Planning your itinerary Posted by Kate on February 7th, 2010
On our enquiry form we ask how long you are prepared to travel each day and how many nights on average you wish to stay in each place. The reason we ask this is to gauge the pace; i.e. do you want a relaxed amble around Britain or do you want to see as much as possible in the time.
What we have found is that frequently we are asked for 1 night’s stay and 8 hours travel/day, usually from Australians and Americans. Now this may not seem unreasonable if you come from these countries as you are used to having to drive for long hours between places. In Britain this isn’t desirable or necessary. Let me explain why.
Britain is only about 800 miles long (from John O’Groats to Lands End) and 300 miles wide. If you drive 8 hours you can get from one end to the other in two days. You can certainly drive the length of England in one day.
We have 60 million people here and somewhere around 30 million cars, so there is much more traffic on the roads. This makes driving much more tiring as you have to concentrate harder.
We recommend you get off the beaten track and explore the countryside. These roads, unlike the motorways and main A roads, were not designed for cars. Although many have been improved, they were originally built in the era of the horse and cart. Hence they are often narrow and windy. This is their charm, of course, but again it means you have to concentrate.
Don’t let me put you off. People do adapt to driving in this country quite quickly. However if they take too fast a pace they end up very tired.
The good news is that you don’t need to drive far in Britain to see a lot! This country has been civilised for so long interesting sites abound, and, being an island, the terrain changes quickly too. Three nights in each area is probably about right for most people, with perhaps a 2-3 hour drive in between areas. I promise you will not run out of things to see!
