[Otter74]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

Have you ever driven on the left? Have you ever driven in London?

I have not. My European driving has been limited to Poland, France and Iceland. Driving a car is the last thing I want to do in London itself.

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Man, just think of all the people you are going to have to deal with and put up with.
Pushing and shoving and getting in your way and just making you want to lose it.

I've been on the Mexico City metro in rush hour, so London ought to be manageable even at its worst

Originally Posted by 996AE

Enjoy the culture difference and ride the public transit system

Dont be the ugly rich american guy

Enjoy

I'm about a thousand miles from the Ugly American, but if anyone would like to deposit large quantities of money in my back accounts, I'd be happy to be the Rich American. I love public transit.

Originally Posted by MFAFF

I'd suggest that the train is the most effective and efficient option, from almost anywhere in London getting to an airport will be at least an hour's travelling, plus security time etc. and faffing at the other end, not necessarily worth it. Better off taking the train from London Euston Station and enjoying the 5 or so hour trip.

Train services are pretty good, despite the reputation. The London Euston to Glasgow services are Virgin trains only. Advance ticket purchases do reduce the price a lot and booking a seat is essential, or you might spend a lot of the trip standing up.

See link to get good deals on the trips:-

https://www.thetrainline.com/
or go straight to Virgintrains website.

I'd imagine the return, if booked soon would be about £100-110. Not too bad if you add the travel to the airport at each end to the plane ticket.

I think the sleepers are between London and Edinburgh or Fort William mainly on a Friday night.

If you want a car in Scotland to see a few things then rent one in Glasgow and go from there.

As C4S says driving on the other side is a bit different and its different again in Scotland; roads going north are often single lane in each direction with limited multilane sections and heavy speed monitoring. So travel speeds are slow. I drove back from Aviemore this summer in the 911...and between the sections with posted lists at 60mph but trucks at 50mph and few overtaking opportunities the multilane sections were welcome... with the average speed cameras making rapid progress challenging. (Thankfully I'd had a decent dose of open roads further north.......).

Renting a car in London or outside and driving up is an option, IF you have time to make it a journey in itself, stopping enroute to see things and even a night stop. The route either up the M1 or M40/M6 is likely to be unpredictable. In fact the M6 south of Manchester is a 50 mile long work zone with narrow lanes, variable speed limits and general buggeration. As a drive simply between the two places it is not a good one at all.

There are few nice A roads en route.....most are either east or west of the motorway and would be real diversions. North of Manchester you can drive your heart out on the moors but its a longish way off route. If you want to drive nice roads head north from Glasgow towards Fort William and then up Loch Ness on the east side... or head along the A9 for the views. Glen Coe is spectacular.

I'd suggest that whilst in London public transport is the best option.

MFAFF, thanks for the very comprehensive response. Glad to hear that the train is a good option, and thanks for the tip on advance purchase. I would love to make a driving trip a journey in itself, but with only seven days I think I'm better off maximizing my time in either place, as much as I'd like to see more of England. My friends in Glasgow do not own a car but had themselves suggested renting one for a day to explore.

I love cities, and my feet and bicycles are my favorite means for getting around them, with an assist from transit when needed.