[TravelAndTourism] suggestions from anyone with more experience traveling in england

[Dawn Stumpner]

Hi
     We are traveling in France and England near the end of the month, and although we have gotten most of our plans and reservations arranged, we are running into difficulties with one of them. My adult son is a history buff and is interested in World War II. We hope to visit the Tank Museum in Dorset near Wool. It is a little convoluted going there from London and necessitates 2 trains, a bus, and a 40-minute walk each way, but he so determined, and I am willing, so we started to get the train ticket reservations. However, the web site wouldn't allow us to complete our train ticket purchases in advance without us having an address in the UK. We are nervous about waiting until the last minute and just trying to purchase the tickets from the window at the train station, as if we miss any connections, things will fall apart. We contacted the rail line to see what to do, but we just got an automated response that replies can take up to two weeks, and that is almost when we will be leaving. 

We have thought about renting a car, but that is also not a clear-cut thing. First, there is just the lack of experience of my son (I can't drive, of course) driving on the other side of the road, England's types of round-abouts, some differences in traffic rules and symbols on signs, and all of that, but it is also harder to get an automatic car, and he has no experience with manual transmissions / stick shift. Finally, he will not be 25 until the fall, so there would also be a surcharge because of his age. 

We looked into finding a driver to take us there, but we only saw day trips to places like Stonehenge, and while this is very !interesting and we might do it on another day, it doesn't help for getting to the museum near Wool. 

Does anyone have suggestions about how to purchase tickets in advance without a UK address, or alternatively, does anyone have tips for finding other ways of getting there? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

                   Dawn Stumpner