Chester to Cardiff... Best route??
Discussion
Sat Nav seems to be determined to send me m6 m5 m4 indicating 3 and 1/2 hr trip.... (company pays for toll road)
Yet again ... traffic a nightmare...5hrs later (Although spotted 3 Astons, 1 Maserati and a rather lovely GTR mmm)
Have looked at Shrewsbury.. Hereford.. but new client base means more visits so need to shave off some traveling time...
Any ideas gratefully received..
Yet again ... traffic a nightmare...5hrs later (Although spotted 3 Astons, 1 Maserati and a rather lovely GTR mmm)
Have looked at Shrewsbury.. Hereford.. but new client base means more visits so need to shave off some traveling time...
Any ideas gratefully received..
Chester >
Wrexham
Oswestry
Welshpool
Newtown
Llandrindod Wells
Brecon
Merthyr Tydfil
Cardiff
Avoid the motorways, lovely driving roads, even google only have it as 3hr50 and I bet you can knock that down to nearer 3hrs with some spirited driving.
Going via Shrewsbury & Hereford is a horrible experience as that stretch of the A49 is bad, very few overtaking chances and a lot of lorries.
Wrexham
Oswestry
Welshpool
Newtown
Llandrindod Wells
Brecon
Merthyr Tydfil
Cardiff
Avoid the motorways, lovely driving roads, even google only have it as 3hr50 and I bet you can knock that down to nearer 3hrs with some spirited driving.
Going via Shrewsbury & Hereford is a horrible experience as that stretch of the A49 is bad, very few overtaking chances and a lot of lorries.
geeteeaye said:
It's 150 miles, so you think an average of 33mph?? I know as far as Llandrindod Wells pretty well and there's no horrors to there, the last part is more hazy but it certainly isn't that bad.
Google Maps reckons just short of 4 hours, but you only need to get stuck behind a truck, tractor or dawdler for a few miles to completely screw you.And is it Welshpool or Newtown were the traffic lights can delay things for anything up to half an hour?
I'm another one who supports geeteeayes' route. I used to travel from Deeside to a plant in Rhymney, South Wales and used to actually enjoy the drive even in the company cars (crappy Passats). I once had the drive of my life when I had a puncture on a pool car but really needed to make the trip, so used the Civic Type-R I had at the time. It was the return trip at around 10am with little traffic and I've not had a trip like it since.
Martyn D said:
I believe Symbolica has posted the best Route, avoid Hereford, lived there for many years and it can be a nitemare to get through. The M50 through to Ross is usually a pleasant drive, not busy, then the only small hold up will be at the lights on the DC past Monmouth.
definitely via Ross on Wye, then M4 @ NewportAgreed, do it regularly!!
geeteeaye said:
Chester >
Wrexham
Oswestry
Welshpool
Newtown
Llandrindod Wells
Brecon
Merthyr Tydfil
Cardiff
Avoid the motorways, lovely driving roads, even google only have it as 3hr50 and I bet you can knock that down to nearer 3hrs with some spirited driving.
Going via Shrewsbury & Hereford is a horrible experience as that stretch of the A49 is bad, very few overtaking chances and a lot of lorries.
Wrexham
Oswestry
Welshpool
Newtown
Llandrindod Wells
Brecon
Merthyr Tydfil
Cardiff
Avoid the motorways, lovely driving roads, even google only have it as 3hr50 and I bet you can knock that down to nearer 3hrs with some spirited driving.
Going via Shrewsbury & Hereford is a horrible experience as that stretch of the A49 is bad, very few overtaking chances and a lot of lorries.
VeeFour said:
geeteeaye said:
It's 150 miles, so you think an average of 33mph?? I know as far as Llandrindod Wells pretty well and there's no horrors to there, the last part is more hazy but it certainly isn't that bad.
Google Maps reckons just short of 4 hours, but you only need to get stuck behind a truck, tractor or dawdler for a few miles to completely screw you.And is it Welshpool or Newtown were the traffic lights can delay things for anything up to half an hour?
Plenty of other sections where you can go as fast as you like.Welshpool is no problem as you bypass it, Newtown does have a fair few traffic lights but has never taken me more than 10-15min to get through.
Biscuit Bus said:
I'm another one who supports geeteeayes' route. I used to travel from Deeside to a plant in Rhymney, South Wales and used to actually enjoy the drive even in the company cars (crappy Passats). I once had the drive of my life when I had a puncture on a pool car but really needed to make the trip, so used the Civic Type-R I had at the time. It was the return trip at around 10am with little traffic and I've not had a trip like it since.
Amen, can be a lovely drive.Edited by geeteeaye on Thursday 14th April 21:07
geeteeaye said:
Chester >
Wrexham
Oswestry
Welshpool
Newtown
Llandrindod Wells
Brecon
Merthyr Tydfil
Cardiff
Avoid the motorways, lovely driving roads, even google only have it as 3hr50 and I bet you can knock that down to nearer 3hrs with some spirited driving.
Going via Shrewsbury & Hereford is a horrible experience as that stretch of the A49 is bad, very few overtaking chances and a lot of lorries.
This.Wrexham
Oswestry
Welshpool
Newtown
Llandrindod Wells
Brecon
Merthyr Tydfil
Cardiff
Avoid the motorways, lovely driving roads, even google only have it as 3hr50 and I bet you can knock that down to nearer 3hrs with some spirited driving.
Going via Shrewsbury & Hereford is a horrible experience as that stretch of the A49 is bad, very few overtaking chances and a lot of lorries.
Re: down through centre of Wales, I live near Welshpool and even with spirited driving the centre of Cardiff is just under 3 hours. Chester is 40 mins North of me, so 3hrs 40 mins. That is going Newtown->Ryhadear->Builth wells, rather than Newtown->Llandridrod Wells->Bulith Wells. The former although slightly longer has much faster roads with a lot more overtaking opportunities.
The problem is that these roads although they look direct, often have few oftertaking opportunities, especially when you are the 12th car back with a 35mph horse box upfront! Fun when derserted, frustrating when not.
davidy
The problem is that these roads although they look direct, often have few oftertaking opportunities, especially when you are the 12th car back with a 35mph horse box upfront! Fun when derserted, frustrating when not.
davidy
One of the benefits of doing the trip regularly is getting to try a few different routes and seeing how they vary.
I did Bridgnorth to Cardiff and back daily for 12 months so know the bottom half of the journey well - I used to alternate between the Hereford/A49 and Worcester/M50 routes depending on how I felt. I also used to work for a firm in Runcorn so I've done just about every variation of getting up there and back either via the M6/M56 or via Shrewsbury, or hacking a route inbetween the two.
The A49 route south of Shrewsbury isn't as bad as made out, yes there are a lot of lorries and it can feel frustrating at times but if you do it regularly you'll learn where you can overtake, and when you do you get a clear run it's possible to absolutely fly down there. I've done Bridgnorth to Cardiff (Cathays Park) in 1:45 on that route which meant about 1:20 from Ludlow and 1:00 from Hereford.
I've never found Hereford to be particularly bad for traffic outside the 8-9am school rush, nor Monmouth, unless a lane is closed or they have shut one of the tunnels for maintenance.
I found the 'easiest' journey was to hit the M5/M50 but this only really makes up for itself time-wise if you're happy to sit at 90+ all the way down, in which case watch out for the camera van at Pencraig just as you hit the 50 limit.
The other problem with that route is the upper half of it - I would not advise taking the Shrewsbury - Bridgnorth - Kidderminster - Worcester route at any time after 0630 in the morning or you'll lose any time you think you've gained by going that way. Just getting on the M5 J6 southbound at rush hour can be horrendous and can back up some distance.
So my advice would be A483/A5 down to Shrewsbury, A49 down past Hereford, cut the corner off to Symonds Yat on the A4137, then the usual route down to Newport and Cardiff.
All the routes mentioned have their potential disaster zones for traffic. The cross-country route will be nice for sure, but I'm always wary of Google / Sat Navs calculating times based on the assumption that you can average 60 in a 60, when in my experience you're lucky to do 40.
I did Bridgnorth to Cardiff and back daily for 12 months so know the bottom half of the journey well - I used to alternate between the Hereford/A49 and Worcester/M50 routes depending on how I felt. I also used to work for a firm in Runcorn so I've done just about every variation of getting up there and back either via the M6/M56 or via Shrewsbury, or hacking a route inbetween the two.
The A49 route south of Shrewsbury isn't as bad as made out, yes there are a lot of lorries and it can feel frustrating at times but if you do it regularly you'll learn where you can overtake, and when you do you get a clear run it's possible to absolutely fly down there. I've done Bridgnorth to Cardiff (Cathays Park) in 1:45 on that route which meant about 1:20 from Ludlow and 1:00 from Hereford.
I've never found Hereford to be particularly bad for traffic outside the 8-9am school rush, nor Monmouth, unless a lane is closed or they have shut one of the tunnels for maintenance.
I found the 'easiest' journey was to hit the M5/M50 but this only really makes up for itself time-wise if you're happy to sit at 90+ all the way down, in which case watch out for the camera van at Pencraig just as you hit the 50 limit.
The other problem with that route is the upper half of it - I would not advise taking the Shrewsbury - Bridgnorth - Kidderminster - Worcester route at any time after 0630 in the morning or you'll lose any time you think you've gained by going that way. Just getting on the M5 J6 southbound at rush hour can be horrendous and can back up some distance.
So my advice would be A483/A5 down to Shrewsbury, A49 down past Hereford, cut the corner off to Symonds Yat on the A4137, then the usual route down to Newport and Cardiff.
All the routes mentioned have their potential disaster zones for traffic. The cross-country route will be nice for sure, but I'm always wary of Google / Sat Navs calculating times based on the assumption that you can average 60 in a 60, when in my experience you're lucky to do 40.
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