilometers, it's not going to take me that long to do. But actually it can take you a lot longer for a lot of reasons.

Speaker 3:

So there are a lot of reasons for that yeah, I mean we'll start with the, the one people expect from the uk. It's the weather. Now, depending what the time you're driving time of the year you're driving in the uk the weather can be dramatically different throughout the day. So you know, winter months it's obviously cold, it gets dark early and if it's maybe snowing, windy, and you know you can be sat in traffic for a long, long time yeah, absolutely, I think that that really makes me kind of think of the just the sheer volume of traffic that may be different from where you happen to live and drive at the moment?

Speaker 1:

yeah, and I think we can. We can kind of compare that to australia, where you know we spend a lot of time, and driving in australia is completely different to driving in the uk yeah, frankly, it's easy here yeah, it's much easier. There's less traffic on the roads um, you know, there's not the, I mean I can't talk with some of the major cities but however, generally the, the roads are a lot freer and not as congested as you'd find in the uk. There's a lot of cars on a small island in the UK.

Speaker 3:

That's right. And some of the towns and cities, when the traffic builds and backs up, it just seems like you're never going to get there. You know we've sat in traffic where a journey time from a planner whatever journey planner you use you know it will say journey time expected 60 minutes, and you know we've done two or three hours.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, well, that's it, because you don't know all sorts of things, accidents and things.

Speaker 3:

Lots of factors, reasons Not just the weather, not just the traffic. It's easy to forget the other things that you need to include, things like toilet breaks, stopping off, just see something nice to look at. You think, well, I'll stop off and have a look at that. You know, for some of the scenic drives are beautiful, they're stunning oh, absolutely so.

Speaker 1:

When you think you're putting in, you know, from a to b in your google planner. Whatever planner you use and I do prefers the- a route planner, um in the uk, but you know you've got to think that that might. That's from a to b. There's other things that you've got to take into consideration. One is actually getting in your car and driving out from wherever the place is. So if you're in a large city, that can take longer than you expect. Also, you can get lost along the way, and that's happened.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, there's lots of one-way systems in the UK.

Speaker 1:

Yeah absolutely, and also I mean just thinking about following a sat-nav. I remember years ago driving at the Derby. I lived beside Derby, the city of Derby in England, and I followed the sat-nav and I went round and round and round and round about five times because I couldn't figure out a way out of the. It just kept taking me around in this loop.

Speaker 3:

And.

Speaker 1:

I ended up actually driving the wrong way up a one-way street, which was rather scary.

Speaker 3:

Well, it's easy, because we know we're all, we're all guilty of this. You put sometimes in a strange place. You put too much emphasis on the, the, the journey planner or whatever you know software you're using and you believe everything it tells you. And guess what it does?

Speaker 1:

get it wrong now again yeah, well, also, you have to stop off. You know toilet break. Like I said, you might need to fill up with petrol. You might see something that you want to stop off and enjoy. And also I'd say as well the underestimate and how long it will take you to park when you arrive in a destination. We will talk about that in a bit, but there's a lot more. So I would say, when you're looking at your distances, be conservative.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, most definitely. And I will point out, on a lighter note, that you've also got to include, on some country roads. I've had roads blocked by goats, chickens, cows, the chickens. One was the most comical I saw. I've never seen so many all down the middle of a road.

Speaker 1:

I was just saying plan conservatively, but you're not. You need to actually plan liberally. You need to give yourself more time, so don't plan conservatively, because if you follow what it says in its 60 minutes, you need to be a bit more liberal with the amount of time that you leave yourself that's for sure.

Speaker 3:

In short, what I'm saying is keep your journey timed realistic. Don't try, and you know, for an eight hour drive, it's going to take you 12 hours.

Speaker 1:

A four hour drive, you'd be really lucky if you stick to four hours yeah, absolutely, and also just putting too much in a in a day as well. So yeah you know, if you could, you know you might decide that you're gonna, you know, plan a journey time from a to b, b to c, c to d and a d, and you think that you're going to fit all that in and that might not work yeah, and it becomes stressful yeah, and you know you want to enjoy it yeah, okay.

Speaker 1:

So that brings us to point number two, which is don't assume it'll feel familiar just because you drive on the left. So obviously I guess we're kind of talking more to our australian and new zealand and singapore and all those countries that drive on the left all your listeners from there is, honestly, don't just assume because you drive on the left that it's going to be familiar to drive on in the uk, because it's not. It'll be a completely different experience. Honestly, believe me when I say that there are some very unique quirks in the uk. Definitely roundabouts, road signs, speed limits are in miles, which if you're from the states, you're going to be familiar with that.

Speaker 1:

But if you live in um australia, new zealand everything's in kilometers here.

Speaker 3:

Yeah um, I've driven in other countries that also drive on the left and I've seen differences. You know it's the road priorities. When you're driving along the road I mean australia, you know lanes just suddenly disappear yeah you know, you travel on the road and know two lanes become one, or three become two, and you think, oh, okay, so it's knowing the right signs, spotting the right road signs for what's coming up.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and that's it. I think it's that it's just assuming that, not making this assumption that it's going to be the same, because it's not. So what we recommend and we even recommend that this for those of you who are used to driving on the left-hand side is take the Trippiamo course. We work with Trippiamo. It's such an excellent course and even confident drivers will learn something useful and, honestly, you will arrive better prepared. So if you listened into episodes 12 and 112, I have John Cortese from Trippiamo who talks all about their guides and how they will help you prepare to drive in the uk. So you drive like a local and, honestly, we've had great reviews from those who have taken it and it's not expensive.

Speaker 1:

Um, I would ask please, if you're going to check it out, is that you go through the link in the show notes? That's our affiliate link. Won't cost you anything else, but it just helps support us and help us provide all this information in the podcast and and all our resources. Um, but honestly, the uk driving conditions you know they can be daunting and stressful. Um, you know, if you're going onto unfamiliar roads, you're not sure about the priority junction roundabouts. I mean, some of the roundabouts in the uk are.

Speaker 3:

I think they're just there to torture people yeah, that's right, particularly uh, I'm thinking of leicester here, you know massive traffic. Islands got traffic lights on. Yes, that is confusing, you know. You're thinking I need to change lanes, I need to get over, but you can't because it's a solid white line and there's traffic lights. Yeah, so it's not unusual to see people in the uk.

Speaker 1:

You can always tell somebody's not used to an area because they'll be driving around around an island yeah, that's true, and also I'm just going to mention that some of the road road rules are different in the uk to what they are that you may be used to in, you know, in new zealand, australia, etc. It's just going to be different, so you need to familiarize yourself with that, definitely so, uh. So tip number three, or mistake number three that we see, is people not booking an automatic in advance that's right.

Speaker 3:

I mean we have a our driver license, we can drive both and driving in the uk. For many years we drove really just with an uh manual for many many years. So when I started traveling more and more, it was more experienced with an automatic. Now I can flip between the two very easily, but if you're booking a car in the uk, it is still predominantly manual yeah, it is.

Speaker 1:

Manual cars are far more common in the uk, so if you want an automatic, book well in advance, especially during the summer months where there'll be more demand for hire cars and you will also have to pay more. Unfortunately, they do charge more for automatics um and I know we we really can't stress this enough because we do not want you to have disappointment in your holiday, because we have actually witnessed this.

Speaker 3:

We did we did in edinburgh we're waiting in the queue for our hiker another very english thing. We were queuing up very nicely, um, but we witnessed, uh, two travelers to the uk who hadn't booked a, an automatic, and they were unable to drive a manual no, they tried to say they could.

Speaker 1:

And I think the guy was like can you drive? A manual and you really, and they were like well, no, but we'll be fine, we'll drive. And he went we're not letting you have a manual. You can't, you're. You haven't got a driving license to drive a manual.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So I mean we felt for the guy because you know his entire travel plan was now impacted because he couldn't get a car.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and they was with his girlfriend and their suitcases and it was really. It was awful, awful and I don't know if they managed. It was in peak season, so trying to get an automatic, and another guy at the highest center said we have not got any automatics, they're all so so they didn't get a car. So just really, we want you to be aware of that so you don't make a mistake, um, which brings me to number four, which is another, which is another mistake.

Speaker 1:

And um, and I've actually had, I remember, um, we, we chatted to a few people about this after the event who said we should have listened.

Speaker 3:

We should not have driven in.

Speaker 1:

London. So that is number four. Please don't drive in London.

Speaker 3:

Please don't drive in London. I'm just reiterating that.

Speaker 1:

You don't need to, really really don't need to. There's congestion charges, there's no parking, there's traffic chaos, there's low emission zones, you know. Pick up your car after. So go and pick it up at an airport, pick it up from Heathrow, pick it up from Coward, get a train to your next destination and pick up your car there.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I was just going to say you don't need to drive in London. No, you don't. The public transport system is well-coordinated, has great coverage and, quite frankly, is reasonably priced. You know the underground and the buses.

Speaker 1:

Well, if you're going to try and drive a car in London, you're going to spend either most of your time stuck in traffic, but also you do not know the rules of the road for a start-off and you won't get parking. You will not get parking, honestly. I used to have to drive in London for my job and never, ever again would I do that. It's honestly not recommended. You can get taxis in London. There's Uber in London.

Speaker 3:

They're the experts. The taxi drivers are the experts.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. And the black cabs they can go. I mean, I've spoken with Ollie when we discovered a real London black cab tour. They will drive around London and because they're in a black cab they can drive down bus lanes and do all sorts of things that regular cars and taxis can't I mean, if you're concerned about managing the underground get a transfer to your accommodation from the airport?

Speaker 3:

It makes life so much easier.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, of transfer to your accommodation from the airport.

Speaker 3:

it makes life so much easier absolutely so.

Speaker 1:

Yep, so we just say just avoid it completely. So number five is overlooking things like tolls and, like we mentioned, the ultra low emission zone charges which are not just in london and clean air zones, and we we actually had this last time when we were traveling that we went through the tine tunnel, which is in north well, the northeast, yeah, um which goes underneath the tine river, and we had to pay that within 24 hours.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I can't remember exactly length of time, but it was certainly a matter of hours, I think.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah and we did that um, online um, and so you've got to think that some places you're going to be expected to pay tools are you now, when you you use a route plan you can put into avoid tolls?

Speaker 3:

You can yeah, you can avoid toll roads and set up your own routes. You can avoid motorways, et cetera. So you're in charge, you can choose that. But I will point out and I will stress this if you incur a fine and you're in a hire car, you are responsible for that fine yeah, and they will, yeah, they will.

Speaker 1:

The hire company will find you afterwards to sort of now I will say there aren't a lot of toll roads in the uk and that there's toll bridges and toll tunnels. But you can do your research before you do your trip yeah, there's some some newer roads around.

Speaker 3:

Birmingham has a relief road which is a toll road, but you don't have to use it so that is number five.

Speaker 1:

So just be aware of those. Number six is assuming your accommodation has parking. This is a biggie guys. This is huge. Um, really, really really 100. You need to check that where you are. Um, but you're booking your accommodation, whether it's a b&b, whether it's a hotel, whether it's an airbnb, whatever it is that you're booking your accommodation, whether it's a B&B, whether it's a hotel, whether it's an Airbnb, whatever it is that you're booking, that it comes with parking.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, this is one thing that gets missed. We're all very attuned to looking at reviews and word of mouth as regards hotels or whatever the accommodation is about, the actual accommodation itself. And car parking gets missed, gets forgotten. How many times have we answered questions in the facebook group or consults and have done all their research and we point out has it got parking?

Speaker 1:

yeah, hasn't got parking and you've got to think some, especially if you're staying in some of the cities so, for example, in york and edinburgh and bath really you're going to struggle to get parking. So you need to do your research and make sure that your accommodation offers that.

Speaker 1:

Now I would also check that that is accommodation that for the hotel or for the b&b, because quite often and this happened to us- in york, just gonna say it was actually it was on road parking and we ended up being quite far away from the hotel yeah, and whitby as well, and we really struggled and you know, and you've got to think you've got all your luggage and then when you go out for the day, yeah, and just imagine the scenario you get to your accommodation, you know, later on in the afternoon, evening, it could be dark, it could be raining.

Speaker 3:

It's not what you want. It's not. You know. It's not ideal, is it?

Speaker 1:

no. So I really would recommend that you do check um and, as I say, some of those, some of the cities. It's not as easy to find parking, especially the like more older cities where you're inside like new ork, when you're inside the walls of ork bath, particularly edinburgh. Um, there's lots of cities where it's just not easy.

Speaker 3:

It's not easy.

Speaker 3:

I'll also add on to that is some places say they have parking, but only a limited amount yeah and that you know, you need to know that there's adequate parking for all the guests, because you don't want to be getting there at four or five o'clock in the afternoon or later and find, yes, they say they have parking, but there's only a few spaces, and we found that in the cotswolds once. Um, yeah, and so you're left with the choice you've got to drop all the bags off and then you've got to go and find somewhere to park yeah, so absolutely do your research on that.

Speaker 1:

And also it's worth mentioning as well that it's obviously a bit of a security risk if your car is parked further away. Yeah, so you know, you can't keep an eye on it and it's uh.

Speaker 3:

So just something to think about but don't leave any luggage or any valuables in the car overnight yeah, so number seven is being caught out by parking rules.

Speaker 1:

Yes, uh, now, parking in the uk actually it's a bit of a nightmare. I always think it's a nightmare how it's because it's all paid. Yeah, you have to pay and you know, we live in australia, like I say, most of the time, and you don't have to pay for parking so it's a bit of a.

Speaker 1:

Um, most of the time you don't have to pay for parking, so it's a bit of a. I don't know, it's a bit of a. Most of the time you don't have to pay for parking, so it's a bit of a. I don't know. It's a bit of a thing in the UK that you always have to pay for your parking and it's different how you pay for parking as well. So some will use an app. Generally it's pay and display. Some you can tap, so it's cashless. Some you will need cash for.

Speaker 3:

That's right. But pay and display means you go to a ticket machine, you buy a little ticket and then you have to show that on your dashboard inside the windscreen, so anybody checking tickets can actually see it. So that's just termed pay and display.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and then some of those that have cameras so they're keeping an eye and making sure that you've paid your part and you don't go over the number of hours that you've got to park. I remember, in fact, we were in, I think we were saying Ives in Cornwall, and we ended up having to give up because we couldn't park and we couldn't actually download the app because the app was not available in the app store that we had on our phones. So we couldn't actually download the app anyway to pay and we didn't have any cash, so we ended up having to drive away.

Speaker 3:

That's right. So you know, we get it wrong as well sometimes, yeah exactly times, yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1:

So there's another what you can do as well to avoid the problems of parking, especially in in main cities, though this can be an issue in smaller villages I'm thinking of the cottswolds, where you're not going to get parking, um, so you just might have to drive on because, you know, in the summer somewhere, that place like byrory, it's impossible castle coon. We couldn't castle coon, even just getting driving through castle coon can get really busy, but what the larger cities have are park and ride. So you want to explore?

Speaker 3:

yeah, a park and ride is. There's usually more than one around a city or a town, um, so, depending whichever direction you're driving in from, it's usually what it means is a big car park. Yeah, basically, in essence it's a big car park and then buses run from that car park into a town or city center, and they're pretty frequent during there, particularly in summer months. Now these parking lights can work in different ways, so you can either pay for the a pay and display ticket and then everybody gets on the bus who's traveling with you and taken away, or the ones you paid by a person within for the ticket for the bus on the bus.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so you're not paying for the actual parking. You're paying for the bus On the bus.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so you're not paying for the actual parking. You're paying for the bus trip in. Yeah, there's different specific ways it works. Yeah, for each one.

Speaker 1:

So some example of places where you'll find park and ride Winchester, oxford, durham, oxford, edinburgh. I mean there's lots of park and ride. So if you're planning to go to visit a city, for example Bath or York, and you're not taking the train you've got a car, you've got a higher car then look at maybe a park and ride outside the city, get the bus in and then the bus will take you back at the end of the day and you can pick up your car.

Speaker 3:

That's it, and just add on to this one me being a train person, some of the larger towns and cities that don't have a park and ride look to see if there's a parkway station nearby so you can park your car there much cheaper, much easier and quicker than just take a train in for the last 10, 15 minutes.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's true. There's some places that you can do that?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we've done that before. It makes life a lot easier.

Speaker 1:

But generally you'll have to pay for the parking in there in the train station.

Speaker 3:

You will, you will, but it's sometimes easier to park yeah, that's true.

Speaker 1:

Well, we've done that in cornwall, to be honest to go to st ives because we gave up even trying to park in st ives, didn't we? Yeah, that's why we've done that a couple of times we went to st earth and then parked the car and then took the train in, which was lovely that's a beautiful train journey, yeah, so yeah, that's another option as well, um.

Speaker 1:

Number eight that people make the mistake of not considering is planning for the weather and seasonal conditions. I've touched on this earlier, but honestly, the uk weather is so unpredictable, um, but you know, in the winter generally, you're going to get you could have a mix of fog, rain, ice, wind, and also you've got the short daylight hours on top of that as well. Especially further north you get, the darker it will be um, and so you've got to make sure that you adjust your drive times and your route based on the season most definitely and obviously summer or winter you've got rush hour traffic as well, morning and afternoon.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes it's best to try and avoid that if you're not familiar with an area yeah, that's true, and obviously in the summer if you're driving in some of the most popular places like cornwall uh, you know the north coast 500 route like that's busy and wales, wales yeah, um, you know some of those places cotswolds will be busy with traffic.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, um, and I know. I remember my mom saying how she went to down to cornwall a few years ago and they gave up. I can't remember where they're going between. They actually gave up trying to get into the town because the traffic was so heavy and we've actually had that where we've given up now. Where was it in yorkshire?

Speaker 3:

we went we were trying to get to robin hood's bay that's right, uh which is on the on the yorkshire coastline, there south of whitby, and we wanted to visit this beautiful village, but you have to park at the top of the hill. The car parks there and we just gave up.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, we just couldn, couldn't get part. It's happened a few times, uh, and actually I think not next the last time as well. We couldn't get parked in the visitor place so yeah there's a few places. Sometimes you just go and you just can't get parked. Yeah, um, and also give yourself time to sit in traffic. Think about your petrol, you know. Make sure you've got enough petrol. Have uh, drinks, food on hand in case you are delayed because of seasonal issues or maybe there's roadworks or all sorts of it might be fog, foggy day.

Speaker 3:

It's just anything. It's the UK. Yeah, you've just got to kind of things. Just one thing to temper with that is in the summer months you've got longer daylight hours, so plan your day as much as you. You know you've got more time in late light evenings.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes.

Speaker 3:

So you don't have to rush Plan your day. We've done it on the crossroads. We've gone to places like Bybury late on summer evenings, haven't we, yeah, managed to get parked.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely Okay, so we've got some. Number nine is relying on your mobile signal for navigation, so don't assume that you're going to have a signal on the countryside. Assume that you're going to have a signal on the countryside. So you either need a sat nav or download offline maps, especially for some of the remoter areas in scotland, wales and cornwall.

Speaker 3:

That's it. And if you're hiring a car, which you quite possibly are, make sure you specify that you want a car with sat nav. You might have to pay.

Speaker 1:

Pay extra, it's worth it but it really is worth it absolutely and don't use your mobile phone when you're driving. So um you if you attempt to get your passenger to look at a map? If you need some help with navigating, don't, because that's against the law or pull over.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, make sure you do that.

Speaker 1:

So another thing people forget to do is actually budget for fuel, for the petrol for the car. So it's called petrol. It's not called gas. It's petrol. In the UK it's sold in liters, not in gallons. Make sure that you understand which type of fuel goes into your car.

Speaker 3:

That's right, you don't want that expense.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, because, well, I have done that before.

Speaker 3:

I'm glad you said that I was going to say that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I have made that mistake before. And not put petrol in, I put diesel in a petrol car. Actually, we had friends who came to the UK from Canada and they did exactly the same thing in the hire car. So be absolutely 100% sure about what petrol you're putting in your car.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, any doubts. And again, when you pick the hire car up, ask these questions. Be sure and clear in your mind exactly what sort of car you've got.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely.

Speaker 3:

Before you drive away.

Speaker 1:

And also, don't let your petrol tank get low especially if you're in rural areas because there'll be less petrol stations available. So make sure that you plan. I mean we always say if people are going over to the Isle of Skye to fill up with petrol beforehand, and if you're going over via Malag, across by the ferry, we say do that at Fort William because, sometimes in Malag there is no petrol and they do run out.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we're told that in fort william over there.

Speaker 1:

Yeah uh, number 11 is not checking the rental terms and conditions for driving outside of britain. Now we know, because we're asked quite often, that a lot of you think, oh, let's take the car over at northern ireland, over the republic of ireland. You need to get permission, you need to check with your hire company that you can actually do that. You may need extra insurance, you need to check the documentation that you might need. So you always must check that before booking.

Speaker 1:

If you're planning to take it across to Republic of Ireland, northern Ireland, or even if you're taking us from the Scottish Islands, we've just checked and said is it okay, we're taking it over on the ferry to? I'm trying to think where we've been. We went to the Orkneys and we just mentioned we're taking it over on the ferry to. Uh, trying to think where we've been. We went to the auguries and we just mentioned we're taking it over to the auguries, just, and it was absolutely fine. Um, and I know when you book the ferry they ask you for the car registration that's right on the cow mount fairies going across the sky.

Speaker 3:

Uh, that fills up and you need to put that well in advance and obviously you don't know the registration number of your high car. But there is a gap on there to say you know, don't know registration, and then you can still make your booking and then number 12 is not understanding uk road lingo the different words that use.

Speaker 1:

Now they're going to be different words than you may use in your own country. So you may not use the word lay-by or slip road or b road, um. So again, there may be different terminology that you're not used to and it can throw you off if you're not sure. So again we say learn the basics ahead of time. Trip your armor is your go-to to this to prepare yourself for you.

Speaker 3:

Know the different words, the different signs that you might see most definitely because you know if you're driving through cornwall and you know you're heading on to a b road. Now the B roads are small lanes, back lanes and sometimes little or no road markings. There can be blind corners, blind bends, not to mention you'll be following tractors and bikes and everything else. So when you do say, like the AA route planner which I could go back, that's my favorite you kind of say what sort of road you want to avoid.

Speaker 1:

You want to stick to main roads, and the main roads are basically a roads yeah, so it's worth you know, doing the research and understanding the different terms that are used. And 13 is being unprepared for motorway driving. Well, I have to say I dislike intensely driving on the motorways in the uk. They are fast, busy and they are full of lorries. And I think that often surprises people. Actually about the lorries, because you can have the lorries go so fast and I know we have road trains here in Australia but honestly, the lorries there's just so many of them.

Speaker 1:

So number 13 is being unprepared for motorway driving. Well, I have to say I do not like driving on the motorways in the uk. They are fast, busy and they are full of lorries. So you generally find that there are three lanes. So the general rule of thumb is to stay in the left lane unless you're overtaken. But just be aware that there'll be a lot of lorries, particularly monday to friday, so you just have to have your wits about you on the motorways don't you do it, and it's actually very loud as well yeah, it is so.

Speaker 3:

If you're hiring a car and you lack a little bit of confidence, don't have the smallest car possible. Have a little car that's a little bit bigger.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I was actually going to talk about that and a bit actually about the size of the car. When you hire it. I would say don't go for the biggest car, because you're going to struggle to get itway. In the UK we generally go for kind of a medium-sized SUV, don't we?

Speaker 3:

We do yeah.

Speaker 1:

And we find that works really really well. The other thing to know, if you're on the motorways as well, is to know when service stations are coming up so that you can maybe plan to have a rest at that point and also check out for what exits. So you need to look at the signage for exits, emergency lanes, um. So really, when you're on a motorway, you will probably need somebody to help you to navigate most definitely and be aware, on motorways as well.

Speaker 3:

There's lots of um electronic displays about speed changes, roadworks coming up, congestion, etc I mean it's the quickest way to get around generally.

Speaker 1:

I would say some of the motorways I'd avoid, like the M25 around London. It's kind of classed as a giant car park.

Speaker 3:

Car park, yeah, it's like a British joke, yeah. But one thing I will point out there the petrol prices and food prices on the service stations and motorways is a little bit pricey at times.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, they can be exorbitant, especially food prices, that's for sure.

Speaker 1:

Number 14 is skipping the small print on insurance.

Speaker 1:

Now, if you I know many people think that they're covered by the credit card, but you may not be so I would always check what the excess is, check roadside cover and what counts as damage, so that could include for tires and windscreen cover.

Speaker 1:

Now what we do and we've done this forever because I just can't deal with the stress of it is we just pay when we pick up the car. We just pay whatever it is to reduce the excess to zero. So it's generally a certain amount per day and I just always pay it. So I kind of budget that in on a trip knowing that I might have to pay X amount to have zero excess on the car, and that's what we prefer to do. It's just something that works for us. I know there are other ways you can potentially do that, but that is what we do and we would recommend that you make sure that you you know if you can't afford the excess, because some of these excesses can be 2,000, 3,000 pounds. One thing we always do, even with that, is we take photographs and a video of the car when we pick it up.

Speaker 1:

That's definitely definitely, and one example I will just mention actually about making sure that you've got extra cover if you need it is our daughter was travelling around Scotland with her partner a couple of years ago and when they picked up the car they were asked if they wanted extra to pay cover for tyres. And my daughter said she looked at her partner, he looked at her and she went, yes, okay, let's get it. And a few hours outside of Glasgow they got a flat tyre. So because they had the cover, they had to wait. They still had to wait an hour or so to get the people to come out, break down, come and sort them out.

Speaker 1:

But then they were towed back to Glasgow sorted, given another car. So it was all covered. I just thought I would have hate to have thought what would have happened if she hadn't had that car?

Speaker 3:

Oh, most definitely. Yeah, so and then number 15, this sounds obvious, but you know it's easily done. It's leaving valuables visible in your car. Not a good idea Now, when we pick high cars and not just in the UK, around the world. It doesn't happen all the time. Sometimes there's no parcel shelf or back shelf inside the back of the car.

Speaker 1:

Is it trunk? Yeah, In America in the boot. Do we call it the boot?

Speaker 3:

in the UK, yeah the trunk, the shelf that covers the boot space or the trunk space, and I won't take the car. I'll say I want a cover. I usually go back in and say I need a cover on the back of that. Usually, uh, could be a solid cover or a blind type cover, yeah, and yeah, they've always had one there somewhere, but they seem to take them out the car yeah, I don't know why?

Speaker 1:

I mean not that we leave valuables in the car, but I don't want them on view anyway yeah, and you know, sometimes you're driving and you might not arrive at your destination, but you you know you want to stop off at the service station to go and get a snack, or you need to use a restroom or whatever reason, or you stop off in a village on the way and you're going to leave your car. So, even if you're leaving it for a few minutes, I would make sure that everything's covered. So you want a parcel shelf in there to make sure that things are covered up, because you might not take you know, take all your suitcases out of the car in that case. But what we would say? Honestly, if you take your valuables out of your car, make sure you don't leave any money or your passport or anything electronic or anything that can be stolen.

Speaker 3:

That's it. I mean what we've already said. If you're accommodation parking for whatever reason, you know you've not parked close and you can't take everything in one go. You know, obviously you'll take your valuables first but you might have to leave some stuff for a second journey to take stuff back to the accommodation.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, well, that's it, that's exactly right. And I mean just thinking about a couple of instances. Actually, with a mum and stepdad driving in France not the UK, but again just worth bearing in mind and they went into the service station have a drink, have a meal. They came out, opened their boot and half the things had been stolen. It was all recovered, but it was a real problem on their holiday and interrupted with things, and again my stepbrother was in I think it was in Sweden, stockholm, and a bag was stolen out of his car with his passport in it, which caused all sorts of havoc for him having to sort all those things out. So again, do not leave valuables. Make sure that you lock your car. That's another thing, because I know it's very easy when you get out and be distracted, not to make sure you lock it.

Speaker 3:

And an unfamiliar car as well.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, exactly If your accommodation. Let's say, if you haven't managed to get parking so close to your accommodation, then your car might be down a road and a bit of a way away. So so yeah, make sure that you check that.

Speaker 1:

So those are kind of our 15 or 15 tips, 15 kind of ideas, mistakes, that we see that people or pointers advice can make, so we're just trying to, um, to kind of cover those and explain why we would kind of, you know, say not to do these things, or try to avoid some of these common mistakes, if you can, when you're planning your road trip. As I say, the uk is a fantastic uh destination for road trips and we've done some amazing ones oh, we have some fantastic trips.

Speaker 3:

I mean, as much as I love train travel, trains don't, unfortunately go everywhere, so you know, quite often we've had to do a road trip as well as a train trip.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, well, that's it and I can't wait to do. We were just talking about our next road trip, so probably around scotland again and we are hoping to do a bit of the the south coast of the england south coast of england um, so that would be really good.

Speaker 1:

So I mean, if you're planning a road trip, get in touch via speakpipe. Let us know where you're going. Um, we're always interested to know what you're up to, what part of the UK you're planning to do a road trip along. Anyway, as always, we end the episode with the one tip that we would share relevant to the topic. So for this week, obviously, this is about driving in the UK and having the best road trip possible. So what would be your one tip for somebody planning a road trip in the UK, doug?

Speaker 3:

Well, on top of everything we've said, I think it's the one about accommodation and parking. You don't really don't want to have the stress, the anxiety and the grief of not have been able to park when you've had a long day. Maybe you come straight from the airport with your high car. Then you can't find somewhere to park your accommodation.

Speaker 1:

That's a good one. Well, I'm going to say don't underestimate the driving and putting in too much in a day so that basically all you're doing is driving from A to B to C to D to E, to F to G and actually not seeing anything. So try not to overpack it with too many things. That's the best way to do it, honestly, because enjoy it, take it slow, enjoy the countryside, be able to stop often and see places and, and ultimately, I know we've given you one tip each, but we have our top tip from both of us and that is to do the tripiamo. Course, it's not expensive. It will prepare you to drive in the uk. Honestly, it will. Honestly, it's the best thing that you can do, whether you used to drive it on the left hand side or not, whether you drive live in australia, whether you live in new zealand or you live in Japan or Singapore or the US. Wherever it's the best thing to do.

Speaker 3:

Most definitely, and I would also add on to that it's also worth doing the Trippie Armo course if you're actually not driving but you're going to be navigating and supporting a driver.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, and actually we've had some really excellent feedback from that where both of them have done that, even though one person wasn't planning to do any of the driving, it helped them with the navigation as well and understanding the road, because the resources they have are absolutely fantastic. So do take a look. I will put a link in the show notes to this episode, so they'll be at uktravelplanetcom. Forward slash episode 155. So check out that. Check out the Trippiamo link. Leave us a message on SpeakPipe. We love to hear from you guys.

Speaker 1:

We do it honestly makes our week when we get a message and you might get a shout-out in next week's episode or comment episode. Also, I just want to say as well, if you've enjoyed listening to this podcast, if you found any of our resources helpful for you whether that's joining our Facebook group, whether it's any of the episodes of the podcast, whether it's our websites I would ask, please, could you support us? Really, we do appreciate it and you can support us via, again, a link in the show notes, whether that is using the tip, your guide link, or whether that's sponsoring the podcast, and that can be from as little as three US dollars a month, which is less than a cup of coffee a week. Um, we really appreciate that. We will do, um, so that really helps us honestly provide all this amazing stuff for you to help you have the best trip in the uk. Anyway.

Speaker 1:

That just leaves us to say until next week, happy uk travel planning thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of the UK Travel Planning Podcast. As always, show notes can be found at uktravelplanningcom. If you've enjoyed the show, why not leave us feedback via text or a review on your favourite podcast app? We love to hear from you and you never know. You may receive a shout out in a future episode, but, as always, that just leaves me to say until next week. Happy UK travel planning.