Hello,
I know from reading the forum often that many of you are well travelled.
I am driving from Southport (just south of Preston) stopping over in Portishead (Travelodge) on way to Newquay on the Friday evening, leaving approx 1830 -1900, of next bank holiday weekend. We have two children 5 and 3.
Is it worth going the toll road and coming back under B'ham on the M42 to the M5?
Suggestions on the way back please which will be the following Saturday, haven't made any plans for a stopover yet, any good break places etc etc for an hour or two, (e.g. Cheddar Gorge) or is it madness to try this in one go, leaving times etc past experience will be welcome!
Thanks
Ellis
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Cheddar Gorge is around 20- 30 mins from M5 and parking can be expensive. There are free spots further up the gorge, but be prepared to do alot of walking. The best views and caves in the gorge are only accessed by paying.
There are some Theme parks for Kids in Devon/Dorset/Somerset not too far from motorway. These maybe your best bets. Check the South west tourist board web site.
www.easypreschoolsouthwest.co.uk/main/en/TTD_Child...m
Traffic busy in Cornwall 8am - 9am & 11am - 7pm most days in Summer, so try to travel outside these times when arriving in Cornwall.
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unless staying in a Travelodge is part of your holiday why would you want to make an overnight stop on a 350 mile journey that would take around six hours? But that's just my opinion. Often gone from Scotland to Cornwall and never used the toll road yet.
As for Cheddar Gorge unless you get there early and stay all day and use all of the ticket it's not worth it. IMHO it's the biggest fleecing operation in the UK.
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thats a pretty easy drive as its only around 350miles each way. i used to reguarly do lincoln to newquay every month. i know the mways around bham aren't good but shouldn't need the extra expense of an overnight stop
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"should take about six hours", I've heard a few horror stories regarding times taken exceeding 8 hours, it took me 5 hours to do 250 miles from southport to Helensburgh, NW of Glasgow with one stop, and good weather, how good is the A30.
Anyone got any recent experiences this summer.
Point taken on Cheddar Gorge.
General consensus so far is to go for it on the way home!
Thanks
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I do the halves of your journey for work - I start from near Bristol, here is my opinion:
Traffic on the M6 toll may be light but you will then join the M42 and other traffic all going round Birmingham. I cant see any advantage in doing that.
Joining the M5 from M6 J9 will be slow; last month the entry slip was down to one lane due to roadworks. These may have finished but dont count on it. I know there are "short cuts" to avoid this junction but they will also be busy.
Traffic builds up on the M4/M5 interchange particularly on Saturday mornings in the summer hols. Get away from Portishead as soon as you can - 5am(?) and hope for the best as you will be joining a lot of others.
The A30 is now dual carriageway most of the way into Cornwall. I haven't done the final bit of the journey for a while so I cant be more specific.
Good Luck
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I'm from Southport!
We did Crosby to St Ives during the Easter holidays. We set off at 7am on a Saturday and went straight M6, M5. No problems at all - we arrived at our cottage at about 2.30pm...
I can understand you wanting to split the journey with two young 'uns.....
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When we were small we were regularly taken 6/7 hours in a car across France/Germany in one day. In a Maxi too.
Personally I'd not bother setting off on the Friday night. But then I'd also want to avoid 10am onwards into the West Country.
Also my view, but whenever I leave my route on the way home for 'just a couple of hours' it's invariably 3 or 4 before you're back on the route. Whilst it's tempting to delay getting home, it makes a long journey longer...
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I live north east Brum and girlfriends folks live in Penzance so it's a trip I quite familiar with.
The time you'd be hitting the M6 j8 (M5/M6 junction) most of the traffic will have quietened down so I'd save myself a few quid and a few miles and ignore the toll road, also the M42 has variable speed limits which seem to be left on pretty much all day every day which slows things down considerably. Normally the traffic is a bit easier after 7ish.
Coming back on a Saturday in the summer is a nightmare, the quickest I've done it in is 8 hours. I'd suggest either get on the road before 8am and stop North of Bristol or spend the day on the beach and leave after tea time, anywhere in between and you'll see a lot of the A30 and M5. Sister came back from St Ives last Saturday, left at 10am and got to south Brum at 5pm
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I know it's not the same journey, but we did Portsmouth to Cornwall recently. We left at 10.30pm, stopped at Exeter for a coffee and arrived at our cottage at 2.15am. Not surprisingly, there was no traffic and hence no pressure! With your two young children it would, I think, make sense to travel down in the evening. They would sleep through most of the journey and there wouldn't be any 'are we there yet?'. Presumably you have pre booked the Travelodge so can't get out of it now.
Coming home, enjoy another day on the beach and leave in the evening. Alternatively, find a country park and have a picnic, go for a walk, kick a football around - a bit of light exercise will help you stay alert for the rest of the journey and happy children make a journey so much easier.
Agree, Cheddar Gorge is worth a miss.
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Your trip down on the Friday, without the toll road should be fine. Going back on the Saturday the M5 will be 3 lanes nose to tail from about junction 22 up to the Almondsbury interchange, junction 15. There is no easy way around this, diverting through Bristol will be just as bad.
If you want a break then I would make it well south of this area, try Dobwalls theme park, before you leave Cornwall and aim to hit the Weston/Bristol stretch of M5 after 3 pm.
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Thanks for the solid advice, going to spend the last day tiring the kids out, nice spot of dinner somewhere and then come up late on the last day.
Regards
Ellis
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Again thanks for the advice, left the NW at approx 7pm sailed through B'ham, was in Hotel in Portishead about 3.5 hours later. Left in the morning about 8 which based on the traffic was about 2 hours too late but it was moving nontheless.
Change of plan on the way home left at 5am and got home in under 6 hours.
Ellis
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The A30 is good now, why stop overnight at Gordano when only two hours from Newquay?
Re the return, Cheddar Gorge is easy to access from the south of the M5 though less easy to get back on the M5 northbound (without going 10 miles south again) if you dont know the area, the caves, shops etc are a bit too commercial though if you are in the area it is worth a drive up and/or down the gorge which costs nothing, Wookey Hole caves are more educational though another 15 mins from the M5. A stop on the seafront at Clevedon is worth a thought, 10 mins off the M5, coffee, pasty, icecream, bracing walk, intersting pier, not amusements, not tacky.
However if I were driving from Newquay to Southport I would be stopping much further north, perhaps Cadbury World (or what ever it is called) just off the M5 in Birmingham. 4 hours - stop - 2 hours is a better balance.
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Tip - Take along a picnic and enjoy the view (night or day) when you inevitably end up getting stuck in traffic on Bodmin Moor (A30), whilst most of the road devon through to cornwall is greatly improved, this section is just a total nightmare (makes me want to never see the cornish inlaws!).
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The new section through Indian Queens is open though for Newquay the best way is to take a right shortly after Victoria and cut across to the A39 and on to the A3059. Also the roundabout at Whiddon Down has been replaced by junction so no delays for A30 traffic there.
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what about the detour to see the spitfire in the garden?
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