Advice - M25 & Dartford traffic

[Racefan_uk]

Folks

I just want some general advice, I'm heading to Folkstone on Friday morning and just wanted to know what sort of time the Dartford crossing starts to get backed up and really busy and if I catch it wrong what sort of delays (time-wise) I might expect?

Any info gratefully accepted. Yes, even piss-takes!

[Greenpis]

Not sure when it get's really bad.

But it's usually clear at 6am, and free until then. So you could save yourself £1.50.

[Racefan_uk]

I had thought about going really early to avoid everything and then going back to sleep at the services on the M20 later!

That is an option I suppose.

[Greenpis]

That's not a bad idea, after 6.30 - 7.00 it becomes a bit of a lottery really.

Shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to get across after 7am if you're coming from the M25, unless some sort of incident takes place.

I don't go through regular enough at these times to help much though.

[Tallbut Buxomly]

Best after 9am going clockwise into kent. The later after that normally the better.

[joebongo]

I used to regard 7am as the cutoff time for carnage when going northbound across there in 2003/4. No idea about nowadays if it's any earlier.

If you want to be sure, I'd do the 6am option. If you're prepared to be late, go for the 9am plus option.

If you do the early, treat yourself to a fry up somewhere.