It's coming up to school holidays and on Saturday 25th we're off to a cottage in New Quay (Wales) for a week. We don't want to set off too early because we can't get into the cottage until 2pm and we're taking the dog.
Google maps suggests the following route: tinyurl.com/ne2qhn
which is 203 miles and 3h 46mins (we'll be stopping for breathers as required).
Any comments on the route, and what's the traffic going to be like if we set off at say 10am? Will everyone else have gone by then? :-)
F
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No comments on the route (which seems correct) but DO be careful with your speed. The M4 and the road from Ammanford to Carmarthen (particularly just before you get to Carmarthen, near the Cop Shop on the downhill section) is a nightmare for speed traps. Take it easy and you'll be fine. Have the correct money for the toll ready so that you can go through the coin bins and if you get reports of M4 queing for the tolls, jump onto the M48 as the queues are usually shorted.
Enjoy your holiday.
Edited by a900ss on 16/07/2009 at 15:09
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but DO be careful with your speed.
It's ok - I'll be driving, not SWMBO :-)
Thanks for the tips.
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Great choice of holiday location - we went just S of there for a few years. New Quay not blessed with much in the way of food shops, so you may like to take dry provisions with you. There was a decent butcher in Llanarth, but only a convenience shop in New Quay.
Once off the M4 the roads are pretty slow, with few overtaking chances.
Llangranog to the S is worth a visit, and the coastal path is very good. Boats from New Quay to see dolphins, too.
Enjoy it!
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New Quay not blessed with much in the way of food shops so you may like to take dry provisions with you.
Yes, we'd heard that it's a bit remote, but presumably these days we can make use of supermarket delivery services?
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Maybe I'm being a bit naive here but what about supporting the local economy of greengrocers/butchers/small indie foodshops rather than the large Tesco's of this world. OK the opening hours may not be as long as Tesco but they are open duing the day and this area does depend on tourism. Cardigan does have a mid-size Tesco at the top of the hill towards New Quay but also plenty of indies as well.
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Maybe I'm being a bit naive here but what about supporting the local economy of greengrocers/butchers/small indie foodshops rather than the large Tesco's of this world.
Fair point - if there's local shops then we'll probably use them. I just got the impression there was hardly anything at all in the vicinity, and didn't want to waste valuable holiday time driving 18 miles each way (Cardigan) in addition to doing the shopping itself. (Although if combined with a day out then it wouldn't be so bad.)
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"what about supporting the local economy of greengrocers/butchers/small indie foodshops"
The last time I went to New Quay there was one convenience store selling a limited range of high-priced stuff. The butchers is in the next village.
You can however, buy fish straight from the guy who caught it from a little stall/booth up the hill a bit from the harbour.
There are several shops selling holiday buckets and spades, and there was an Indian restaurant.
www.newquay-westwales.co.uk/shops.htm may be up to date and seems as I remember it.
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and there was an Indian restaurant.
great news :-)
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They have a guitar shop so you could sing for your supper if needs be.
Nice place new quay
They have an award winning restaurant at the top of the hill
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I've been there a couple of times myself. Beautiful, unspoilt coastline.
If I have to travel on that sort of day I now leave in the afternoon. It seems the world and his brother are keen to get to their destination and all that's left on the roads later are the breakdowns. It makes for a much more relaxing journey.
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"Yes, we'd heard that it's a bit remote, but presumably these days we can make use of supermarket delivery services? "
Nearest Tesco was in Cardigan, and it's possible they don't cover the area, so you'd need to check - don't assume!
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Nearest Tesco was in Cardigan and it's possible they don't cover the area so you'd need to check - don't assume!
Good advice.
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I live 10 miles from Cardigan and they don't cover us. Tesco delivery is a nice theory.
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If I have to travel on that sort of day I now leave in the afternoon.
Tempting - I don't like to feel I'm losing part of my holiday, but I suppose a few hours out of a week isn't that much, and the difference might not be that great if you get held up going early.
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Or leave early-ish, and stop off en-route once you've got off the M4. a few decent pubs on that route. Be flexible, enjoy the opportunity to go off-piste, and live a little!
Holidays cottages often say 2 pm arrival in case the previous occupants left the place in a state, but most people leave it immaculate, so the cleaner just does the beds, a quick wipe-down and out by 11.00! I've often arrived early, and never had any problems.
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Use the old Severn bridge (straight on at the Almondsbury Interchange) signposted M48 Chepstow. Most of the congestion around the interchange is southbound down the M5. To use the new bridge you have to head south on the M5, and the traffic don't half back up there.
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but most people leave it immaculate
10 years of cleaning a rental cottage would lead me to disagree! As a rule of thumb the more expensive the car the visitors arrive in the worse the condition they leave the cottage
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Are you staying in Maes y Neuadd ?
I'm off there in September with dogs in tow. Spent a cracking night there a couple of years ago - superb pub in the town (Dylan Thomas drank there) - kept by a young couple it is one of the most welcoming places I've stumbled across.
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As a rule of thumb the more expensive the car the visitors arrive in the worse the condition they leave the cottage
Owner should be pleased when he sees us turn up in the Y reg Focus then.
Are you staying in Maes y Neuadd ?
Cei Bach - next to a (disused?) holiday park. It was (relatively) cheap :-)
We're looking forward to it, even more so now after reading some of the posts. Thanks again for everyone's comments.
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Owner should be pleased when he sees us turn up in the Y reg Focus then
Yep
Old focus =
i would expect all to be spick and span and the TV still there :-)
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The next bay SW of New Quay is called Cwmtydu - just up from there is a fantastic Welsh dairy farmer called Ray Rees - he probably still runs a little pony trekking yard in the summer, and ankle biters/young at heart (if about eight or above) have a great time on about an hours ride along tracks in the woods/valley close by. Well worth it, even in the rain.
My kids look back very fondly on the time we had there, as do I. Real old-fashioned holidays - a ride in the morning, back to pick up a picnic lunch, then off to the beach at Llangranog or similar, and some body-boarding, build a big sandcastle, ice-cream and back in time for a huge supper after all that fresh air. We used to sleep like logs!
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We were down Fishguard way a couple of weeks ago. Great part of the world, just pray for at least some sunshine.
M4 50 limit from Newport to beyond Cardiff is a royal pain in the backside!
Agree about watching your speed - camera van on downhill section near Carmarthen and then 5 police with speed guns on Pembrokeshire roads, all over the course of 5 days. No need to get caught as there are plenty of signs and no doubt as to what the limits are, just ensure you are doing the new limit before the signs - the police locate themselves to catch those who haven't slowed by the sign.
Cardigan has all the shops you need (including a huge sweet shop with IIRC over 600 jars of different sweets!) - just be careful in the car park near Somerfield - there are different coloured lines for spaces and different machines for the different colours! I bought the wrong ticket, but got away with it.
Fuel stations can be far apart, so fill up when you get the chance - lots of Murco fuel as the main depot is in Milford Haven.
Enjoy yourself.
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Aberaeron 7 miles up the road is a nice place as well - Morrison's store there apparently.
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I live in Reading also and was brought up in the general Pembrokeshire area and know this route well having travelled it every week to college for a couple of years.
It is certaily a scenic drive but with few overtaking opps unless you have a 911Turbo !
However I would second what another poster has said about the M4 on the Wales side of the bridge, bee very wary of anything on any of the motorway bridges on the whole stretch to Carmarthen. M4 South Wales is perhaps one of the most likely motorway stetches in the UK to get caught speeding. They got me and my dad who was nealy 80 (twice) so be very wary but have a lovely break !!
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Roly - I forgot about the M4 cameras - we use the stretch from Cardiff to Bridgend when down there and I've seen the camera van on the bridge around junction 35 (?) a number of times.
There are signs before it so take heed.
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whats the obsession with speed cameras?
has nobody got working speedo heads in their cars and eyes in their heads then?
is it really that hard to concentrate on the roads and traffic and not make small talk in between
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Ended up setting off some time after 11am and although M4 was busy, it kept moving OK. Only significant holdup was at the roundabout at the end of the A48 - about 20-30 mins I think.
Saw lots of speed camera warning signs on the Welsh roads around New Quay and Aberystwyth but don't remember seeing a single speed camera. Didn't do any overtaking, but didn't feel the need to - most of the time 60mph would have been too fast for the road.
Lovely cottage near the quiet beach; weather not brilliant but a lot better than what we got in Cornwall a couple of years ago. Only one trip to the emergency dentist, due to SWMBO losing a filling, and one to casualty after son badly sprained his ankle on some beach rocks. Fortunately his crutches didn't prevent us from doing too many things :-)
A few holdups on journey back mainly just due to weight of traffic I think, but overall, as 200 mile drives go, relatively straightforward and easy.
Thanks again for the comments and suggestions.
F
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