When you’re visiting a city, it may be tempting to take the easy option and get a taxi to where you’re staying, do what you’ve come for, maybe eat out within walking distance and get a taxi back to the airport or the station. But that is a wasted opportunity. When someone asks you if you’ve ever been there, you can say yes. But did you see such-and-such? No. Didn’t have time.
That is a shame, because it is often not true. Imagine going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower, or Athens and not glimpsing a few ancient ruins. Wherever you go, it is always worth having a look around and hiring a car is ideal for urban exploration.
Not everywhere is a fascinating historical city, but more often than not there is something worth seeing, and it may be more than a short walk from your hotel. Even in, say, a former mill town in the industrial north of England, you may not enjoy looking at former mills that are now museums, but after a few minutes’ drive you could be out in the countryside, having a quick drink and a bowl of soup at a lovely little pub.
Pick up the leaflets at the airport or hotel
People are always keen to tell you about what their area is or used to be famous for, and jumping in your hire car is all it takes to go and have a look. Even on a fairly tight schedule, it is usually possible to grab an hour or two for yourself, and what could have been a boring work trip suddenly becomes a topic of conversation. They say travel broadens the mind, but that doesn’t have to mean travelling thousands of miles to somewhere exotic. How can you go to Bristol without looking at the Clifton Suspension Bridge, or Liverpool and not check out where the Cavern Club was?
North London? You could take a selfie on the famous zebra crossing in Abbey Road or outside Lords cricket ground, acknowledged all over the world as the home of the sport. Whatever your interests, there is often something to see, and hiring a car is the perfect way of doing it.
Enjoy the independence of hiring a car
Public transport can be a blessing, and a cab can get you out there, but what about coming back at your leisure? Car hire is the answer. And at the end of the trip, you can drop it off at the airport or wherever you got it from. If you use an independent car hire company, all the better. The people you get it from will give you some idea of where to go and how to get there.
Urban exploration may be a rather lofty way of putting it, but how but having a good look around? “What do they know of England, who only England know?” as Rudyard Kipling said. In other words, you have to get out of your little area to get things in perspective, and hiring a car gives you the opportunity to make the most of your trip.