Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

How far is too far when driving somewhere for the day?

34 replies

Furyfowler · 20/03/2015 14:30

you're off out locally in the car to do normal day to day jobs or family activities. How long do you drive for and think it still be local to you? Iyswim?

I think driving for more than 45mins to go somewhere like a soft play, shopping, country park is too long for a normal everyday week activity. My dh thinks differently and thinks it's reasonable to drive for up to and hour and a half to get to somewhere. What do you think? Who ibu?

OP posts:
pookamoo · 20/03/2015 14:31

I think you are right.
Over an hour is a special day out.

thehumanjam · 20/03/2015 14:31

I'm with you.

Holepunch · 20/03/2015 14:35

To visit a place no more than an hour. To visit people about 3 hours.

BrianButterfield · 20/03/2015 14:35

It depends where you live. The nearest cities are an hour away from us so that kind of drive is pretty common to get to anything much. Even the next towns are 30-35mins away.

flowery · 20/03/2015 14:38

"normal day to day jobs" and "somewhere for the day" aren't the same thing. I'd quite happily drive an hour and a half or even more if we were going out somewhere for the day. But normal day to day jobs, most people in this country don't need to travel 45 minutes to reach a soft play or something equivalent.

If you're driving past 3 other soft plays or shopping centres to get to another one which isn't anything special, YANBU.

ineedabodytransplant · 20/03/2015 14:38

Depends on what you want to do when you arrive at your destination. I have no problem driving for several hours if it's somewhere I want to go. Two hours driving somewhere can still seem close, and 'local' enough to me.

BudsBeginingSpringinSight · 20/03/2015 14:39

where is he from, peope in oz or states think nothing of driving for hours to get somewhere. it puts me to shame sometimes.

but yes hour is more special id say.

BikeRunSki · 20/03/2015 14:41

I regularly drive a good hour plus for work. Days out with the dc - about an hour maybe 1.5 for a great destination (1.5 hours would get us into Yorkshire Dales, NYork Moors or Everywhere in the Peak District).

keepsmiling2015 · 20/03/2015 14:42

In ireland driving an hour is normal. For work or to go shopping, play date etc.

elfofftheshelf · 20/03/2015 15:08

Surely it depends where you live. In more densely populated areas (e.g. SE England) driving 30 mins to do something can seem far. Further north, people have to drive 30 mins just to get to a supermarket.

Artandco · 20/03/2015 15:11

About an hour day to day. More than an hour is a 'trip' to either visit people or a particular place

MaxPepsi · 20/03/2015 15:14

I drive an hour and a half just to go shopping! However that is a clothes outlet and it's the nearest one.

I drive over half an away to go to a lidl, when I pass several other 'big' supermarkets.

An hour will get me out into the countryside where it's less busy which is preferable to the 20 mins it would take to just get to the countryside.

hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 20/03/2015 15:18

Depends on where you live surely? You'd be severely limiting your choices if you only drove for 45 minutes here, we often end up driving that for our nearest decent shopping area and for a day out can drive in excess of an hour and a half.

Floralnomad · 20/03/2015 15:23

surely it's not time it's distance as if you are on a motorway like the M25 a 45 minute drive can take 2+ hours sometimes , for a day out I'm happy to drive for many hours - I live in the SE and have done Disney paris as a day trip .

museumum · 20/03/2015 15:32

In my line of work we talk about about an hour drive being the pool of potential visitors. But 45min is more likely.

trilbydoll · 20/03/2015 15:32

DD is only 22mo so we will happily drive up to 90mins if it means the timing works for a nap in the car, fun activity and lunch, then nap on the way home.

Would have to be something a bit special, not just a run of the mill soft play but maybe a really big leisure pool or something. And I don't think we will do it when she's bigger and stops napping.

0x530x610x750x630x79 · 20/03/2015 15:41

my rule is unless it is an essential trip you need to spend longer at the venue than you spend travelling in total, so 4 hours at the seaside as it is 2 hours each way.
1.5 hours at softplay as it is 45 mins each way.

chrome100 · 20/03/2015 15:47

I'd drive maybe 90 mins tops for a day trip at the weekend. I wouldn't drive anywhere at all in the week!

BackforGood · 20/03/2015 16:19

Depends where you live.
If you live in a very remote place, then part of the expectation is you have to travel to get anywhere.
If you live in a busy City, you can take 90mins just to drive 14 or 15 miles if you pick the wrong time of day.
However, as others have said, it depends what for.
If I'm 'going out for the day' to attend something special, then I'd be happy to drive for up to a couple of hours, but, if it were shopping or a park (as in your OP) I'd be daft to go more than 5 miles as I have a plethera of choices for that sort of thing, within that sort of radius of my house.

Also depends if you are talking about having small people in the car for that lone (which I presume you might be as you mention soft play) or not.

Mine are teens now, and we regularly drive an hour to take my youngest to play in her football matches, as that's where the away team ground are, but when she was 4 and wanted a kick around in the park, there'd be no point in doing more than walking up the road to the nearest park. etc.,etc.,etc.

turningvioletviolet · 20/03/2015 16:32

Dh and i had a sort of similar discussion last night although in our case it involved a weekend. We are meant to be meeting some friends for a camping weekend, leaving on a Friday after work/school, coming back on the Sunday. Turns out the camp site is in Norfolk - which shows as 5 hrs away on route finder. Complete no goer in my opinion. Dh is still dithering as he thinks it's a possibility. Dh will be going on his own.

BeeRayKay · 20/03/2015 16:53

We drive to London and back frequently just for the day, and that's a 3hr drive.

We drove to Scarborough last week literally just to go to Pizza hut. We have one a mile away. But he wanted to take me there, just because I was having a bad week and Scarborough is nice.

Most of our long journeys have been done with a newborn and upwards in the car. So the other weekend we did it witha 2 and 5 yr old.
Our girls are used to long journeys.

So it's all dependent on what you're used to. 5hrs for a camping trip? Sure.

UsedToBeAPaxmanFan · 20/03/2015 17:02

I think you're right about 45 minutes for dau to day activities. TBH, I wouldn't want to drive more than 30 for cinema, theatre, supermarkets etc.

For a day out, I think up to 2 hours each way is acceptable. My favourite beach is about 90 -100 minutes away, we do that about 4 times a year and its wortn the drive.

missymayhemsmum · 20/03/2015 17:39

With kids and for pleasure? 20 mins- local. 90 mins- day trip. 3hrs-weekend. Anything more = guilt trip.

Original poster
Furyfowler · 21/03/2015 07:43

We live semi rural. Our nearest city is an hour and a half away (an our of which is on m6).... We've only been there once in last year.
The closest big town with supermarket is 20 mins away.
Local soft play is half hour away.
We do a lot of hill walking, which is atleast 45 mins to get to big hills. Dh think we should be out doing stuff more but I worry about diesel costs!

OP posts:
WhatismyLife · 21/03/2015 07:46

We live pretty rurally. It takes us at least 45 minutes to get anywhere. Even our nearest supermarket is that far away!

Swipe left for the next trending thread