Break up a 600 mile van journey
Discussion
I'm travelling over 600 miles in a van on Friday around the country to pick up a few items of furniture for our new house. We're leaving at 3am and hoping to be back by 5pm.
We're going from Brighton > Bolton via the M40/M6. Coming back roughly the same route but a couple of small diversions for collections at Coventry and Reading.
As I'm going with the girlfriend, can anyone recommend a couple of 'stop off' points along the way that are something other than a motorway service area? Something to break the journey a bit and somewhere nice to have some sandwiches.
We drop the van off later than 5pm, but I do need to get a good nights sleep as I have a wedding to drive to the following day.
We're going from Brighton > Bolton via the M40/M6. Coming back roughly the same route but a couple of small diversions for collections at Coventry and Reading.
As I'm going with the girlfriend, can anyone recommend a couple of 'stop off' points along the way that are something other than a motorway service area? Something to break the journey a bit and somewhere nice to have some sandwiches.
We drop the van off later than 5pm, but I do need to get a good nights sleep as I have a wedding to drive to the following day.
J500ANT said:
Great idea! Sadly, most of the links don't work and the site looks like it was knocked up by a 14 year old in his bedroom with a guide to HTML Basics. In 1999.
Merlot
Not having a dig mate but do you do long motorway journeys often? and in a Transit (I assume) sized van.
600 miles is realistically 10 hous plus driving, Three stops (hour in Bolton, 30 mins elsewhere) is your 12 hours already. Friday is the busiest weekday on the North/South motorways in the summer and next Friday is the start of the school holidays in lots of areas.
Go for it if you want but don't underestimate the traffic and how long it might take. On a more positive note, off the M40 at Banbury, a few years ago there were some nice pubs on the A423, pick your route to Reading back up from there.
Not having a dig mate but do you do long motorway journeys often? and in a Transit (I assume) sized van.
600 miles is realistically 10 hous plus driving, Three stops (hour in Bolton, 30 mins elsewhere) is your 12 hours already. Friday is the busiest weekday on the North/South motorways in the summer and next Friday is the start of the school holidays in lots of areas.
Go for it if you want but don't underestimate the traffic and how long it might take. On a more positive note, off the M40 at Banbury, a few years ago there were some nice pubs on the A423, pick your route to Reading back up from there.
Edited by mfmman on Sunday 19th July 11:37
Merlot said:
J500ANT said:
Great idea! Sadly, most of the links don't work and the site looks like it was knocked up by a 14 year old in his bedroom with a guide to HTML Basics. In 1999.
mfmman said:
Merlot
Not having a dig mate but do you do long motorway journeys often? and in a Transit (I assume) sized van.
600 miles is realistically 10 hous plus driving, Three stops (hour in Bolton, 30 mins elsewhere) is your 12 hours already. Friday is the busiest weekday on the North/South motorways in the summer and next Friday is the start of the school holidays in lots of areas.
Go for it if you want but don't underestimate the traffic and how long it might take. On a more positive note, off the M40 at Banbury, a few years ago there were some nice pubs on the A423, pick your route to Reading back up from there.
I'm no stranger to long distance journies, but usually on a car or motorbike! If I were on my own or with a mate, we'd just eat as we drove without stopping (only for fuel and pickups). I'm only looking to break the journey a bit by having somewhere 'nice' to stop to eat - I'm not looking to stop for long!Not having a dig mate but do you do long motorway journeys often? and in a Transit (I assume) sized van.
600 miles is realistically 10 hous plus driving, Three stops (hour in Bolton, 30 mins elsewhere) is your 12 hours already. Friday is the busiest weekday on the North/South motorways in the summer and next Friday is the start of the school holidays in lots of areas.
Go for it if you want but don't underestimate the traffic and how long it might take. On a more positive note, off the M40 at Banbury, a few years ago there were some nice pubs on the A423, pick your route to Reading back up from there.
Edited by mfmman on Sunday 19th July 11:37
We've got a total of 19 hours with the van, but I'd rather it be less. Pickups will be 30 mins each I expect.
I was thinking along the same lines as mfmman & thinking that you could possibly struggle to get home by five, but if that's not a priority then no worries. If you're leaving at three am you should be arriving at Bolton at around seven, the problem there is that if it's a retail outlet you're picking up from they may not open till eight or nine, so that's possibly over two hours wasted. Which puts you well & truly in the Friday / holiday traffic as you return south, worth bearing in mind.
Anyway back to your question, If it's a nice day why not take a picnic, or at least buy some sandwiches at a bakery & find a nice spot to stop. I know that sounds a bit mushy but I've done it before & if you pick a nice place to stop it can be very enjoyable.
Anyway back to your question, If it's a nice day why not take a picnic, or at least buy some sandwiches at a bakery & find a nice spot to stop. I know that sounds a bit mushy but I've done it before & if you pick a nice place to stop it can be very enjoyable.
Merlot said:
mfmman said:
Merlot
Not having a dig mate but do you do long motorway journeys often? and in a Transit (I assume) sized van.
600 miles is realistically 10 hous plus driving, Three stops (hour in Bolton, 30 mins elsewhere) is your 12 hours already. Friday is the busiest weekday on the North/South motorways in the summer and next Friday is the start of the school holidays in lots of areas.
Go for it if you want but don't underestimate the traffic and how long it might take. On a more positive note, off the M40 at Banbury, a few years ago there were some nice pubs on the A423, pick your route to Reading back up from there.
I'm no stranger to long distance journies, but usually on a car or motorbike! If I were on my own or with a mate, we'd just eat as we drove without stopping (only for fuel and pickups). I'm only looking to break the journey a bit by having somewhere 'nice' to stop to eat - I'm not looking to stop for long!Not having a dig mate but do you do long motorway journeys often? and in a Transit (I assume) sized van.
600 miles is realistically 10 hous plus driving, Three stops (hour in Bolton, 30 mins elsewhere) is your 12 hours already. Friday is the busiest weekday on the North/South motorways in the summer and next Friday is the start of the school holidays in lots of areas.
Go for it if you want but don't underestimate the traffic and how long it might take. On a more positive note, off the M40 at Banbury, a few years ago there were some nice pubs on the A423, pick your route to Reading back up from there.
Edited by mfmman on Sunday 19th July 11:37
We've got a total of 19 hours with the van, but I'd rather it be less. Pickups will be 30 mins each I expect.

The problem with a van is the inability to make time up again. If you lose time, you can never make it back up again.
The way to make the journey more enjoyable for both of you, well mainly you, is to get her to perform her wifely/girlfriendly duty on you while driving along the motorway. Just be careful you don't crash when you reach your moment of happiness, best bet is to take foot off accelerator so you don't push it to the floor.
tinman0 said:
The problem with a van is the inability to make time up again. If you lose time, you can never make it back up again.
It was a Vivaro CDTI. What an epic van. Easily sat at 70mph and would happily accelerate through 85++ mph on the flat when asked to (Private testing ground, of course).Fort Jefferson said:
Merlot said:
It was a Vivaro CDTI. What an epic van. Easily sat at 70mph and would happily accelerate through 85++ mph on the flat when asked to.
Not on a friday on the motorway network it won't. Good luck.The only congestion we had was a bit on the M3 and naturally the M25 at late afternoon. Every other part of our run was completely clear. I stuck to 70 most of the time, and was one of the slowest vehicles on the road.
We got completely lost in the countryside outside Coventry trying to find a very remote pickup, which probably delayed us an hour, but we did the whole thing in 15 hours which is an average of 45mph including breakfast stop (30 mins), lunch stop (30 mins), pickup time (45 mins) and one fuel stop (10 mins). Not bad going if I may say so myself.
Well Done.
It might be the credit crunch and although I haven't looked at the obviously "hell on earth" spots such as the A30 into cornwall but traffic seems to be so light this year. I've managed Bristol to central London arriving at 9.15 am in two hours 15 mins last Thusday and the Friday before.
It might be the credit crunch and although I haven't looked at the obviously "hell on earth" spots such as the A30 into cornwall but traffic seems to be so light this year. I've managed Bristol to central London arriving at 9.15 am in two hours 15 mins last Thusday and the Friday before.
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