Which route to go from London to Bude

[BermyAndy]

Right chaps - would like some advice here from anyone who was ever as stupid as me and driven from london to cornwall on the friday evening of a bloody bank holiday

Unavoidable as need to be in Bude for rugby saturday am

Have to start from shepperds bush, so do i just do the m4 m5 usual route, or fight from sheperds bush through richmond on to the m3 and then do the a303?

[lost in espace]

A303 I would say, shorter = cheaper and you are just as likely to get held up as on the M4. Any its a nicer drive.

[Nic Jones]

I'm setting off from Stevenage at 7 tonight to visit the parents in Exeter.

Personally i'm going M4/M5, the A303 will be worse at every bottleneck like Stonehenge. At least (hopefully) the Motorway should keep moving.

Then i'd take the A361 to Barnstaple from Tiverton and follow the coast road (A36?) down to Bude.

Much better than the A30 which will be carnage.

I did the journey to Exeter last Friday night similar time in 3.5 hours

[Neil_H]

I like the A303 route as it's a more interesting drive, but my SiL has family in Weston-Super-Mare and swears by the M4. The problem is the 303 goes to a single lane somewhere around Salisbury IIRC which makes it very slow going. If speed is what you're after I would do M4 - M5.

[Nic Jones]

Neil_H said:

I like the A303 route as it's a more interesting drive, but my SiL has family in Weston-Super-Mare and swears by the M4. The problem is the 303 goes to a single lane somewhere around Salisbury IIRC which makes it very slow going. If speed is what you're after I would do M4 - M5.

Yep, if you're sure it's going to be a clear run (like late at night) then the A303 is far better, quicker, more fun and cheaper on fuel.

[Road2Ruin]

Nic Jones said:

At least (hopefully) the Motorway should keep moving.

Thats a chuckle, I like your optimism. The motorway is closed every Friday night through the summer. Always some numpty prangin his car. I am sure they do it deliberately.

I personnally would do the M3, A303 to Ilminster, A358 to Taunton, M5 then A30. Yes the A30 will be hell but the coast road is about 1m wide at its widest part and full of people wanting to avoid the A30. Oh and it much longer that way.

[lunarscope]

Personally I'd head West.

[ZR1cliff]

The railways would make a fortune if they ran car transporters down to the West country, say one terminal west of London and another down in Cornwall/Devon

[Pigeon]

Congratulations, you've just reinvented Motorail.

[N1CK]

Avoid the M5, the past 2 weeks when ive gone to cornwall there has been accidents both ways causing massive tail backs.

personally i'd risk the 303 it least it actually moves rather than just being stuck going nowhere.

I would also leave as late as possible, if you leave early you will probably arrive the same time as you would if you left later anyway

Edited by N1CK on Friday 22 August 12:01

[ZR1cliff]

Pigeon said:

Congratulations, you've just reinvented Motorail.