Daily car rental

Our fleet for daily car rental in London holds 24 cars, from £22 to £72 a day, with weekly bookings from £132 and monthly from £462. We bring the car to any address in the city and to Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, London City and Southend airports, with the delivery address, date and time agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed.

What daily car rental in London costs

A single day starts at £22 and stops at £72. Between those two ends sit 24 self-drive cars in four classes, all right-hand drive for left-hand traffic. What the day includes, and how the rate is built, is worth knowing before the date is fixed.

Daily rates across the four classes

A single day starts at £22 and runs to £72; Economy and Crossover both begin at £22, Comfort at £23, SUV at £35. Our cheapest cars on this page are the Citroen C3 Aircross and the Fiat 500 at £22 a day, and the Renault Clio sits at the top of the range at £72. The class "from" price is the entry point of that class, not the top of the page — a Comfort car can cost less per day than a high-spec Economy one, so compare the exact model, not the label. The spread inside a single class is wider than the spread between classes: Economy holds 10 cars from £22 to £72, Crossover 9 cars from £22 to £49, Comfort 4 cars from £23 to £34, and the SUV class is one car at £35. On a single-day booking the class price is the whole story, because there is no second date to average it against.

Classes, cars and daily rates side by side

Four classes cover 24 cars, from 10 Economy to a single SUV. Body style follows the same logic: 13 hatchbacks, 9 crossovers, one estate and one SUV. Seat count is the same across most of the fleet — 22 of 24 cars take five people, and only the Fiat 500 and Hyundai i10 seat four — so class choice is about size and gearbox, not passenger numbers. Gearbox is the detail that catches people out: 21 of 24 cars are manual and only 3 are automatic, so if an automatic is a must, name it when the booking is agreed rather than on the morning of delivery. In our experience the Volkswagen Golf Estate is the pick when a day involves luggage for five, and a hatchback covers the same five people with less boot.

Renting a car for one day or stretching it to a week

Daily car rental in London starts from one day, and that day is also the unit every longer booking is built from. The daily rate is fixed per car, and the manager confirms the date, the time and the delivery address before the booking is fixed. Stretch the same day over a week or a month and the arithmetic stays the same.

One day, one booking, one tank of fuel

A one-day hire is fixed with a manager, and the car comes clean with a full tank and goes back full. We work full-to-full on every car on the page, from the £22 Citroen C3 Aircross to the £72 Renault Clio, and no other fuel option is offered: no pre-paid tank, no full-to-empty. Fuel use differs by model — a 1.0 L Kia Picanto and a 1.6 L Kia Sportage do not drink the same amount over the same miles — so the refuelling stop costs more on the SUV than on the hatchback. Full-to-full means that stop belongs at the end of the trip, not the start: plan it before the return time agreed when booking, because a late return runs past the slot the manager has already fixed for the next hand-over.

Weekly and monthly rates on the same daily hire in London

A week is charged at the daily rate × 6, from £132, and a month at the daily rate × 21, from £462. The multiplier does not move with the class: the £31 Kia Rio runs to £186 for a week and £651 for a month, the £35 Kia Sportage to £210 and £735, the £72 Renault Clio to £432 and £1,512. Weekly and monthly totals for the cars most often booked by the day:

The multiplier is fixed, so the longer booking is worth comparing against the number of days actually driven, not the calendar.

What a longer booking changes

Nothing in the paperwork changes with length: the car is still delivered to your address, still supplied full and returned full, and the address, date and time are still agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed. What changes is the margin for error. Over a month, one missed refuel or one unreported kerb strike costs more than on a single hire, so check the car at hand-over and note the fuel level then, not on the last morning.

Longer hires also shift which car makes sense: a small hatchback is fine for one day in town, while a week of motorway miles sits better in the 1.5 L Volkswagen Golf Estate or the 130 hp Vauxhall Grandland. In our experience the bookings that run smoothly are the ones where the return time was set at the start and never moved. Decide the length first, then the class — the daily rate you are multiplying is the one that decides the total.

Which car suits a day of daily car rental in London

The fleet splits into four classes and 24 cars, and the right pick for a single day usually comes down to size, gearbox and boot rather than badge. Here is how the options differ.

Everyday cars from £22 to £36

• Hyundai Kona: a Crossover at £36 a day with 5 seats, a 1.0 L petrol engine, 120 hp and a manual gearbox.
• Kia Rio: an Economy hatchback at £31 a day, 5 seats, 1.0 L petrol, 99 hp, manual.
• Kia Picanto: an Economy hatchback at £27 a day, 5 seats, 1.0 L petrol, 67 hp, manual — the lowest power on this page, shared with the Hyundai i10.
• Fiat 500: an Economy hatchback at £22 a day with 4 seats, 1.0 L petrol, 70 hp and a manual — one of only two four-seaters here.
• Toyota Yaris: an Economy hatchback at £25 a day, 5 seats, 1.5 L hybrid, 116 hp, automatic — the only hybrid on this page.

In our experience the Citroen C3 Aircross and Fiat 500 go first for single-day bookings because the £22 entry point leaves room in the budget for fuel.

Hybrid, automatic and the one SUV

The Toyota Yaris is the only hybrid on the page and one of just 3 automatics, at £25 a day; the Kia Sportage is the only SUV, at £35 a day with 5 seats, a 1.6 L petrol engine, 150 hp and a manual. The other two automatics are the Seat Leon, a Comfort hatchback at £23 a day with 110 hp, and the Kia Stonic crossover at £30.

Of the 24 cars, 21 are manual and only 3 are automatic, so an automatic is a booking decision to make early rather than a detail to leave to the morning of travel. The same logic applies to the SUV: with a single Sportage in the class, the sooner the date is fixed with a manager, the better the chance it is still free. For most single-day trips, though, a Crossover or Economy hatchback covers the mileage and the parking without the extra length. Petrol covers 23 of the 24 cars, so refuelling is straightforward whichever class you take.

Delivery for your daily car rental in London

A daily booking is only useful if the car turns up where you are. Rent-Trip brings it to you: the address, the date and the time are agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed, and the car arrives clean with a full tank.

The car brought to your address

Rent-Trip delivers to any address in the city, and the address, date and time are agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed. That covers a hotel in Mayfair, a flat in Canary Wharf and every airport terminal we serve. The delivery area reaches St Pancras & King's Cross, Euston, Paddington, Victoria and Waterloo, plus Canary Wharf, Wembley, ExCeL London and Mayfair — so a station arrival or an exhibition day starts with the car already parked outside. Anything beyond these places is arranged case by case and is not promised on the site. Give the postcode and the arrival time in the same message, and the hand-over fits around your plans rather than the other way round. In our experience the time window matters more than the exact street: a manager confirms both together, and a fixed slot is what keeps a one-day rental from losing its first hour to waiting.

Picking the car up at an airport

London Heathrow Airport (LHR): about 30.3 km by road from the centre — roughly 45 minutes without traffic.

An airport hand-over needs the flight-side timing agreed in advance, because the delivery slot is fixed when booking. Landings slip; a manager who knows the flight number can move the slot rather than leave the car waiting at a kerb it is not allowed to occupy. For Heathrow, allow the road time above before you commit to a first appointment in town — a 45-minute run from Heathrow is a fair-weather figure, and the M4 does not always cooperate. Whichever of the six you fly into, tell us the terminal and the landing time in one go.

What to settle before the day

Fuel is full-to-full: the car leaves clean with a full tank and comes back the same way, otherwise the missing fuel and a refuelling service fee are charged as set out in the rental agreement. The delivery address, date and time are confirmed by a manager before the booking is fixed, and anything outside our listed places is arranged case by case. Charges and penalties that can arise during the day are agreed when booking, so raise them then, not after a notice lands on the doormat.

Driving your daily car rental in London legally

A day behind the wheel in Britain runs on rules that differ from most of Europe, and three of them decide how a daily hire actually goes: the licence you hold, the side of the road you keep to, and the two charging zones that cover the centre and, in the case of ULEZ, all 32 boroughs. None of it is complicated once it is laid out before the day rather than discovered during it.

Licences and the left-hand rule

A full foreign licence is valid for 12 months from your last entry into Great Britain — England, Wales and Scotland alike — and all our cars are right-hand drive for left-hand traffic. Keep to the left unless signs or markings say otherwise (Highway Code, rule 160), and stay near the left edge when turning (rule 183). Roundabouts run clockwise: you give way to traffic approaching from the right (rule 185). Speed limits are 30 mph in built-up areas in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, 60 mph on a single carriageway, 70 mph on a dual carriageway and 70 mph on a motorway; on lit roads 30 mph applies unless signs say otherwise, and many zones in the capital post 20 mph — the sign wins. The alcohol limit is 80 mg per 100 ml of blood in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (35 µg per 100 ml of breath, 107 mg per 100 ml of urine), but 50 / 22 / 67 in Scotland. Holding a phone, satnav or tablet at the wheel is banned even at a red light: £200 and 6 penalty points, and drivers who passed their test under 2 years ago lose the licence. Hands-free is allowed if the device does not block your view. In our practice, the visitors who struggle most are not the ones new to left-hand driving but the ones who keep a phone in a cradle they glance at — mount it low and set the route before pulling away. Seat belts are compulsory where fitted; children need a child seat until they reach 135 cm or turn 12, whichever comes first, with a fine of up to £500.

Congestion Charge and ULEZ on a rental day

The Congestion Charge is £18 a day when paid on the day of travel or in advance, or £21 if paid by midnight of the third day after, and it applies 07:00–18:00 Monday to Friday and 12:00–18:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays, inside the Inner Ring Road. It is not charged from 25 December to the New Year bank holiday inclusive. ULEZ is £12.50 a day for non-compliant cars, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week except 25 December, across all 32 boroughs; the M25 itself is outside the zone. Petrol cars and vans must meet Euro 4, diesels Euro 6, motorcycles Euro 3. A PCN is £180, cut to £90 if paid within 14 days. Dartford Crossing (Dart Charge) on the M25 is £3.50 per crossing for cars, or £2.80 prepaid, usually 6:00–22:00 every day. Who pays road charges, tolls and penalty notices on a hired car is agreed when booking — settle it then, not after a notice lands on the doormat.

A day trip on daily car rental in London

Daily car rental in London puts Oxford, Cambridge, Stonehenge, Bath, Brighton, Windsor, Canterbury and the Cotswolds within a day behind the wheel — all of them day-trip pages we hold. From £22 a day, the car is the flexible part of the plan: you choose the departure time, not a timetable. Bath, Stonehenge and the Cotswolds sit furthest out, so they set the pace of the day; Oxford, Windsor and Cambridge are the shortest runs.

• Oxford and Cambridge: the closest of the out-of-town runs, best started early to be back before the evening traffic builds.
• Windsor and Canterbury: short motorway hops with a compact historic centre at the far end, where a small hatchback parks more easily than an estate.
• Stonehenge and Bath: the longest single day on the list, so leave the city before the morning peak and plan the return after it.
• Brighton and the Cotswolds: seaside and countryside respectively, both worth a full day rather than a half one.
• Cardiff & Wales and Edinburgh: beyond a comfortable single day, and better treated as overnight trips.

Motorway driving suits the Comfort class — the Volkswagen Golf Estate and Cupra Leon both hold a steady 70 mph cruise with five seats and a proper boot for a day's luggage. Petrol is the fuel for 23 of our 24 cars, with the Toyota Yaris the only hybrid, so a long motorway day is worth costing against the £1.75 a litre pump price before you pick a class.

Fuel and the return time

The car leaves Rent-Trip with a full tank and comes back full — full-to-full. On a day trip that means the refuelling stop belongs at the end of the route, on the approach back to the delivery address, not at the start; the missing fuel and a refuelling service fee are charged as set out in the rental agreement if the tank comes back short. In our experience the return time is what people underestimate: agree it with a manager when the booking is fixed and build the last leg backwards from it, because an evening arrival at the delivery address is a different drive from a mid-afternoon one.

Charges that can land on a day out

A day trip can cross a charging boundary without the driver noticing. The Congestion Charge applies inside the Inner Ring Road from 07:00 to 18:00 Monday to Friday and 12:00 to 18:00 at weekends and on bank holidays, at £18 a day or £21 if paid by midnight of the third day after. ULEZ covers all 32 boroughs around the clock at £12.50 a day for non-compliant cars, and the Dartford Crossing on the M25 charges £3.50 per crossing, or £2.80 prepaid. Who pays road charges and penalties on a rental car is agreed when booking — settle that before the day rather than after a notice arrives.

Booking daily car rental in London with a manager

Every hire we run is fixed by a person, not by a checkout button. You tell us the dates, the address and the class you want; a manager confirms the car, the delivery slot and the terms of the agreement, and only then is the booking locked. That conversation is also where the questions that have no standard answer get settled — the minimum age, the young-driver surcharge, the card used for the deposit, the excess and any delivery fee outside the usual area are all agreed when booking rather than assumed from a web page.

The Rent-Trip fleet on this page is 24 cars across Economy, Crossover, Comfort and SUV, from £22 to £72 a day, and it is small enough that a manager can tell you in the same conversation whether the exact model you want is free on your dates. If the Hyundai Kona you had in mind is already out, we will say so and offer what is actually standing in the yard — a Kia Rio at £31, a Volkswagen Golf Estate at £31, or a Kia Sportage at £35 if you need the one SUV. Nothing is held silently.

• Dates and times: the pick-up day, the return day and the hour of both are confirmed with the manager, and the daily rate is counted from that agreed span.
• Address: delivery to any address in the capital is arranged in the same call, and the address is written down before the booking is fixed.
• Airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, London City and Southend are all covered, with the flight-side timing agreed in advance.
• Longer bookings: a week is charged at the daily rate × 6, from £132, and a month at the daily rate × 21, from £462.
• The agreement: deposit, excess, delivery fees and any discount sit in the rental agreement, which the manager goes through with you at booking.

What we ask from you is the paperwork that makes the hand-over quick: a full driving licence valid for 12 months from your last entry into Great Britain, and the details of whoever will be driving. In our experience the bookings that go wrong are the ones where the return time was never said out loud — so say it at booking, and the day itself stays simple. The car arrives clean with a full tank and goes back full; anything else is charged as the agreement sets out.