I have booked a trip to the UK where I intend to go hiking in the Lake District and Snowdonia. My itinerary is as follows:>day 1: arrive in Manchester, go to Lake District and hike Helvellyn>day 2: hike Scafell Pike>day 3: day trip to the Isle of Man from Liverpool airport, go to Wales in the evening>day 4: hike Snowdon>day 5: depart from Manchester in the evening, not sure if I should spend the day hiking more or exploring the cityObviously the easiest way to get around is by car. Just at a glance, public transport to these places is possible, but only at weird hours and it takes twice or three times as long as just driving there. If I'm wrong here, please enlighten me. Now, I've had my driver's license for five years and I'd say I'm a good driver. I've driven abroad in a rental car twice without problems. However, I've never driven in a country with left hand traffic. This trip involves a fair bit of driving, and I'm obviously a bit apprehensive about renting a car and setting off on the wrong side of the road in a country with over 40 million drivers (by far the most populated country I will have ever driven in).Does anyone have experience with renting a car and driving in a country that drives on the opposite side that you're used to? How was it?
>>2875711It's pretty intuitive. The main mind bender is trying to drive a rhd on a lhd country and vice versa.
>>2875711I recommend springing for the automatic even if you're comfortable with a manual
>main dangerturning left onto a road without traffic and defaulting into the right lane>main challengegetting used to the mirrored geometry while maneuvring>main annoyancewindshield wipers when you wanted to indicate and vice versaAlso:>not visiting the Isle of Man on a motorcycle or as a foamerHow much will you get from a couple hours there?
>>2875712I can imagine, I wouldn't dare drive my own car over there, luckily that's not a problem with a rental.>>2875714Oh absolutely, I'm shit with a manual even at the best of times lol>>2875715>turning left onto a road without traffic and defaulting into the right laneThis is what I fear the most. Especially in the countryside with narrow, twisty roads and fewer cars. Any tips how to reduce the risk?>How much will you get from a couple hours there?It's not ideal, but it fits my itinerary pretty perfectly so I just went for it. I'll land there at 9am and leave at 6.30pm, so I'll have the whole day. Motorcycles and races doesn't interest me in the slightest, so I figure I'll spend my time hiking if the weather's nice and walking around Douglas and checking out the city. I'd love to have two weeks to spend in every location I visit, but I'm limited in both time and money, so when an opportunity arises to tick an obscure territory off the list, I take it.
Be careful in the Lake District anon, there are a few mountain passes there that are a little fucked if you're not used to driving steep gradients (Hardknott for example has a 33% grade)Your itinerary seems a little tight too, honestly I would cut the Isle of Man from it and throw more time into either the Lakes or Snowdonia
>>2875721It sounds autistic but if you're alone then point & call does the trick.Try to go up Snaefell if the weather's good.
>>2875722Looking at it on Google Maps now and holy shit that's scary. I'm not unfamiliar with driving on shit forest roads, but going at it in a rental and risk losing thousands if I get a scratch, oh boy. I'll avoid that if I can lol, thanks for the heads up.>Your itinerary seems a little tight too, honestly I would cut the Isle of ManFlights are already booked. Like I said it's not perfect, and if I could spend more time in each place I would, but I only have five days. I want to cram as much as I can into those five days because my next opportunity to visit IOM might not come soon you know.>>2875723I've thought about putting post-it notes on the dashboard that says "LEFT!!" with arrows pointing, I'll drive alone so autistic tricks are absolutely on the table. Snaefell in good weather would be lovely, fingers crossed for that!
You get used to it pretty quickly. You will naturally drift away from the center line so just pay attention.
>>2875711i'm from the uk and i have spent quite a lot of time working in the usa with rental cars each time i was therethe driving itself is not actually that difficult. everything is basically a mirror image (the pedals also reversed) so i just spent a few minutes doing a few laps around the car park to get acclimatised before heading out onto the roadi found it more challenging getting used to the different rules of the road. for example the rule that it's ok to turn right if you are at a red traffic light always felt a bit strangealso remember that some things about driving in the uk are just a bit weird. distances on road signs are in miles, but we buy fuel in liters, that kind of thingeven so, you are doing the right thing. getting around some of those places by public transport would just be a pain
