Day Trips from London – Car or Public Transport?

London, and indeed the rest of England, has a fairly comprehensive public transport system. So you might be wondering why you’d bother with a car rental at all. Our guide goes through the benefits of each. Read on for more…

Car or Public Transport?

If you’re travelling out of Heathrow Airport and into the local English countryside you can choose between public transport or the freedom of a rental car.

Public Transport; if you’re looking to travel exclusively on public transport you will reap a few benefits such as:

• Being able to relax during your trips; be it enjoying the view as you travel, watch a DVD on your laptop or read a newspaper.
• Don’t have to worry about parking or buying fuel.
• Probably ends up being cheaper, especially on days when you are simply looking around a city.
• You are happy in the knowledge you are travelling Green.
• If you, or someone you are travelling with, has a disability it’s easier to get accessible public transport than it is to get accessible rental cars.

Car Rental; having your own car has many benefits:

• Complete control of where you go; roads go everywhere but rail tracks and bus routes don’t.
• You can go whenever you are ready to go and you aren’t waiting on someone else’s time table (and that’s when it’s running on time). Especially on Sundays when public transport tends to have a reduced schedule.
• As you are travelling direct you won’t have to use several different forms of transport in the same journey to your chosen destination.
• Increased comfort, with your own seat and no competition for leg room.
• Privacy - don’t have to be listening to other peoples screaming children who are running up and down the length of the train.
• Many of the attractions that you’ll want to visit in the countryside won’t have a dedicated public transport option travelling to them.
• If you buy souvenirs you can pop them in the boot and don’t have to carry them around with you everywhere.

So in a word, car hire is better because of ‘flexibility’ and public transport is better because it can be cheaper. Anyone planning a trip out of London should definitely take look at our car hire Heathrow Airport page.

If you have any questions, thoughts or comments on this versus debate please let us know. Just leave your message in the comment box below.