London to Cornwall tomorrow morning, M4-M5 or M3-A303? Any thoughts?

[HeadAndShouldersPerson]

I've always gone M4-M5 but aa and rac route planner suggest M3-A303 is quicker by 15 mins.
I normally prefer motorways.
Leaving at 7am.

M4-M5 - motorway/dual carriageway all the way. My feeling is that the A303 will clog up far quicker if traffic is heavy.

M4 M5 - lots of the A303 is single carriageway and it will be full of caravans

Use waze. It's an app that checks traffic for the best route. Where roughly are you starting out?

@fruitbrewhaha
I'm starting from West London

The A303 is an arse of a road. I have to drive it to get to my folks. It’s a dick.

Hate the A303.

Never use the A303 if you can avoid it.

A303 is great on a quiet day, maybe Wednesday at 11am in mid-March. Throw in Saturday, first week of independent school holidays on a road much of which is still single carriageway, add any sort of incident - take a packed lunch and dig in for a long delay there too.

I’d go M5 (parents in Cornwall). Though to be perfectly honest, I don’t travel on a Friday night or Saturday. It can take twice as long as it ought to.

Sorry 😬

Isn't the M4 closed J6-8 this weekend?

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/m4-weekend-closure-motorway-shut-18612869.amp

D&C Police described the M5 as "a Caravan and Boat Show" today. Various accidents held things up as well. My advice is to start off very VERY early in the morning (4am) to stand any chance of beating the hordes.

@Itsarattrap

A303 is great on a quiet day, maybe Wednesday at 11am in mid-March. Throw in Saturday, first week of independent school holidays on a road much of which is still single carriageway, add any sort of incident - take a packed lunch and dig in for a long delay there too.

I’d go M5 (parents in Cornwall). Though to be perfectly honest, I don’t travel on a Friday night or Saturday. It can take twice as long as it ought to.

And ‘incident’ includes the sudden appearance of Stonehenge which every bastard has to slow down to stare at.

They’ve been talking about building a tunnel for at least 40 years.

Good point Fuzzy. Cranking my brain back a very long time ago, on the odd occasion I took toddlers at weekends, we would set off at 9pm from East Anglia, they’d sleep through the night, I didn’t need to stop (I’m a camel) and would only pass lorries.

Depends. I hate both. To get to Devon. I probably prefer the M4, M5. But at 6am the 303 is ok.

Always A303. We go regularly.
I much prefer slow traffic on the 303 than a soil destroying motorway.

A303 is prettier, but M4/5 is so much quicker.

Soul destroying.

Waze seems to have an A303 fixation - it always tries to take me that way. I think it’s marginally shorter but it’s a more frustrating drive.

I don’t mind Stonehenge so much as there’s a good reason, but the other single lane bits are just annoying.

M4/M5 always! Hate hate hate the 303 What were they thinking building Stonehenge on the side of the main single lane route to the SW...

We drive this regularly, M4-M5 because the A303 is always clogged around Stonehenge.

Last Saturday we drove west but there was an accident on the M4 just past the M25, so we trusted waze and shockingly the A303 was completely clear all the way down and 30 mins faster according to waze. It must be because fewer people are on the roads at the moment. I can't imagine it will last long though.

I'd leave now and go either way. I live in Dorset and driving home from Exeter tonight it was like every caravan, camper van and roofboxed MPV who had missed their easter or half-term holiday has arrived. The traffic barely moved and what took 55 mins in lockdown took over 2 hours. And it's usually worse on a Saturday than at 4pm on a Friday

I’m sure Stonehenge was there before the A303.

Just do m4 m5.

@DobbyTheHouseElk

I’m sure Stonehenge was there before the A303.