Our East Midlands car hire advice looks at driving and public transport alternatives in each of these three cities, as well as at how easy it is to get between them and to reach other places of interest in the East Midlands region.

Naturally, there is some overlap with nearby Birmingham, especially as many people take flights to East Midlands as a cheaper alternative for reaching Birmingham and other cities.

Why hire a car at East Midlands airport?

• Multi-city tour — Nottingham, Derby and Leicester all have their own places of interest, but neither of them has enough of a tourist draw to warrant spending a whole holiday in one place. Instead, you will at the very least want to travel between the cities, and more likely you will want to venture out into some of the very scenic countryside areas which surround them. Naturally, having a hire car is going to make this a great deal easier.
• Limited rail network — just compare the vast network of regional and suburban railway lines around Birmingham with a small number of lines radiating out from Nottingham, Derby or Leicester, and you will see that the train is only useful for core trunk routes, and that if you want to visit any of the scenic rural areas, you will probably have to rely on buses.
• Token tram — Nottingham does at least have sparkling new tram line, but that is all it is — one line with a split at the top, and the whole thing serves little purpose for visiting tourist sites.
• No airport rail link — again, unlike Birmingham, there is no easy rail link between East Midlands airport and any of the cities it claims to serve. Worse still, just 4 miles away from East Midlands airport is the East Midlands Parkway railway station, which claims to serve the airport, but no longer has any fixed bus connection to it. There is also no taxi service based at East Midlands Parkway, so don’t head back that way on your return to the airport, unless you book an onward taxi well in advance.
• Peak District — the real scenic gem of the East Midlands area is the Peak District National Park, which is one of the most popular in England, as it is so close to Derby, Sheffield, Manchester and Birmingham. Although there are actually numerous ways to appreciate the Peak District without having a car (see below), a hire car will still give you all the usual flexibility.
• Chatsworth is one of the finest stately homes anywhere in England, and is world famous not just the architecture of the house itself but also the stunning landscape setting it sits within and it’s curious mix of gardens and greenhouses. A hire car will give you much more flexibility, although you can reach Chatsworth by bus from either Sheffield or Matlock.
• Belvoir Castle is another gem to the east of Nottingham, but this time, trying to get there by anything other than car is nigh on impossible, as buses must be booked ahead in advance – thus defeating the whole point of letting someone else do the driving.
• Alton Towers — no visit to this part of the world is complete without spending a day at the Alton Towers theme park. As with other major attractions, you can get there by bus, you will have a lot more flexibility if you go by car, even if the car will just sit all day in the car park.
• Robin Hood – for all things Robin Hood, apart from the centre of Nottingham itself, you will need a car to drive around at your own pace. Naturally, Mr Hood, being a man of the people, would be driving a small compact model, and he would, of course, be trying to get you to use the airport named after him!

Why not?

• Easy city connections — you will have no problem travelling between Nottingham, Derby and Leicester as there is a triangular network of trains running between them, with at least two trains each hour in any direction. It should take no more than half an hour to travel between any of the cities, and trains from Leicester to either Derby or Nottingham are generally of a good standard as they have originated in London.
• Pedestrian friendly city centres — Nottingham in particular has an extensive network of pedestrianised streets, arcades and indoor shopping centres (but avoid Broadmarsh like the plague!), and Leicester and Derby also have pedestrianised streets. Within these central cores, which also include many of the key visitor attractions, it is far easier to get around on foot than by any other means. You could easily get in out of the city centres by bus or train, and even if you do have a hire car, it is often easier to leave it in one of the edge of city park-and-ride car parks.
• Peak District at its peak — as mentioned above, a hire car will give you plenty of flexibility in the Peak District, but to appreciate this area at his best, you will want to leave the car behind and explore some of the following activity options:
• Tissington and High Peak Trails — these two former railway lines have been converted into a traffic free cycleway network which branches in a Y-shape from Buxton to Ashbourne and Cromford (near Matlock). With their sweeping embankments and plant rich cuttings, these two trails are amongst the very best in the UK, and really are a must-do for any visitor. Although you can walk these trails, you will see far more if you go out by bike.
  There are a number of places from where you can hire a bike, including Parsley Hay and Middleton Top, which are both on the trails.
  However, note that these hire centres are some way from any railway stations, so you might be better off looking for bike hire in Matlock or Derby (see below). Note that the ride up from Cromford to Middleton top is extremely steep, but it is well worth the reward!
• Heights of Abraham and Derwent Valley line — any fan of railway and cable technology will love the delightfully scenic Heights of Abraham, and the single track Derwent Valley railway line which you will use to get there. Trains run hourly north from Derby to Matlock.
  Alight one stop before at Matlock Bath to the Heights of Abraham. Naturally, kids will be more interested in the experiences at the top, but there is no doubt plenty here for kids young and old to appreciate. You can also enjoy walking on the Cromford Canal which runs parallel to this route.
• Melton Mowbray — foodies will love a visit to the quaint market town of Melton Mowbray, famous for its pork pies and stilton cheese. You can easily reach Melton Mowbray by train from either Leicester or Nottingham.
• National Space Centre, Leicester — this is another attraction which is going to appeal to big and small kids. This is easy to get to from the centre of Leicester by bus – and even easier on a bike, if you can get hold of one!
• Greenways (cycling) — the East Midlands has several high-quality and traffic free cycling routes, with each of the three major cities having one particularly good one.
  In Leicester, you can take the former route to the Great Central railway south to get out the city, and from here you can easily explore a number of attractive villages. Nottingham has the “Big Track”, which is a 10 mile circuit taking in both the River Trent and the adjacent canal. This circuit loops around Beeston, and you can also continue further up the River Trent as far as Trentlock.
  From Derby, you can head out to Worthington using the Derby canal path, or you can also head north out of the city towards the Peak District (see above).

Conclusion:

Considering that East Midlands airport serves three very different cities, the natural instinct is to think towards getting a hire car to travel around and between them. However, with a little bit of planning, it is clear that there is plenty to see and do without needing one, and that there are also a number of very high quality attractions involving other forms of transport, especially the bike. For these reasons, we think you can get by without a hire car, especially if you are interested in going around on two wheels instead of four.

Verdict: no

Note – some people also use flights into East Midlands airport as a way of continuing on to Sheffield and other places in Yorkshire. These will be covered in our pages for Leeds Bradford and Doncaster Sheffield airports.

• Why flies to and from Leeds-Bradford Airport?
• Why flies to and from Doncaster-Sheffield (Robin Hood) Airport?

• For bike hire in and around the Peak District, try Peak Tours, who also will deliver bikes to nearby cities.
• If you are thinking about bringing your bike with you by plane, please read the guide on our sister website Flightmapping.com. However, for travel within the UK, it is just as easy to get to the East Midlands by train. Derby in particular is on the main Cross-Country route between Devon / Cornwall and North East England / Edinburgh.

One of the most iconic images for the round Europe inter-rail traveller is the xxx bridge leading out from Cologne Hauptbahnhof station and over the Rhine with the imposing Dom Cathedral as a backdrop. For getting around the enormous Rhine-Ruhr conurbation which stretches from east to west to the north of Cologne, there is certainly no need for a car as public transport is excellent. This is covered in our Düsseldorf page.

Why hire a car in Cologne?

• Further to the south are the Rhine and Mosel valleys, which offer many a scenic vista amongst the numerous vineyards.
• Cologne Bonn airport is also a useful gateway for the Ardennes scenic region in southern Belgium and also for neighbouring Luxembourg. From within Europe, flights to Cologne are usually much cheaper than flights to either Brussels or Luxembourg, and there is also a much wider choice of low-cost routes.
• Cologne is also the closest major airport to the infamous Nurburgring Grand Prix circuit. (check). You can also drive around in your own car, but hire car companies would be best pleased about it!
• You can try and race a high speed train down the A35 autobahn, but with ever increasing speed restrictions coming into place on the German motorway network, the train is almost certain to win.

Why not?

• Public transport provision within Cologne itself, to neighbouring Bonn and also within the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation to the north is excellent, so no car is needed for simply travelling around this area. See our Düsseldorf page for more details.
• High-speed and local train services are available to and from all the main airports in the region, including Cologne Bonn, and also Frankfurt International to the south and Düsseldorf International to the north.
• If you really want to zoom fast down the A35 corridor, you can of course just take the ICE high-speed train from Cologne airport to Frankfurt.
• A hire car is certainly a good option for exploring the Rhine or Mosel Valleys, but an even more pleasant, and far more tranquil option is to take a Rhine cruise holiday.
• Cyclists may want to explore the xxx trail — a rare example of a railway in Germany which fell into disuse, and has since been converted into a cycling trial. It is easy to hire a bike in any major town in Germany.

Verdict:

In many ways, the decision whether to hire a car or not in Cologne is a simple case of direction — head north and you won’t need to, head south and we think it is a good idea. Verdict — yes.

Düsseldorf international is the main airport serving the vast Rhine-Ruhr conurbation, which is also known as Essen-dorf. Within this area of some 6,000,000 people, you can travel around as if it was one combined city. Public transport is excellent, although it tends to be focused around the various city centres that make up this region, rather than to travel between the edges of cities. That shouldn’t really be an issue if you are travelling from one central city area or major tourist attraction to the next, and it is also easy to travel from the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation two other nearby towns and cities.

The most scenic area near to Düsseldorf is the Rhine and Mosel Valley winegrowing region, and this is covered on our Cologne car hire advice page.

Verdict — no

Well, actually, we happen to think that getting a hire car in Venice is an extremely good idea.

Why get a hire car in Venice?

• Dolomites — quite simply there is so much more beyond Venice than canals and gondolas, and the Dolomites in particular are absolutely stunning. Whether you want to go hiking, skiing or climbing, a hire car is going to make everything much easier.
  If you head up the A27 autopista to Ponte nelle Alpi, you will then find the Dolomiti Bellunesi national park on your left and the Dolomiti Friulane national park on your right. Further to the northwest, you can also visit the Pale di San Martino natural park.
• Slovenia – with a hire car, you can easily pop across into neighbouring Slovenia and explore the Triglav National Park.
• City tour — architecture pundits will also want to visit cities like Padua and Mantua. Mantua in particular has notable works by Alberti, and is rated as one of the most “liveable” cities in Italy.
  Although these can be done by train, a car gives the flexibility to enjoy the cities and landscapes and villages between them.
• Beaches — there are plenty of great beaches around Venice, and a hire car is good for getting around here to.
• Easy hire car access — Venice Marco Polo airport is a short ferry journey from the city, so it is easy to combine a trip into Venice itself with getting a hire car for the rest of your stay. Alternatively, hire cars are also available near to Santa Lucia station, or at Mestre station, the first mainland stop.
  Check about picking up in one place and dropping off somewhere else, it may well just be cheaper to pickup and drop-off your hire car at the airport.
• Plan B – Venice is one of those cities that everyone should visit at least once, but at the wrong time of year it can be quite literally overloaded with people, or sometimes Venice quite literally stinks! Whilst Venice is too good to miss, even if you are then heading on somewhere else, it is worth having other options available in case you get fed up after being there for a couple of days. In this respect, it is at least worth having a hire car as an option.

Why not?

• Obvious isn’t it? Venice is a city of canals and narrow back streets. It goes without saying that as there is no room in Venice for cars, then if you are only planning on staying within the city itself, there is of course no need to even contemplate getting one.
• Getting around – Although a gondola ride will set you back a good few euros (haggle hard), getting around Venice is actually surprisingly easy, whether by water bus (vaporetto) or simply on foot. If it is gimmicks that you are after, you can evn take a ride on the Venice People Mover, which connects Tronchetto Island with Piazzale Roma.
• Lido – Venice isn’t just about the Grand Canal and St Mark’s Square, you may also want to get out and explore around the Lido. Many of these islands are also car free, so you are still best off without one.
• Central Train – any visitors arriving in Venice by train will appreciate that they are already in the heart of the city when they disembark at Santa Lucia station. Simply walk through the station concourse and you exit straight onto the Grand Canal. It doesn’t get better than that! For anyone with an interest in modern aswell as classical architecture, take a brief detour to the right and there you will see the highly controversial Constitution Bridge. This was designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, altough its simple arch structure is a lot less flamboyant than many of this other works.
• Tour by train — you can easily visit nearby towns and cities by train, and you can also combine a visit to Venice with other major northern Italian city such as Milan and Florence. Those three cities make a nice triangle.

Conclusion — to enjoy the numerous attractions which are within the hinterland of Venice itself, a hire car is an extremely good idea. Verdict — yes

Note — although Venice is not a major intercontinental hub airport, a good network of flights to Venice is available from across Europe. Some budget flights will use Venice Treviso airport, which is around 30 km to the north. If you are getting a hire car anyway, it won’t make that much difference which airport you are using, but for a short break in Venice itself without getting a hire car, it is much easier to use Marco Polo airport

Venice car hire price check: I looked at the cheapest prices for hiring a car in Venice for a week in October 2012. The cheapest option was to pick up a car at Venice Airport and return it there, for around £90. Hiring a car near St Lucia station added another £35 to the cost, and surprisingly, it cost even more (£135) to hire a car in Mestre. Dropping the car at a different location also cost this amount. To get a hire car at Treviso airport, you can expect to pay a little bit more than at Marco Polo (around £100), but this is not a huge difference.

Spain’s third city has gone to great efforts to put itself on the tourist map, especially with the vast City of Arts and Sciences complex. This huge white monument to steel, concrete and glass, which was designed by home-grown architect Santiago Calatrava really is one of the most impressive feats of modern architecture in Europe.

Valencia also has a delightful historic core, and the city is also close to several great beaches. So if there any need to get a hire car for your visit?

Why get a hire car in Valencia?

• Resorts — Valencia is also a gateway to some of the major resorts on the Costa Blanca? A hire car is ideal for quick and easy transfers and getting around once there.
• Teruel?
• Interior?

Why not?

• City — as said above, for those not already familiar with Valencia, the city has a great deal to offer, and it certainly shouldn’t be overlooked on the way to the beach.
• Metro — Valencia has a very modern metro system supplemented by a network of suburban trains which make getting around the immediate area extremely easy. A direct Metro link from the airport to the city centre has also recently been opened.
• Multiple city break — it is easy to combine a visit to Valencia with other Spanish cities, especially either the capital Madrid or the Catalonian hub of Barcelona. Generally, it is easier to find flights to Barcelona than to either Madrid or Valencia. The new high-speed AVE line links Madrid with Valencia in just under three hours. Allow a similar time to get to or from Barcelona.

Conclusion — getting a hire car is useful if you are heading beyond the city, but we would certainly recommend spending a bit more time in Valencia itself then you might have otherwise planned. For this reason, a hire car really isn’t necessary. Verdict — no

Why get a hire car in Turin?

• Italian job — now the Turin of Italian job fame may have been, and indeed may still be horrendously congested, but the real enjoyment is to be had on the Alpine roads surrounding the city. This is stunning driving territory!
• Flights — outside the ski season, the range of flights to Turin is relatively small, especially when compared with Milan, which has a much greater offering of both scheduled and low-cost flights. Getting from any of Milan’s airports to Turin is nothing like as easy as it should be. Even though Malpensa airport has its own railway station, you may need to change between stations in Milan to continue on to Turin.
• Poor rail network – outside the area covered by the Turin metro and suburban trains, options for travelling around by rail are relatively limited.

Why not?

• City delights — Turin might be Italy’s answer to Manchester, but the centre is a delightful network of arcades and squares that really is simply best appreciated on foot. Turin also has a number of cultural attractions, including its famous Egyptian Museum, it’s Museum of film, and there is also the small question of that mysterious piece of cloth.
• Metro — built around the time of 2006 Winter Olympics, Turin has an ultramodern metro system which will take you to various places of interest in the city. However, the number of places served is still relatively limited, but buses are still readily available.
• Lignotto – one of the most famous locations featured in the Italian Job film is the former Fiat factory of Lignotto. This is where they had the famous rooftop test track. Now this building has become a shopping and conference centre with a shiny rooftop observation room. Designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, the refurbished Lignotto has become a worthwhile destination in its own right. As there is no more driving on the roof, you might aswell get here on Turin’s swanky metro.
• Ski transfers — in winter, Turin airport welcomes huge volumes of skiers heading the nearby Alpine ski resorts. Plenty of options are available for resort transfers by bus, although of course as with anywhere, a car will give you more flexibility to travel between different resorts.
• Milan by train — the high-speed Eurostar Italia train will whisk you to Milan in just over an hour, making it easy to combine these two cities as part of a North Italian break. Naturally, you can continue from Milan onwards to Venice, Florence or beyond, and going by train is a great way to explore the cities.

Conclusion — there is plenty to enjoy within the city of Turin itself and nearby without needing a car, but to do your own modern version of the Italian Job (we hope without the bullion robbery), getting a hire car is a must. It would be rude to do it any other way.

Verdict — yes.

There are more long-haul flights to Toronto then there are to any other city in Canada, so many people Toronto is the gateway to exploring the country by land. It goes without saying that considering the vastness of Canada and the fact that it is extremely sparsely populated outside the major cities, a hire car is an extremely good move.

For those who prefer getting around by train, then it doesn’t get more scenic than the Toronto to Vancouver rail trip, although all the good bits are significantly further west. Trains between Toronto and Quebec city, which also run through Ottawa and Montréa, are reasonably fast and frequent, although they are still some way off European high-speed rail standards.

Conclusion — picking up a hire car in Toronto is the best option, unless you either just want to stick to the cities or want to explore the Canadian interior by train.

Verdict — yes

 Why get a hire car in Tenerife?

• No trains — unfortunately, there are no train services in Tenerife or in any of the other Canary Islands for that matter.
  Whereas islands like Majorca, Corsica or Sardinia, or even St Kitts in the Caribbean have some really superb island railways, this simply is not an option, either as a means of enjoyment in itself, or of getting to other places.
• Variety — despite its relatively small size, Tenerife has a stunning variety of cultural and landscape attractions. Where else can you drive from subtropical forests to the barren volcanic landscape of Teide within half an hour?

Why not?

• Cities — Tenerife isn’t just about coastal holiday resorts, the capital Santa Cruz is as vibrant as any other Spanish city, and it is also home to a stunning opera house, designed by the famous Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. Some might say that the roof structure is a case of serious overkill, but this is a cultural rather than a functional building, so what else would you expect? Although not quite in the same league as the Sydney Opera House, it is certainly worthy of a detour if you are on the island.
  On the western coast is the city of Puerto De La Cruz, with its famous zoo (Loro Parque). These locations can easily be visited by bus, so there is no need to get a hire car, but of course having one will give you much more flexibility, especially if you want to come back at night.
• Island hop — for those with genuinely itchy feet, why stop at Tenerife? Hopping around the different Canary Islands can be a great way to pack even more into your holiday, and in some cases you can make a day trip to another island and still be back in the resort by early evening. Although you could Island hop using car ferries, you will have more flexibility without a hire car as you can also use some of the faster ferries or you can take the internal flights.
• Excursions — you should have no problem finding an excursion to take you on a day trip to Teide or any other major attraction on the island, but as with anywhere else, you will be going at their pace not yours.
• Driving standards — Tenerife is the only place I’ve been where somebody has told me that it really is not a good idea to get a hire car. However, this advice was from a resort rep who was more interested in selling the more lucrative adventure packages. As it happened, I ignored his advice and rented a car for the day. From casual observation, Tenerife doesn’t appear to be any different to any other Spanish island, but as with any destination, we would always advise driving with care, but then again who wouldn’t?

 Conclusion — Tenerife is clearly an island where the car is king, and if you want to have the most flexibility than a hire car is essential. Verdict — yes (strong yes)

 Note — there are two airports in Tenerife. Most holiday flights to Tenerife will use Tenerife South airport (Reina Sofia), whereas Spanish domestic flights including island hopper services generally use Tenerife North, which is much closer to the city of Santa Cruz. Extensive hire car facilities are available at both airports, although Tenerife North is also just a short taxi or bus ride into Santa Cruz.