M4 nightmare!! AIBU to think travelling in the school Holidays is utter shit!?

[juggleit]

My God! We’ve travelled 150 miles in 5 hours!! We are all bored and even the chilled dog is ‘wtaf is going on?’
Any insights into the travel on M4 this time of year please - is this normal?
I think we need to fly away next year for our annual Family holiday.

Of course it is normal, if you choose to travel on a Friday afternoon in August.

Not if you had left it until early tomorrow morning, say leaving at 5am, as I know some people do (and one is doing).

If you fly, you have to manage the airport (depends which one as to whether or not the Borders Agency staff it enough), the extra charges if you choose Ryanair, the possibility of strikes, and depending where you go, people who are not as nice as those you will meet over the next week.

You’re travelling at a really bad time. We always leave around 6am & usually have no problems.

Friday afternoon during summer holidays is a nightmare. We always try to travel so we arrive by lunchtime at the latest then just find somewhere close by to do something if the accommodation isn't ready.

When we drove to Norfolk at the beginning of the holidays we stopped at Roarr! For a few hours then just did the final half hour to the holiday park late afternoon.

Go late or very early but not now!!!

You need to either leave early AM, or much later in the PM

We learnt this one year so now go early/late. One year instead of checking out at 9 we enjoyed our last day until 8, started tidying packing after that and then set off, got home early hours. On the way there we leave at 5am. We’re always so tired but it beats the traffic.

As I child I used to really enjoy long journeys to go on holiday.
I remember being on the M5 heading down to Cornwall circa 1987.
It was hot. Traffic wasn't moving.
My sister had a tape of 60s summer songs which we persuaded my Dad to play and we sang along.
We ate warm sandwiches and drank warm orange squash. A dog from another car jumped out and went charging up the hard shoulder and the police had to try and catch him - which caused much excitement to the traffic jam.
I also have a fondness for motorway service stations.
Oh what memories 😂

We tend to drive overnight ie leave at 7pm OR leave at 6am any time in school holidays

Thank-you
We did leave at 4.30 am on way down.
Relative left later and all seemed okay still so we thought we’d have a good run on the way home and not have to leave so bloomin early.

it appears someone broke down and all cars slow down to have a look!! That was all ffs!

As someone once said, you’re not in traffic, you ARE traffic.

Unfortunately you’re part of the problem OP!

And was always thus. I cross the m5 daily and it's particularly bad Friday, Saturday and Monday, northbound 10am-4pm and southbound 11am- 5pm. Thankfully I'm on a minor road bridge not on the motorway. Dp commutes by motorway and uses his motorcycle!

You should have been here a few weeks ago, somebody managed to flip their car onto the roof on the m5 Avonmouth bridge, was closed for many hours, after school clubs were having to stay open because their pupils parents were stuck in Wales!

Thankfully I’m travelling by train next week. I did consider driving as it works out cheaper but I daren’t chance the stress.

Trying to drive home from work down the A303 was a nightmare in the summer holidays - thank goodness for knowing the back roads! 😂

Friday is the new changeover day.

I've always avoided motorways and taken the A roads. It is so much more interesting with castles, pretty villages etc to see en route and you can stop off whenever you like, for a pub lunch, at a tea wagon or to let the dog wee for example. I think the journey is all part of the holiday to be honest and don't really see the obsession with motorways. I might arrive an hour later than my motorway counterparts but at least I've had a nice journey and seen places I wouldn't normally see. Often, if the motorway is nose to tail or there's been an accident, I reckon I've arrived earlier.

That's why I don't travel on a Friday if I can avoid it. I live near the M4, M5 and M32. We also have a ring road that doesn't form a complete ring around Bristol.

If you fly, you have to manage the airport (depends which one as to whether or not the Borders Agency staff it enough), the extra charges if you choose Ryanair

There are no extra charges if you choose Ryanair. I never pay anything extra, I just pay the basic fare for a seat on the flying bus.

Same. I completely avoid motorways.

Yes very true! I will fly next time ✈️

Yes Friday change over at our apartment. We wanted to enjoy our last morning together with extended family just should of left much later as others had advised! I'm impatient though, once packed, I want to leave and get home. I need to see the journey as part of the holiday.

It is Friday change over day. We came back from our Haven holiday today expecting it to take 3.5 to 4 hrs as we left later than we should and knew we would have lots of traffic until we reached a14, unfortunately there was an accident (or 2 or 3) which meant the whole journey took 7 hours. All the other times we have done this journey it's been much smoother, today we just met problem after problem!

Whereabouts are you on the M4? Billy Joel is playing in Cardiff tonight and 70k people are expected to be there... traffic is mayhem, with lots of Cardiff roads shut and the M4 is jammed...

Joining the M4 from the M5 at Bristol The concert cannot have helped today's traffic.

I drive the length and breadth of country, frequently and have done every summer since I passed my test. This is without a doubt the worst summer I have ever experienced on the roads. Journeys are taking double what they usually do. There seems to be way more roadworks than usual and volume of traffic is horrendous.