My wife and I went to England a couple of years ago and I planned on renting a car (making sure it would be an automatic as I didn't want to deal with shifting with the "wrong" arm) and driving. Our English friends picked us up and drove us back to their town and then drove us on a bit of a tour of the countryside, where I figured I'd learn to drive. The country roads all seemed to be just over one car width wide on two-way streets (they had occasional wider spots in the road for one car to pull off and let the other car through), were FULL of cars, busses (including the double-decker ones) and trucks ("lorries") and all lined with stone walls, trees or impenetrable tall shrubs. I was terrified and wouldn't have driven there even if the cars didn't drive from the "wrong" side while in the "wrong" lane. England (and Wales and Ireland, which we also visited) are FULL. There is just no room for what we think of as minimal roads. Oh, and using a traffic circle ("roundabout") in The Villages does NOT prepare you for a traffic circle with three lanes in it with seven or eight entrances/exits.
Of course, that was just me. Your experience may be just delightful...
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