Bournemouth to Harpenden (Hertfordshire)

[allister88]

Evening Gents,

Got to drive up to Harpenden from Bournemouth in a couple of weeks - now the obvious answer would be round the M25 but I'm feeling that a spirited/scenic drive in the MX5 would be more exciting...

What I'm asking is - has anyone got any great ideas of routs which could be deemed as slightly more exciting?

Cheers!

ETA: What the route I would normally take is...

Edited by allister88 on Sunday 10th June 21:13

[rsv gone!]

How long would you want it to take? There are alternatives but they are much slower.

[Chris71]

I do a very similar journey quite regularly, so keen to hear any ideas to make it more interesting.

On the Bournemouth end you can detour off the A338/A31 and take one of the road across the New Forest without going wildly out of the way. I think it's the B3078 looking at the map. Although to be fair, I've only ever done it outside of tourist season!

Harpenden isn't quite as far north as I thought it was, so this is a bit of a detour, but I can thoroughly recommend the B656 from Welwyn to Hitchin and the B655 from Hitchin to Barton le Clay. It's a bit out the way, but worth doing. How about:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=bournemouth&am...

No idea what the bit around Kings Walden is like, I just directed the route through there to avoid Luton. It might all be single track roads.

[Aizle]

They can be a bit tight, but fine in an mx5, generally. You'd be better off hanging on that road until Whitwell and then down through Kimpton to Harpenden.

I don't know any other major detours that would make it fun, it's a fairly long drive so you wouldn't want a/b roads all the way, you'd be knackered!

[plenty]

Turn off the M3 at J3, A322 up through Ascot and Windsor, through Slough and then either Gerrards Cross/the Chalfonts or Amersham/Chesham, and on through Bovingdon and Hemel. Certainly more enjoyable than the M25 if a bit more time-consuming.

[Aizle]

I was waiting for you to turn up!

[rsv gone!]

Amersham/Chesham is a bit of a ballache.

Depending on how much time you have, you need to stay West of Chesham/Wycombe for more flowing roads.

http://goo.gl/maps/9xlL

[Chris71]

rsv gone! said:

Amersham/Chesham is a bit of a ballache.

Depending on how much time you have, you need to stay West of Chesham/Wycombe for more flowing roads.

http://goo.gl/maps/9xlL

You could almost head off west to start with and incorporate Zig Zag Hill into that.

Edited by Chris71 on Tuesday 12th June 12:25