OT. One last question for Scotland experts

[Jeff Schley]

Good advice containted here adn much appreciated.  I'm still leaning towards just taking taxi/driver etc. as I will be alone and can see myself getting confused, especially at night without any cars perhaps to guide me into the right lane.  If I had another person I think I might get an automatic, with voice GPS as suggested and do it. 

The best insurance in this case is to not try it as I have never done it and don't see myself needing to do it again in the near future either.

BTW I'm going to be going from Edinburgh to St. Andrews and perhaps Royal Dornoch. It will be pricey with transports I know.

[Thomas Dai]

First time (maybe every time) -


Hire an automatic.
Use a sat-nav...and learn to use it. Turn the volume on, it ought to prompt you to think more when approaching junctions/roundabouts etc - "at the roundabout take the first exit"
Sat-navs if set up properly will usually 'beep' if there's a speed camera.
Don't drive a long way straight off the 'plane or when tired or initially in the dark. Circa 8:00-9:30am and 4:30-6:00pm are the busiest times on the road. Try to avoid these times initially, especially in more urban areas.
Head for the quiet regions first...there'll be less traffic around while you get more experienced behind the wheel


For first time driving 'on the wrong side' Scotland will be easier than say southern England, less people, less vehicles.


Go for it!


atb

[Charles Lund]

Depending on how much luggage you have, you could take a train from Edinburgh to St. Andrews. There is a train station at Cupar about four miles from St. Andrews and you can take a taxi.  You can stay close to The Old Course and could get taxis to other courses like Kingsbarns.  I stayed in a B&B for ten nights in St. Andrews.


Enterprise Car Rental has a location at Cupar if you want to minimize driving early in the trip.


Some car rental companies have modest surcharges for one way rentals.  You could drive from there to Dornoch and drop off the car near Inverness.



I used a train once from Glasgow to Prestwick and picked up a car in Prestwick for use while I was there.  I took train and bus from Prestwick to ferry to Belfast at Cairnryan.  I spent three weeks in Ireland, dropped off the car I rented in Belfast, and took ferry, bus, and train to Glasgow, schlepping my luggage,


I was 65 at the time of that trip.


You can get a train to Inverness and use local transportation to Dornoch, as one option or pick up a car for a couole of days while you are around Dornoch and drive up from Inverness.


Charles Lund

[Marty Bonnar]

Charles,
Good info, except the train station four miles from St Andrews is Leuchars. Getting off (the train) at Cupar would be a life changing event!
F.

[Marty Bonnar]

Having said that, I'm currently posting from over ten thousand miles from St Andrews, so what the hell do i know?!
F.

[Charles Lund]

I used google maps.  There is nonstop train, as short as a one hour ride to Cupar from Edinburgh Waverly.   Getting to Leuchars is less direct and longer.  From St. Andrews, Cupar is about 8 or 9 miles, while Leuchars is 5 or 6 miles.


Enterprise has car rental at Cupar.  Not sure what is at Leuchars.


Charles Lund

[Adam Lawrence]

If you are renting to drive on (for you) the wrong side of the road, I wouldn't recommend trying to add the complication of driving a manual if you're not used to it.


I've driven thousands of miles in Europe (mostly in my own car) and the US (entirely in rentals). I think the stresses of the exercise are overstated, but if you are on the other side of the car, there's no doubt that an automatic makes it much less hassle. I don't mind driving my own car (manual) on the right of the road, and I have driven left hand drive manual rentals in Europe, but there is no doubt in my mind it is an added strain that you can do without. This is especially true if you are going to need to change gear with your weaker hand (I'm left handed and therefore, in my RHD car I shift with my good hand, but in a LHD manual I have to do so with the weak one). Which is to say, if you're an American coming to the UK and driving for the first time, I'd advise paying the extra for an auto (and being sure to reserve it when you book, as the fleets may not have that many) -- especially if you are right handed! 

[Tom Birkert]

I have driven many times in America, and actually really enjoy it. On a recent trip to California I must have done over 1000 miles in 12 days (SF - Sacramento - SF - Monterey - Palm Springs - Los Angeles - San Diego - Los Angeles - San Diego).


I think the perils of driving in the UK are waaaaay overstated. It's really not that hard.


Hire an automatic
Get a sat nav
Use motorways / A roads as much as you can
Allow enough time
Give priority to those on roundabouts
Speed limits are usually flexible (except for annoying average speed cameras)

[Marty Bonnar]

I used google maps.  There is nonstop train, as short as a one hour ride to Cupar from Edinburgh Waverly.   Getting to Leuchars is less direct and longer.  From St. Andrews, Cupar is about 8 or 9 miles, while Leuchars is 5 or 6 miles.


Enterprise has car rental at Cupar.  Not sure what is at Leuchars.


Charles Lund

Oh, there's nothing at Leuchars. Unless you like visiting Army bases!
 
F.

[Charles Lund]

I had automatics my first three trips to UK and Ireland.  On the next trip, only a manual was available, so I had to take it.  I drove manual transmissions in cars I owned from 1967 until 2005.  I used the car for a few days and never considered an automatic in Ireland or the UK after that.


In Australia and New Zealand, automatics are the standard.


I am pretty sure I will try a train to St. Andrews with a flight into Glasgow in the next few years.  Having a lightweight standbag and rolling golf travel bag will make it workable.  I live near Seattle and the Icelandair flight takes seven and a half hours to Reykjavik, has a 90 minute layover, and a flight of about two hours to Glasgow.


I've flown into Heathrow, stayed over near Kings Cross and taken a morning train to Edinburgh.  Golf clubs went into the baggage car.


I also took a train from Heathrow to Paddington to Heathrow to Exeter, stayed overnight, and picked up a car in the morning.


My experiences with trains leads me to have a flexible approach.  Often, rental car outlets away from airports are lower cost, by a sizeable amount, especially when three and four week rentals are involved.


Leuchars does not appear to have a rental car outlet.  Cupar does.   


The Inverness car rentals are mostly at the airport.


Charles Lund

[Rich Goodale]

My first experience in UK driving was 3 months in 1966,  The best thing then was the fact that virtually none of the locals actually owned cars in those days of post-war austerity.  Ergo, the roads were virtually empty and you could drive your squeeze du jour and your motor recklessly with impudence. Those were the days....

Since then I've driven right hand and left all over the USA and GBI as well as in much of western Europe, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Oz.  Based on this history I have one simple caveat and one special case.  The simple one is, when you climb into your car and start to drive, check to see if your driver's seat is near the middle of the road (LHD if in the USA, RHD in the Commonwealth).  If it is, you are driving safely (unless Mayday is on the same road),

As for the caveat--do not drive in Saudi unless you hold a get out of jail card in your pocket signed by a senior ARAMCO official....

[Jeff Schley]

As for the caveat--do not drive in Saudi unless you hold a get out of jail card in your pocket signed by a senior ARAMCO official....

That's funny for that is my company.   

I hate driving off camp, because it is literally driving with ZERO traffic enforcement. 

[Rich Goodale]

Jeff


Is the souk in Dharan as funky as it was in 1976.  Probably not.  Good luck in the IPO!


Rich

[Pete Lavallee]

With an English wife and a South African sister in law I’ve driven on the wrong side quite a bit. As others have mentioned reserving an automatic transmission will remove one complication. However don’t assume there will automatically be one on the lot, reserve one ahead of time. This scenario will likely occur on smaller roads: you’ll be driving in the middle and suddenly another car will turn the corner also in the middle. Americans are conditioned to bail right which is of course is a recipe for disaster. Consequently hug the left side no matter how narrow the lane is. This may well be impossible in Cornwall which has some of the narrowest single lane B roads on the planet!

[mike_beene]

I don't see hard sided cases much anymore,but good luck getting it in a car. I prefer not driving but using train or taxi.