Ok, finally back from my first driving holiday abroad (UK to be specific) and had a great time. Thanks to a lot of pointers I got from this thread and cant really think of too many additional things to say. A few do come to mind.
1. One of the best and probably the most important advice I received here was:
Quote:
Enjoy yourself, don't be too stressed
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The day I picked up the car - I was too stressed and got honked within 200mtrs of the rental place because I was being wayyy to cautious navigating a roundabout. For first timers, it may not be so easy to immediately start driving confidently but I really think that this advice came out on top!
2. I generally drive sedately and the driving attitudes in UK suited me. Even then I had to "unlearn" quite a bit of my Indian driving instincts. But that also meant that I drove far more relaxed.
3. Even if you don't remember the highway code book by heart, dont worry - most street signs / road markings are logical, well displayed and very well planned. Just drive relaxed and be courteous and calm.
4. Driving on motorways is by far the easiest and quickest way to travel. It may be boring at times but very convenient.
5. Similar to the above - driving in villages / small towns is generally easier than driving in large cities / towns
6. UK has three basic kinds of Roads - Motorways (prefixed M), A roads (prefixed A) and B roads (prefixed B). M roads are bigger / multiple laned than A roads and A roads are bigger than B roads (the second case may not always hold true). What is notable is that longer the suffixed number the smaller the road becomes and usually shorter.
That means - M1 > A1 > than say B900
more info here -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_...mbering_scheme
The above is not really relevant to driving - just a bit of trivia; but I thought to mention it coz, if you time and patience, the smaller the road the more scenic it becomes and that much less rush and traffic.
7. Dividers / roundabouts / lane marking will not always be physical barriers, but often will be painted onto the road. These are not to be crossed or driven over - unless there are specific instructions allowing to do so.
8. Upon entering large roundabouts / exit / entry areas - the corresponding lane (to where ever you are heading to) will be pained onto the road surface. Switch lanes in time and stay in your lane till the lanes merge once again.
10. The most confusing traffic rule I encountered was going for unmarked right turns. In several villages and towns, quite a few right turns are not marked and were also not governed by any traffic lights. In which case you only had the option to pull into the lane going right and wait for a gap in the oncoming traffic.
11. Following from the above, you need to know where to go NEXT while driving. Stopping to ask for directions / parking on the road is a strict no-no, unless you have an emergency. Have a GPS installed or alternatively use a road guide (with a good navigator) like the AA Route Planner -
http://www.theaa.com/route-planner/c...anner_main.jsp
Please do keep in mind that the route planner may not be a 100% updated wrt road signages / road works etc. It is otherwise a very useful tool to plot the quickest (not the shortest) route.
12. A LOT of the towns / villages / cities in UK have existed they way they are today and have been for several centuries past. This means crowding of lanes, converging and diverging and in some places the roads we encountered were so narrow, that if even one lane was partly / wholly occupied, we went over the pavement / curb avoiding pedestrians to get across!!
Hope this helps!