A303 or M4/M5

vikingaero

On Saturday 11th August, we are travelling from Kent to North Devon for our holidays.

So the old conundrum: A303 or M4/M5?

I like travelling on the A303 past Stonehenge but am put off by the often horrific queues where it narrows down to one lane. The M4 has the disadvantage of the mindnumbingly dull section from Reading to Chippenham.

Should I go A303 and leave stupidly early such as 5am?

Thoughts appreciated. :beer:

Syman

always the A303 for me. the queues by the henge far out weigh the boredom of the M4.

Incidentally i have a 160 mile trek along the M4 myself today. wish me luck

WestonDave

If you've not encountered the horrific queues around Bristol and the first part of the M5 down to Weston Super Mare etc, you've been pretty lucky! I'd go short over the long way round but I'd also get hold of a decent map (not a sat nav!) and look carefully at the surrounding roads. Last year we got caught in the inevitable slow convoy down the A361 from Barnstaple and in the end got off and used the old road that runs parallel to the main road back into Tiverton - it felt a lot quicker although I suppose it may not have been - we were at least moving rather than stop start due to the overtaking lanes and then the panic merge at the end. I suspect there may be similar options around the A303 which with people slavishly following sat navs rather than reading maps will be empty.

Klug

We've not long come back from a trip to North Cornwall (beautiful).
We had to make 2 return journeys (don't ask!). First time, we went M4/M5 and were pleased that there are obviously service stations to call in at. However, queues at the obvious places, around Heathrow, Bristol, to name 2. On our return journey we came A303. Much less traffic, however slower pace, more surface water to contend with but far more picturesque. Travelling around towns makes it feel like you're getting somewhere and you can always find somewhere to stop for a cuppa. We therefore managed to avoid Bristol M5 merge area which is always a nightmare.
I guess it comes down to the speed you want to travel....have a good time

slinga

Isn't going passed the Bristol turn off on the M-4 to the M-49 a better option with less jams.
Although to be honest when ever we travel from Heathrow to Bristol by coach, at least once a year we never encounter jams. We usually get to Bristol about 9am ish.

sunshinetours

Either way on a Saturday (a changeover day) I would favour the early start driving from Kent, if only to get round the inevitable M25 south issues that will arise later in the day!

It will be busy once down there as its August either way

nickj_2

i always use the m3 /a303 , it is far more interesting than m4/5 plus if there is a major hold up there's more options for diverting .
when we've been to devon/cornwall in the summer hols i always work on the theroy that if you can get off the m25 before 6-30 you should be ok ,
we normally divert into ottery st mary for some nosh and then go on and spend the day at tiegnmouth and shaldon and then leave there around 4ish ,by this time most of the traffic should have got to their destination ,
i've only had a couple of nightmares on the return journey , so i tend to divert into bournmouth on the way back , which is a bit of a trek , but if it's a nice day it's well worth it

vikingaero

Thanks for the information chaps and chapesses.

I think we'll leave early and A303 it. I'd rather arrive stupidly early and explore than arrive late and cram into our lodge and have to shop at a frantic pace.

Incidentally I agree with the A303 for diversions. On a trip a fortnight ago to Longleat we came back along the A303 and I used the Live Services Traffic feature on our Tom Tom Sat Nav. I decided to slavishly follow it and it diverted us along a really fast rural road parallel to the A303, routed us through to the A3 at Guildford and routed us off the stationary M25 past Leatherhead. OK it wasn't fast driving from Guildford but at least we were moving. I'll update in a weeks time on traffic and the size of my left calf.

mew

Sorry to 'but in' but am I in for a nightmare Journey? Swindon to Burnham -on-Sea (Brean) on August Bank Holiday Monday morning via M4/M5?

sunshinetours

Maybe maybe not who knows! Bottom line its only about 70/80 miles I would guess so not really that far either way. Like anytime earlier the better should minimise your chances of traffic at weekends/bank holidays

vikingaero

Back today from our week away.

When we left on Saturday 11th, I made the executive decision to leave at 5am, which meant a 4.30am wake up call! I got some funny looks from Mrs V. and the Vikingettes but they knew I meant business. We were on the road at 5.05am and it was bliss. No traffic: M20 clear, M26 clear, M25 clear, M3 clear and A303 clear. The best bit was that Mrs V. and the Vikingettes were all fast asleep. In just over 2 hours we had reached the Wincanton area. I dithered with breakfast at some Little Chefs and the sheer number of cars in their car parks put me off. Same with the McD which was rammed. As they were still asleep I pushed on and we had breakfast on the M5 Roadchef at Taunton Deane (I think). The Roadchef was pretty busy but the motorway was heavy but moving OK.

As we were so early on our first day I did a detour through Exmoor to Dunster/Minehead. Our first stop was Porlock Weir where the kids loved the rocky beach. Being a sucker for Toll Roads we drove on the Worthy Toll Road which was underwhelming. Onto Lynton/Lynmouth and the cliff railway and lunch. Then Ilfracombe for the seafront, big hill and shopping before we made our way to our lodge - all in one day!

On the way back we left Ilfracombe at 7.30am and the A303 was clear on the way back. Those coming Westbound had the queues at the usual places, queues on the M3 and on the M25. When I think about how much we did in our first day I can't believe all these people that can't be bothered to get up early and endure all the frustration in queues when they could be chillaxing as we did!