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bif

(26,166 posts)
Thu Aug 21, 2025, 02:19 PM Thursday

Question about traveling in the Midlands in England

I'm planning on visiting the Midlands sometime next month or the beginning of October. Mainly interested in the cathedrals, but also manor houses and museums. I'm thinking of spending a few days in Gloucester and a few in Leicester and using those cities as a base to visit the smaller cities. Should I rent a car or is the train service good? Also, if you have any suggestions of things to see in the area, let me know.

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Question about traveling in the Midlands in England (Original Post) bif Thursday OP
Not sure if this will help, but... CoopersDad Thursday #1
I've driven in England and Ireland bif Thursday #2

CoopersDad

(3,214 posts)
1. Not sure if this will help, but...
Thu Aug 21, 2025, 09:21 PM
Thursday

My wife and I toured parts of the UK for ten days in May and rented a car for parts of it.
Between time in London in the beginning and at the end, we took a train to Brighton and rented a car.
That took us to Plymouth, then Port Isaac, Tintagel, the Cotswolds, Oxford, Reading, then back to Heathrow to return the car.

We enjoyed the freedom a car provided but we overspent thinking at the last minute that we'd want a car with navigation only to learn that our phones maps were working fine. We would have saved some money there.

Driving on the left isn't so bad but many of the roads are so narrow, and turnouts so rare, that you really need to stay on alert while driving lest you miss a turn or brush a hedgerow with the left side of your car.

I think your destinations will tell you if the network of trains will work, and we did well with Uber when we needed it.

Good luck, have fun!

bif

(26,166 posts)
2. I've driven in England and Ireland
Thu Aug 21, 2025, 11:20 PM
Thursday

So driving on the left is no biggie for me. It almost seems more normal than driving on the right. I know what you mean about the narrow roads. A lot of the lanes in Ireland were just barely one car wide!

Anyway, I'll take a closer look at the train routes. The nice thing about having a car is in visiting country homes, etc. Maybe a combo of trains and Ubers might make sense.

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