Essex car hire

Hiring a car in Essex is a great way to visit the county and surrounding area. Use your car to drive easily between the Essex coastline, Layer Marney Tower, Colchester Castle and Audley End House and Gardens – this can all be done in one day when you hire a car. Essex is connected to several main roads so you can quickly and easily get to popular locations outside of the county, like London, Cambridge, Oxford or Kent. Most hire companies allow you to drop off your car at another branch location if you want to start your trip in Essex and finish it in a different town or city.

The speed limits in Essex vary throughout the county, the legal speed limit in town centres is usually between 20mph and 30mph, depending on the size of the town. The dual carriageways have a top speed limit of 60mph and the limit on the nearby motorways is 70mph. If you are going from Essex to Kent, you’ll need to pass through the Dartford crossing, which you need to pay for. You no longer pay when at the Dartford crossing itself and instead have to pay online by midnight the day after you cross, or at a PayZone store if you prefer to pay in person.

You have to be a minimum of 21 years old in order to hire a car in Essex and must have held your driving licence for at least a year before renting your vehicle. Even if you meet these requirements, you may still be limited as to which vehicle you can rent, as some larger and more powerful vehicles have higher age restrictions. You may also be subject to a young driver surcharge, it’s best to check with your chosen car hire company in Essex in advance as to their exact policy if you are under the age of 25.

On average a car hire in Essex costs R2 077 per day.

Economy (Renault Clio or similar) is the most frequently booked car hire type in Essex.

In the past 72 hours, the cheapest car hires were found at Enterprise (R1 012/day) and Sixt (R1 523/day).

Take a look at our extensive car hire location map to find the best car hire deals near you.

Based on car searches on KAYAK, the most popular cities to hire a car in Essex are Stansted (38% of total searches of users looking to hire a car in Essex), Harlow (25%) and Southend-on-Sea (13%).