LCY Car Hire

Driving in and around London City Airport

The official London City Airport site has useful information on getting to and from LCY, but you can be in London city centre in around a half hour, the rest of the south east is on your doorstep and cultural powerhouse cities of Manchester and Liverpool are a few hours’ drive to the north via reliable motorways.

Driving (and parking) in London can be tricky, so if your vehicle comes fitted with a Satnav, switch it on to keep yourself right, and Capital FM’s travel news is always worth checking out.

Please be aware that there’s now a speed limit of 32 km/h in several areas of central London, but the usual speed limits are 48 km/h in built-up areas, 96 km/h on single carriageways, 112 km/h on dual carriageways and 112 km/h on motorways.

You should also be aware that there’s a congestion charge zone within the London Inner Ring Road area – this covers the City of London’s financial centre, and the West End, which is London’s shopping and entertainment centre. The congestion charge is £11.50 a day at the moment, and the zone is active between 7am and 6pm Monday-Friday but it doesn’t apply at with weekends. You can set up auto payment at a discounted rate on the Transport for London website and also find more detailed information on the charge.

The Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) applies in the same area as the congestion zone, and it’s enforced every day of the year except Christmas Day – for your purposes, it means that vehicles driving here have to meet a minimum standard for exhaust emissions, but your LCY car hire provider will be well aware of these rules, so your choice of car should be compliant as standard.

For your information, a Low Emissions Zone (LEZ) also applies to the entirety of Greater London, but this shouldn’t concern you as it applies only to trucks and coaches.

Read the Highway Code from cover to cover before you arrive in London – these are the strict rules for road safety in Britain you’ll feel much more confident driving in the capital once you’re aware of them. In the meantime, here are a few more tips:

• You must always drive on the left in London (and everywhere else in the UK)
• You’re permitted to drive in London with many non-UK driver’s licenses – check whether your paperwork meets requirements on this official website.
• Passengers and drivers must wear seatbelts by law and children have to either use car seats or a different type of restraint that’s appropriate for their size and age.
• Don’t stop on official red routes – these are denoted by a blue circle sign with a red cross, accompanied by double or single red lines on the road itself.
• London roads are peppered by bus lanes operating in and outside the city centre – they operate at prearranged hours and this is indicated clearly throughout the route by distinctive blue signs. Use the bus lane by mistake and you’ll face a hefty£130 fine.
• With a general push for low-emission transport in urban areas, cycling is popular in London, so don’t be surprised if you find yourself regularly sharing the road with cyclists. If you’re unsure of the rules, simply give the bike the same amount of space you would allow for a car and keep an eye on the rider indicating with hand signals when they intend to turn off onto a side street.
• Parking can be a headache here until you get used to it, but if you’ll find a suitable space if you take your time. The operational hours in a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) will be clearly signposted and you can park in the spaces indicated by dashed white lines once you’ve bought a ticket from the Pay & Display machine.

The challenges of driving in London are similar to getting behind the wheel in any major city, but stay alert, drive with caution, observe the speed limit and you’ll have a safe and enjoyable time.