What's the longest car journey you can manage?

[blinkboo]

Sorry if this is a boring question!

I hate car journeys with a passion and pretty much refuse to do anything over five hours without breaking it overnight.

Am I alone in this? My DH thinks so and I have noticed that others seem more tolerant. Should I get over it?

This thread reminds me of pressing on through Europe in a particular car and having to refuel every 1.5hrs

we drive to france for summer holiday with dog and older DC and our last trip-obviously pre covid-was long-
I think it was 14 hours.

DH detests being a passenger so we don't share the driving.

We tend to leave early, make a few stops and enjoy the drive.
French motorways very easy and we arrive in the evening to check in.

Did 12 hours with 2 stops once, done many 8-9 hour journeys with 2-3 stops eg Midlands to dover, Calais to Luxembourg (lunch) then Luxembourg to Black Forest. I'm rarely actually driving, I can drive, have done so in Europe too but prefer not to

We drove to Hungary from South West England. I quite like driving and being on road trips. We often bypass planes and choose to drive if it’s possible.
Driving through parts of Austria was beautiful and next time we’re going to detour into Italy on the way.

The problem I have with long car journeys is the traffic. I loathe delays and traffic jams and these days it seems impossible to get anywhere without them. Every trip we've made to visit family this year has taken double the time it should.

Continental Europe 10 hours or so. Within UK, London to Edinburgh or Glasgow so 7-8 hours. Would probably do overnight stop London to Inverness. It really depends on the roads - hate motorway driving in the UK and find it more tiring than in Europe.

I did 28 hours over three days two summers ago, and then back again a month later. I wanted to take my dogs with me home to Sweden. Not sure I will do that again. The hardest part was driving a UK car on the right side of the road. 5-6 hours is OK for me. Anything more than that gets tedious.

I could do 9 hours no probs, would do e.g. 3 hours, 2 hour break, 3 hours, 2 hour break, 3 hours.

I was always the passenger, DH used to drive for a living so is ok with it.

But we are car free now!

Happy to do 8 hours in the U.K. and 12 in the USA.

I drove from Orlando to New Orleans straight and man was I tired!!

6/7 hours max.
I’ve driven to Cornwall a few times and it took 8/9 hours. Just that bit too far from where I live. Never again.

I thought I could do hours but this summer a journey that was supposed to take 7 hours took 12!! It was horrendous and I felt so light headed and weak afterwards. Now I will do 5 hours maximum - after that a stay in a hotel overnight to split the journey.

I wasn't even driving but being a passenger I still concentrate as hard as if I were driving, don't have a nap etc.

Have done 6 hours quite happily a few times, even with DS on my own when he was less than a year old. Don't really see the problem. Have stopped for a wee and a burger but not anything much longer than that!

I'd be ok with about 7/8 hours but no more!

We have a home in the South of France. 8 hours driving equates to about 11 hours journey time. We break it. We enjoy the break at favourite places.

It also depends on the drive. DD went to Cambridge and it was a pig of a drive although not more than 100 miles. However, the overnight break was always very nice

We do 450+ miles, one driver, 12 hours door to door. We don't drive more than 3 hours without a break and will have at least 1 stop that involves a meal and 1 that involves a walk.
Disclaimer: Automatic car, couldn't do it in a manual.

I travel from south london to Northumberland a few times a year which is about 7hrs with two kids. It’s fine with a 30min stop off

We done 12 hours in the summer and it actually wasn't too bad. Although I was glad when we eventually arrived .

A bit surprised by the answers

All road safety experts say not to drive more than 2 hours without a decent break

Which makes a 6 hours drive into an 8 hour one with kids
Surely ?

On my own I’m happy to drive for 8 hours without an actual stop. I would go for a drive through coffee/ meal en route if hungry, but prefer to take easy eating snacks with me. If driving with partner, 10 - 16 hours is possible with sharing the driving.

If I'm driving, ideally 4 hours maximum. If someone else is driving, I don't mind.

I'm on my own and visit my brother 5hrs away with one stop. Have done 14 hrs with an overnight stop. As pp say, it depends on driving conditions.

@BIAx3

A bit surprised by the answers

All road safety experts say not to drive more than 2 hours without a decent break

Which makes a 6 hours drive into an 8 hour one with kids
Surely ?

My response was driving times not including a break as such

@MissAmbrosia

5 or 6 hours is my limit too. I hate long car journeys.

4 hours is mine. Any more than that and it's either by rail or I head to Heathrow.

Without a overnight stop over....I would say 4 hrs...with a stopover I can do 12