Motoring in the UK

This section of our website is here to help you to prepare for driving in the UK.

Find out if you need a UK driving licence? And also, do you need to take a driving test in order to obtain a UK driving licence, or can you just swap your existing licence?

Find out about the legal documentation for owning and driving a car, including motor insurance.

Information on Motoring Organisations for breakdown and rescue, Buying a Car, Vehicle Imports and Motoring Offences is also provided.

.......and please don't forget that we STILL drive on the left!!!

What You Need To Do

Driving Licence

If you are staying in the UK for more than a year you may need to get a UK Driving Licence.

Our Legal Requirements page provides a summary of what you as a driver will need to do to obtain a UK Driving Licence for the period that you are here, as well as essential information on the documentation required for owning a vehicle. 

 Our UK Driving Licence page has detailed information on what you need to do to get a driving licence. What is needed varies according to your country of residence. 
In many cases you will also need to take a Driving Test.

If you do need to take a Driving Test our pages on Driving Instructors and The Highway Code will be useful. 

Car Insurance

Motor insurance is mandatory. Please visit our Motor Insurance and Motor Insurance Companies pages for helpful information.

Your Car

If you are considering importing your vehicle to the UK then our Vehicle Imports page will be essential reading before you finally decide to import.

Our Buying a Car page will help you to do just that. 
It has links to car dealers and manufactures. It also provides advice on getting the best deal, including buying through car auctions.

Other Stuff

Other pages containing useful information are Motoring Organisations, Motoring Offences, Town Parking, and Classic Car Storage. 

UK Driving Conditions

The UK is a small heavily populated country with a good motorway network to all major towns and cities. These motorways do, however, become congested during rush hours and holiday periods but are still the best and quickest way to travel long distances.

Roads in and around most towns during rush hours and Saturday shopping days are also very busy. 

Moving away from towns and cities into the rural areas you will enjoy fairly traffic free roads leading to very attractive country villages, rolling hills and farmland. Not to be missed during your stay in the UK.

Using public transport is being increasingly encouraged but bus routes are not always convenient and fares can be expensive. You may find our page on UK Public Transport useful.

All towns have extensive car parking, much of it in multi-storey car parks.

'Congestion Charges' are now being introduced in some cities to help reduce traffic and encourage the use of public transport. The charges range from £2 to £8 per day per vehicle. For more information on Central London congestion charging, click here to visit the Transport For London web site.

Driving in London

Driving in London is challenging unless you know your way around and are used to driving in busy cities. 

It’s worth considering leaving your car at an Underground or Railway station and going by train - check out our UK Public Transport information.

Parking in London can also be expensive - you can pay over £30 per day!!!

The £8 per day Central London congestion charge is another incentive to use public transport.

All motorways to London join the M25 London Orbital motorway, which is busy most of the time, particularly where 2 motorways join and also within 10 miles of Heathrow Airport.

Roads to the popular holiday destinations in the West Country (Devon, Cornwall and Somerset) are also subject to considerable traffic during public holidays and during July and August. Planning alternative routes before you set out is time well spent.

Many motorways linking the northwest of England and North Wales to southern England converge at Birmingham leading to congestion on the M42, M5 and M6. Again, planning alternative routes may be advisable.

TrafficMaster provide in-car systems to help with your route planning. It enables you to observe traffic conditions on motorways and major trunk roads in the UK. It also provides travel and weather information.

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