Advice on Driving through the UK

[TonyT]

Apologies for the double post. Don’t know how that happened.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Cheers guys, my dog is aggressive with other dogs , due to being attacked in the past , so it's too difficult to manage with the long ferries , as there's always limited enough space to exercise the dogs on board , you've to book at least a year in advance to guarantee a pet friendly cabin , otherwise they're in kennels with a lot of other dogs. Some people hang out with their dogs all day in the pet toilet /exercise areas to its difficult to manage to take the dog out when they're won't be lots of other dogs around . For me it's less stress driving on the UK road system, with the short ferry and Eurotunnel crossing, than travelling on a long distance ferry in close confines with other dogs .

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

I've pulled the trigger on the Saturday , so here's hoping it'll work out, at the end of the day it's just a couple of hours difference in a long journey an so won't really impact . One thing I hadn't factored in was accomodation in Calais . Normally it's never an issue , I usially book an Ibis hotel a couple of days beforehand , but they're all booked up , I suppose lots of people travelling to France for the holiday weekend. I managed to get an F1 motel , thankfully I'd checked as I almost booked a room without a private bathroom , I hadn't realised that such a thing still exists

 

[Paul7189]

I imagine the hotels issue will be because of the champions league final in Paris

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Obviously it's a unique situation but I'd have thought you should be OK, I imagine most people doing long-distance trips will leave Wednesday night/Thursday morning, then come back Sunday night.

Personally I hate that Staffs/Birmingham bit of the M6. You might want to consider the A50 (Stoke-Derby) then down the M1. Also consider going east of London on the M25 - you get a toll over the Dartford crossing but otherwise it's generally less stressful than Heathrow/Surrey IMO.

And be wary of the M20 being a Brexit lorry park - you really, really don't want to end up in the left lane coastbound J8-9, you end up trapped in a single lane at 30mph with all the trucks. It's better signed than it was, but even if you are in the right lanes it's still a long way at 50mph.

Also they've been closing the M2 on some weekends - you want to take a look at the Highways England map of what roadworks are happening when.

 

[Applesnmore]

Have a good trip.
Yes f1 without ensuite is a shock. Must be a blackpool b&b

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Obviously it's a unique situation but I'd have thought you should be OK, I imagine most people doing long-distance trips will leave Wednesday night/Thursday morning, then come back Sunday night.

Personally I hate that Staffs/Birmingham bit of the M6. You might want to consider the A50 (Stoke-Derby) then down the M1. Also consider going east of London on the M25 - you get a toll over the Dartford crossing but otherwise it's generally less stressful than Heathrow/Surrey IMO.

And be wary of the M20 being a Brexit lorry park - you really, really don't want to end up in the left lane coastbound J8-9, you end up trapped in a single lane at 30mph with all the trucks. It's better signed than it was, but even if you are in the right lanes it's still a long way at 50mph.

Also they've been closing the M2 on some weekends - you want to take a look at the Highways England map of what roadworks are happening when.

The bridge is always the better option as with my foreign reg plate it free

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Well we're off , so fingers crossed for a quiet drive , thanks again to all who contributed