Driving from London to Scotland

[jtaime]

Not an AIBU but am posting for traffic (no pun intended) as really need advice!

We’re driving from London (Kent border) to Glasgow next month with our toddler son. DH will be driving all the way as I don’t drive. He’s not keen on driving after dark so we will be travelling in daylight hours only.

Googlemaps is saying that it takes about 7.5 hours door to door and it’s a 420 mile journey.

A few questions…

1. Can we do the journey in one day or is it just too far/mentally draining for one person?

2. Google is suggesting one of two routes: either the M11 followed by the A1; or the M1 then onto the A1 at Doncaster. I believe both options have tolls. Which route would you recommend?

3. Does anyone have any tips on places to stop for coffee, lunch or overnight on the way?

Any other advice, tips or knowledge about these roads would be thoroughly appreciated as we’re a bit unsure!

Many thanks.

My biggest fear would be to fall asleep, so if there's a chance your husband could get sleepy at the wheel, it's obviously best to stop

On long journeys when the children were tiny we used to leave super early. About 5am, transfer the children into the car in pyjamas. Drive for a couple of hours. Stop for breakfast, change the children into day clothes then drive for another few hours stop for lunch and a walk. Then finish the journey.

My biggest fear would be to fall asleep, so if there's a chance your husband could get sleepy at the wheel, it's obviously best to stop

DH doesn’t think he’d fall asleep at the wheel, but is concerned he would get extremely tired if we were to do it in one day.

@quiteathome I’ve never woken my toddler at that time, but fear there would be huge tantrums if we did!

Oddly Googlemaps is saying it would take almost the same length of time if we set off now as it would if we left at 11am - and that’s taking into account current traffic conditions. I’d have thought the roads would be quieter at 10 o’clock at night?

With the greatest respect OP, no-one ever thinks they would fall asleep at the wheel, it just happens.

@Popitdontstopit I see your point!

I think you may have to leave at 7am or thereabouts to have regular and proper breaks and end up arriving in daylight. Remember slightly earlier darkness by September and toddlers may mean you have to make some longer or unexpected stops.

We've done it with a 3mth old and a 16mth old

Left suffolk 6pm. Drove to border about 5hours...stopped for a bit...arrived on Isle of sky about 8am

@FedNlanders so you drove through the entire night?! There’s no way DH could do that, we both love our sleep.

Oh god, flashback, we did a night drive once years ago to avoid the traffic (9hrs ETA for us) and ended up pulling up on somewhere to run up and down in the cold at about 2am to wake us up. Never again.

Well, that'd be a short day for a truck driver. They can't legally drive for more than 4.5 hours without a break, so maybe follow that guidance.

@XelaM

My dad (in his late 60's) regularly drives from my parents house in Germany to London (7-8 hours usually but sometimes longer depending in traffic). He does it in a day and sleeps 30 mins in the Eurotunnel. I don't think 7 hours in a fay is an excessive amount to drive, but my dad is a very experienced driver

This and truck drivers misses the point a bit, though. Driving with multiple small DC in tow means less control and probably more frequent and longer stops. It stretches out the day a good deal. Doing it as a solo adult is considerably easier than doing it as a family, IME. Also people for whom it's their job have a degree of habituation to it. I wouldn't much like to do my first all-day drive while solely responsible for driving the whole family.

I regularly drive 400 miles to MIL home with 5 DC with one half hour stop. It really depends on the confidence of the driver and the patience of your DC

@FedNlanders

We've done it with a 3mth old and a 16mth old

Left suffolk 6pm. Drove to border about 5hours...stopped for a bit...arrived on Isle of sky about 8am

Yes, we swapped every few hours but my husband did the brunt of the driving. He is used to it. We regularly do 5 or 6 hours each way in a day so it wasn't too bad x

We’ve don’t two longish journeys this year, one north of Scotland to Peak District and one north of Scotland to Somerset. We’ve done longer journeys in the past (to Cornwall) in one day but the roads are much worse this year. First journey took 2-3 hours longer than expected and second took so much longer we had to give up and book a travelodge on route as we couldn’t do it anymore. Busy roads and Road works and accidents and traffic jams galore this year it seems 😕
The best advise is leave early as a grumpy child first thing in the morning is way better than a grumpy one stuck in a barely moving traffic jam for hours is worse honestly.

Oh and the train with children is so much better if it works out practically. Children love the train especially if you can get a seat with a table. It’s so fast as well 😊

I think your biggest issue may be your toddler being in the car for that long if they aren't used to it. My DC have regularly done 3 hr trips from a young age, but if your DC doesn't do long journeys at all, I would expect some tantrumming, crying with boredom. Does your DC still nap?

My parents moved to Scotland 12 years ago and I live on the south coast in Hampshire. 440 miles between us.
My dad is 76 and happily drives up and down once or twice a year. I go up and see them with DS 3 times a year.
I do it in one hit and don’t find it that bad. It’s more a mental thing that you will be spending all day in a car. M6 is my preference too. The annoying roads are M40 (long and boring) and the A74 in Scotland (hideously painful)
There are always roadworks whichever route.

With timings I leave at 8am which seems to miss the worse commuter traffic but early enough to miss the general traffic. Most of the problems on the road get worse as the day goes on obviously.

Coming back is always longer. The South is busier and takes longer to get through in the afternoon.

One more point OP. There is a risk that if the journey takes too long, you will be driving in the dark. The M74 I think has no lighting for large parts of it, as do various sections of motorways. It can make driving quite difficult and tiring, especially if there’s a downpour!

@jtaime

Thanks everyone. We're still torn between the A1 and the M6!

Unless you plan to visit somewhere particular and stay over I would leave it till the morning and check traffic then use a mapping Ap for updates. Even then staying somewhere around Carlisle would leave both options open. The driving will depend a lot on the driver and your toddler but I don't think its an outrageous journey in 1 day. I have driven Inverness to SW London in 1 day. Glasgow will depend a bit where you're going and if you know where you're going. I'm not keen on the A1 mostly and would stick to the M6. if you wanted to avoid Birmingham the toll road or M1 / A50 would do this. Once north of Preston traffic thins out and driving is easier till you hit Hamilton. As a stop option on the M74 Cairn Lodge is operated by the same company as Tebay. My teenage daughter who passed her test in October and who hasnt really been solo out of the city, last month drive Manchester to Perth for an overnight the on to Inverness and then back i 1 day.

We regularly used to drive Bedford to Ayrshire and would do it in one day easily, however my husband was used to driving long distances.

We live a bit further north now and go to the East coast i stead of West coast.

If you go on the A1 I recommend getting off at Boroughbridge for fuel as there is a Morrisons only about a mile from the A1 and the fuel is cheap, you can also go into Morrisons for the loo and to buy snacks / sandwiches

Stop often whenever tired is the general rule. Usually up the M11 then A1, there's a few m&s service stops and I usually stock up on fruit snacks and things to make sandwiches with.

We usually do a shorter drive up past Alnwick for family weekends but can usually do it in 5- 6 hours with dog in the back.

Before you head off, make sure you have a thermos of tea or coffee and extra thermos for hot water and some snacks because if dh is anything like mine, he wants to make good time before he gets tired.

I usually bring a water big spray bottle for the dog for fresh water and some dry dog food but he usually gets Greek yogurt from m&s.

@FlyingScott

It’s too much in a day, especially with a toddler.

We’ve done a similar distance journey a few times. I find the best thing to do is set off in the evening after tea, drive for 2 or 3 hours , stay overnight in a Premier Inn or similar, then set off early to complete your journey the following day.

No it isn't, we used to regularly drive back from Germany with our children, down to the Belgian or French coast then the same distance again from the Kent coast up to the North West, often doing the short Calais-Dover crossing.

www.offmotorway.com/index.htm

This is a wonderful site for cheap fuel etc rather than [aying the prices on the motorways etc..
Why are people going up the A1 when Glasgow is so far west? Remember, even Edinburgh is west of Bristol!