Route planning assistance, please

[kybo]

A call for help to all regular M1/M25 users.

I'll be leaving Nottingham (Thursday) to go to Dover (ferry at 12:00).

I'll be leaving at 6:30am and just thought of travelling via M1/M25.

This means I'll probably hit the M25 at around 8:30-9:00 - what will the traffic be like at this time?

Is this the best route, regardless of how busy it will be?

Anyone recommend an alternative route that won't take any longer than 3 1/2 - 4 hours?

Many thanks for your responses - I really don't want to be late for the ferry!!

Scott

[lamboman100]

Leave at 3am and sleep at the docks.

[kybo]

lamboman100 said:

Leave at 3am and sleep at the docks.

seriously??

[Matthen]

kybo said:

lamboman100 said:

Leave at 3am and sleep at the docks.

seriously??

Yes - M25 is heaving by 6 AM.

[surveyor]

It's completely unpredictable. Some days it will be fine, others someone will crash and it will not be...

TomTom HD traffic if you have it.

I'd contemplate heading to the A1 and M11. Limit's your exposure and if the M25 is shafted you have a couple of alternatives.

[kybo]

surveyor said:

It's completely unpredictable. Some days it will be fine, others someone will crash and it will not be...

TomTom HD traffic if you have it.

I'd contemplate heading to the A1 and M11. Limit's your exposure and if the M25 is shafted you have a couple of alternatives.

Thanks for the alternatives - I'll route plan those for times.

Thanks again,
Scott

[Riley Blue]

It's a journey I've done dozens of times, though starting from Derbyshire. These days I often travel down the previous evening and crash out overnight at the Premier Inn at Dover, Maidstone or Rochester catching a ferry at around 9 - 10am. That way if the motorways or especially the Dartford Crossing is snarled up you aren't making a made dash through Kent. It doesn't cost much especially if you use the Premier Inn 'good night's sleep guaranteed or your money back'....

Always check TomTom Traffic and the Highways Agency before you depart and it helps if you've a TomTom with Traffic on it.

[Grandad7184]

As said by the PHer's Leave overnight and crash at the docks or evening and stay in the premier inn. you could be waiting for 2 hours to cross the bridge if there's an accident.

[andy-xr]

I used to do a similar trip from Mansfield, always went M1/M69/M40 then anti clockwise round past Heathrow to Gatwick and on from there. Used to be 3 and a bit hours. Once past J9 everything went quiet for a bit.

[Chris Stott]

andy-xr said:

I used to do a similar trip from Mansfield, always went M1/M69/M40 then anti clockwise round past Heathrow to Gatwick and on from there. Used to be 3 and a bit hours. Once past J9 everything went quiet for a bit.

This route is much better now the 50mph roadworks after the M23 have finished.

I tend to use the A43 rather than the M69 as the route across to the M40.

If there's an accident on the East side, Dartford becomes even more of a nightmare - great traffic planning to make everyone stop at toll booths in the middle of a motorway.

[chilistrucker]

As others have said, it just changes on a daily basis, 1 accident on the m1/m25 or a queue to get over the qe2 bridge is enough to cost you serious time. But if you got a clear run, you'll be fine
Just keep on top of the travel news, and if needs must consider the a14 too either the a1 or m11 as alternative routes

[Robert Burns]

I travel from Scotland down to Dover for the ferry normally once or twice a year.

I always have BBC Radio 2 on when I hit 100miles from London. Purely just for the traffic report. A few times where the satnav says go clockwise and i've went anticlockwise.

I've been stuck in traffic at the dartford crossing once before and never again. Saying that my drive to work might involve a 2 minute wait at a junction and thats it, i have no idea how some guys and girls can drive on the m25.

[Riley Blue]

From the M1/M25 junction I've never been told by my satnav to go anticlockwise round London to avoid a holdup - there's always the Blackwall Tunnel as an alternative to to the Queen Elizabeth 2 Bridge - but it shows how variable traffic there can be as I've often driven over the bridge without stopping (except at the toll) and at various times of the day and day of the week too.

[buzzer]

year before last we left home with a 3 hour contingency for the ferry... due to an accident on the M25 we diverted into London... made the ferry with 10 mins to spare...

Same year we did Gatwick, again a 3 hour contingency before check in... 2 hour delays this time due to fuel spill.

Last year we did the ferry again... left home at 3:00, got to Dover, slept for a couple of hours in the car... no stress....

[zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

I've spent years driving silly miles all over the country.

In the OP's shoes I'd leave at least an hour or so earlier than he thinks he ought to.

Which way I'd go would depend on which side of Nottingham I was. That early in the morning I'd be tempted to go past Melton down to the A1 at Stamford and plan for the M11/M25. Then you have the option of swapping to the A1 if the M11 gets snarled up, or if the M25 is bad and you need to re-route anti-clockwise for whatever reason.

[kybo]

Apologies for radio silence - work commitments.

Thanks for all the posts - a lot of valuable information to digest.

Looking like I might take the A43/M40/M25 route at the moment, as going the night before might not be an option. That said, I will investigate this option as I can see that being the least stressful method of getting to the ferry.

Thanks also for the radio info.

I think M25 clockwise is out - there are 2 large pieces of roadworks to get through, plus the toll queues. This will more than likely rule out A1/M11 route.

Hmm, thinking about it - which would be preferred?

M1 > M25 anticlockwise, or
M1 > A43 > M25 anticlockwise (to cut out a bit of M25 driving)?

Thanks to all posters, very much appreciated,

Scott

[The Moose]

Whatever you do, go the night before!!

[buzzer]

It’s all about risk... a few years ago I was stuck on the M25 for 5 hours solid, I didn't move an inch in that time. Tanker turned over, fatality, air ambulance, accident scene cops... If I had been going on holiday and missed my flight it would have been disastrous, as it was I missed a business meeting, no great shakes.

If I am going to catch a ferry and I miss it, not a big problem, pay a supplement, get a later one…
If we are going on a family holiday, long haul flight involved, say 5 of us… I want to be there well early, and I don’t care if the kids do moan about the wait.

[DonkeyApple]

kybo said:

Apologies for radio silence - work commitments.

Thanks for all the posts - a lot of valuable information to digest.

Looking like I might take the A43/M40/M25 route at the moment, as going the night before might not be an option. That said, I will investigate this option as I can see that being the least stressful method of getting to the ferry.

Thanks also for the radio info.

I think M25 clockwise is out - there are 2 large pieces of roadworks to get through, plus the toll queues. This will more than likely rule out A1/M11 route.

Hmm, thinking about it - which would be preferred?

M1 > M25 anticlockwise, or
M1 > A43 > M25 anticlockwise (to cut out a bit of M25 driving)?

Thanks to all posters, very much appreciated,

Scott

I would just aim to hit the M25 earlier and not worry about the queue for the toll. Then have a relaxing greasy spoon in delightful Dover, or stop at Ashford terminal.

There's a 50 zone from Hatfield passed the M11 but it'll be much quicker than a slow dogleg to the M40 and then round Surrey!

[ruff'n'smov]

Matthen said:

kybo said:

lamboman100 said:

Leave at 3am and sleep at the docks.

seriously??

Yes - M25 is heaving by 6 AM.

Go over to the A52 and down A1 M11 and clockwise around M25 .. But setting off at 3 am is stupid...make it 3.15