Cardiff to Barnard Castle (nr Darlington)

[phil_cardiff]

Got a long journey coming up, Cardiff to Barnard Castle on a Friday, returning on the Sunday.

So, which is best?

1. M5/M6/A66
2. M5/M42/M1/A1

The latter seems to pass more urban areas which could be congested.

[Marlin45]

No.2

[phil_cardiff]

Thanks for the reply. Why is option 2 better though? I like to know why I'm doing something

[MoonMonkey]

No. 2 live near darlo and have relatives in Glos / Swansea.

M6 is a nightmare especially south of Preston area

[10 Pence Short]

I used to do 65k miles a year and did a similar route quite a few times a year. The only way I'd do it would be up past Monmouth and onto the M5, then M6 to junction 38 (Tebay), A685 to the junction of with the A66 at Brough and then 15 minutes east to Barnard Castle.

Messing about getting across to the M1/A1 will do you no favours at all.

Edited, as Tebay is obviously jc 38, not 36!!

Edited by 10 Pence Short on Wednesday 14th March 16:55

[marshalla]

[quote=10 Pence Short
Messing about getting across to the M1/A1 will do you no favours at all.
[/quote]

Especially since the A1 south of Darlington is a bit of a mess due to the work going on to widen it.

[phil_cardiff]

Cheers all, nothing like a consensus of opinion! Perhaps I'll try number 2 on the way up and number 1 on the return.

[bennyboydurham]

The A1 at Leeming is a mess due to the widening works. Travelling south west I usually go across the A66 or A69 and down the M6 to avoid the roadworks at Leeming and the multitude of average speed cams clogging up the M62 all the way from Brighouse to Warrington!

[MC Bodge]

M6-Tebay-A66

-Every time.

[phil_cardiff]

Off to Castle Barnard on Friday. Any roadworks or temporary traffic blackspots I should know about?

[marshalla]

phil_cardiff said:

Off to Castle Barnard on Friday. Any roadworks or temporary traffic blackspots I should know about?

Not really - the A1 roadworks are pretty much complete and it's a much nicer experience now.