thejsofa
philadelphia pa
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Joined: 02/19/2004
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Just returned from 8 days, in the the English countryside and London.We used a diesel rental car and stayed at a B & B.
Sightings included one "B" or conversion van , 1 "A" ,a dozen or two "C" types and lots and lots of odd shaped tow behinds. Did not see campgrounds as we call them, but fields with many RV type units were scattered about the beautiful English countryside.
B's could work there, because the country roads are often one and one half car widths wide.Some more narrow all with 2 way traffic and lots of blind curves.
England has an astonishing # of Mercedes diesel Workvans. Everywhere you look, but seemingly they have not adopted these vans for recreation. Fuel is about L 1.25 to 1.50 a litre, so double that against the dollar and however many litres (four?) in a gallon and you get the idea.
We never looked in to RV rental, as this was a last minute decision to go.
Great trip, especially if you admire truly old buildings and churches and pastoral bliss. The English are polite drivers compared to USA, except the Lory and taxi drivers. Traffic roundabout circles are ridiculous and badly marked.But the folks are friendly and eager to help.
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Davydd
Minnesota
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Joined: 11/27/2005
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When we toured England and Wales we rented a diesel Kia Sorrento SUV. Here it is considered a compact SUV. In England we felt we were one of the biggest cars on the road.
We noticed the trailering was a lot more liberal. It was not unusual to see compact cars pulling RV trailers.
The roads in Wales were scary. They have no shoulders but do have stone walls right up to the edge of the road. I got out and measured what was considered a main highway and it measured 15'-7" wall to wall. The larger commercial trucks and busses had 4 inch square steel tube rub rails welded to the frame on the curb side of the vehicle.
Davydd
2005 Pleasure-Way Plateau Sprinter B Camper Van
Davydd is the Welsh spelling for David with an English twist using a v instead of an f.
See Our Pleasure-Way and my pork tenderloin sandwiches
Visited states in an RV
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paddykernahan
Westland, MI
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Joined: 08/07/2007
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We are going to Ireland in September. Our original plan was to rent a RV but after looking at the prices we decided to rent a car and do the B&B thing.
RV rental seems to be over double (maybe even triple) the cost of car rental plus lodging.
Too bad it is so expensive, I would have loved to do it camping.
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kaydeejay
SE Michigan, USA
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Joined: 07/26/2004
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thejsofa wrote:...........snip....... Traffic roundabout circles are ridiculous and badly marked............. snip ...... Ya know, if you had grown up with roundabouts (as I did) you would probably find 4-way stops or traffic signals at every intersection just as ridiculous.
Think about it - roundabouts are low cost and low maintenance and do keep the traffic moving. No stopping at a roundabout when there is no traffic coming round it. How many red lights have you stopped at with no other vehicle in sight?
Someone must think they are OK as four have been installed within 10 miles of me here in MI.
As for badly marked - I haven't been surprised by one yet.
Maybe it was going round them clockwise that had you on edge 
Keith J, Retired from GM Engineering
2005 GMC Sierra 2500HD SLE 2WD/CC/SB/DA.
1999 Sunnybrook 27RKFS Fiver
Bilsteins, Line-X, Westin steps, Prodigy, Retrax, 16K Superglide, 5th-Airborne pin-box, Multi-vex mirrors.
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mumkin
Minot ND USA
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Joined: 07/16/2004
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I agree with KDJ... once you get used to roundabouts, they are really sensible as long as you have disciplined drivers who are used to them. I have only used them in the Middle East where I was at least driving on the right side of the road (right, as in... not left), and it took me a few months to feel comfortable with them. I wouldn't want to be towing a long trailer though. 
Mumkin
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Davydd
Minnesota
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Roundabouts are growing in popularity because they seem to move traffic and are deemed safer. I know Carmel, IN is building them like crazy and it is happening in the suburbs of Minneapolis/St. Paul as well. Here is an article from the Minneapolis/Star Tribune on them. They are a bit daunting the first time you encounter them.
http://www.startribune.com/local/west/26264309.html
New England has had them. They're coming to the rest of America. I don't think I would have a problem with a B driving them but I noticed last weekend in northern Minnesota lakes region some pickup trucks pulling a 5th wheeler and a fishing boat in a train. I wonder how they would deal with them.
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kaydeejay
SE Michigan, USA
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Davydd wrote:.......snip.........I don't think I would have a problem with a B driving them but I noticed last weekend in northern Minnesota lakes region some pickup trucks pulling a 5th wheeler and a fishing boat in a train. I wonder how they would deal with them. 18 wheelers are handling them around here, as do the transport trucks in the UK. I have negotiated two of my local ones with my fiver in tow with no problem; just have to make sure I swung wide enough that the trailer wheels didn't cut in too far. But I must admit I wouldn't want to try to do it in parallel with someone trying to make it two lanes around though.
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antiquedrose
Texas
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Joined: 01/17/2008
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A walking vacation through the English countryside is my goal and and a promised reward, as I rehab a reconstructed ankle. Oh to be able to walk those trails...
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Hiker3
Florida
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Joined: 01/21/2007
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antiquedrose wrote:A walking vacation through the English countryside is my goal and and a promised reward, as I rehab a reconstructed ankle. Oh to be able to walk those trails...
Are you planning to walk the C2C -- Coast to Coast in Northern England? That is a goal of mine.
Livin Lite Quicksilver 8.0 (Folding Tent Camper) only 900 lbs!
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