Whether you're partaking in a holiday, staying with mates or family or travelling on business, these handy tips might help, and give you some guidance when renting your car in the UK.

Language
English is spoken universally and non-speakers can have a problematic time – a current review found that only 9 percent of British employees spoke a foreign language. Though, even if you only know a little English, people will usually attempt to work out what you mean.
Welsh is spoken in Wales (road signs are in Welsh and English) and you may hear some people speaking Gaelic in areas of Scotland.
Most of our uk rental car locations will have multilingual staff who will be able to assist.

Weather
The British love to talk about the weather. The temperature is changeable and it's always a good idea to be prepared for some good old British rain. Summers are not as hot as mainland Europe but winters are milder. The typical temperature in London is slightly above freezing in January and climbs to the giddy heights of around 22C (71F) in July – August.

Driving Your Rental Car
Dont forget to use the left side of the road in Britain, and manual gear change, also known as shift stick is typical. if you're more used to driving on the right, using an automatic shift car with be a whole lot easier for you.

When renting your car, feel free to ask questions about where things are. You may need to know what side the filler cap for fuel is located. Ask your about what to do if your rental car breaks down. All our rental cars come with 24 hour breakdown cover. Most filling petrol / gas stations are self-service in the UK – When you're hiring a car remember to check whether it uses diesel or unleaded petrol, many rental cars we provide use both fuel types.

Business Trips And Car Rental
The British do value politeness when dealing with each other, politeness and promptness, and you should not undervalue the importance of comedy. Shake hands when you meet someone for the first time, and make good eye contact, and use a firm hand shake. Exchanging of gifts is not overly common.

UK Car Rental Opening hours
Shops in UK towns and cities normally open six or seven days a week. Monday to Saturday from 09:00 to 17:30 is the norm, and most shops open on Sundays, from 10:00 to 16:00. Check details of shops for public holidays opening hours.

Banking hours are usually from 09.00 to 16.00, Monday to Friday, but some open until 20.00 and on Saturday mornings. Most banks have cash dispensers (ATMs).
Most of our airport rental locations are open 24 hours 7 days a week. So if your able to get a quote this will mean the location is open at the time you need your rental car.

Public holidays
Known as bank holidays in Britain
• January 1: New Year's Day
• January 2: Bank holiday in Scotland
• Friday before Easter Sunday: Good Friday
• Day after Easter Sunday: Easter Monday (England and Wales)
• First Monday in May: May Day
• Last Monday in May: Spring Bank Holiday
• First Monday in August: Summer Bank Holiday (Scotland)
• Last Monday in August: Summer Bank Holiday (England and Wales)
• November 30: St Andrew's Day (Scotland)
• December 25: Christmas Day
• December 26: Boxing Day

Money
Britain's uses the pound (£), divided into 100 pence (p) or pennies. Credit and debit cards are accepted in almost all shops and restaurants. The use of £50 notes is hard because of their rarity and the risk of counterfeit notes. Its worth noting you will not be able to rent a car with cash, you will need your credit card, for the security deposit.

Time zones
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), is the time zone for the whole of the UK. Daylight saving time (British Summer Time or BST) runs from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October, and is one hour ahead of GMT. Rental car days are worked out in 24 hours slots. So if you collect your Rental Car from Heathrow Airport at 10am on Monday it will need to be back by 10am on the Tuesday. If you need to extend the rental car once you have it, please contact us.

Distances
Distance is measured in miles (1.6km) made up of 1,760 yards. From northern tip to southern, the British mainland measures just over 683 miles (1,100km). By rental car, the distance would be 835 miles and take approximately 16 hours, according to a leading UK thinktank. Most car rental in the UK have unlimited miles, but this will be shown when you get a car rental quote.

Measurement and sizes
Since the early 1970s Britain has been progressively moving from imperial to metric dimensions, but both schemes are used. Clothing and shoe types and sizes vary from those used in the USA and Continental Europe. There are amply of charts and converters accessible online. The speed limits are in mile per hour (MPH) motor ways are normally 70MPH but check beforehand that no speed restrictions are in place. When renting your car it might be worth asking for a navigation system, as these often show on screen the correct speed limit on the road your driving on.

Food and drink
Britain is a diverse place, which is reflected in the assortment of food offered – in major cities you can find every world cuisine that you could want, and restaurants are priced from budget to top class.
Celebrated British gastronomic traditions include fish and chips (white fish normally cod or haddock, battered, deep fried and served with fried potatoes also known as chips) and the classic Sunday roast (meat served with roast potatoes, vegetables, gravy and Yorkshire pudding).

If you're wanting for something a little more upmarket, then the Michelin guide has online listings. Vegetarian and Vegan options are widely available. The pub is where most Brits tend to drink alcohol and socialize in Britain. You place your order for drinks by going up to the bar and it's usual to pay each time you place an order.

Tipping isn't mandatory, though it may be valued by your server.

In England and Wales, the alcohol limit for drivers is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, 35 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath or 107 milligrams per 100 millilitres of urine. In most other European countries, the limit is less, usually 50 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood. Some rental cars will allow you to add an extra driver to the rental, so you can share the driving.

Electricity
UK mains electricity is 230V, 50Hz AC, and plugs have three square pins ('Type G'). Some of our bigger rental partners do offer electric cars, there are charge points around the UK but this technology is very much in its infancy.

Telephone
The UK's international dialling code is +44. To call from abroad, dial the international dialling code for your country (eg 011 for the USA), then 44, then the phone number without the leading zero.
To make a call abroad from the UK, dial 00 followed by the country code (eg 1 for the USA), then the phone number dropping of the first zero.

Payphones are still located around the UK but with the upcoming mobile revolution has seen these numbers decline over the last 15 years.

For emergency calls only, dial 999 (or the pan-European 112) for the police, fire service, ambulance, coastguard, or mountain rescue – these calls are free.
UK networks use the GSM standard 3G and 4G is widespread, with good data speeds in most cities around the UK.

Its worth noting that its now illegal in the UK to drive whilst using a mobile phone. Police are looking out for offenders so don’t be tempted, just wait to until you can safely pull over turn off your engine then return the call.