South of England - Scotland...To M6 or not to M6?

[Tromperie]

I'll be doing this journey northbound in a couple of days (Oxford to Scotland to be precise.) If it was a late night journey, coming up the M40 and then the M6 would be a relative no brainer. However, I'll have to leave Oxford around 2-3pm, so the odds are I'll hit the West Midlands at rush hour, and I imagine the M6 is hellish up until at least Preston at that time.

Therefore, is it better to do M40 - A46 - M69 - M1 - A1M - A66 - M6

Or:

M40 - M42 - M6Toll - M6

Given my leaving time, is it better to come up the east of the country, or to stick to the trusted M6 route?

Cheers.

[Tromperie]

georgejoshington said:

I think an M6 would be a fine car for the journey providing you can stomach the fuel co....oh

It's a journey that's being done at short notice; trains aren't any cheaper, and the price of flights with suitable leaving times at both ends is

MDMA . said:

if you're doing the journey on Friday, it will be even worse at that time ( Bank Holiday traffic heading to Blackpool/The Lakes is always busier than normal ). worth bearing in mind if it is Friday you're setting off. but M6 will be the best bet.

No, thankfully! Leaving Thursday.

papa3 said:

M6 and pay for the toll road. A1 is a nightmare. M74 road works are dire south of Glasgow.

Drove Leeds - Glasgow a couple of years ago and there was a lot of roadworks/average speed cameras on the A1M, no change in that time? I live in Glasgow, so I'm familiar with the hell that's the M8/M74 roadworks ATM.

[Tromperie]

CrutyRammers said:

M6 will be a nightmare up to preston/blackpool or so, but then so will the M1. Personally I'd leave it and travel later if you can.

I've opted to mill around until around 6pm or later on the last few northbound drives I've had to undertake (Notts and Hertfordshire to name the longest examples) but sadly that's not really an option for me this time round; ideally, I have to be in Glasgow for about 10pm-ish.