Travel To Gloucester Advice

[monkeygirl]

Next weekend I am travelling down to north devon. I am doing the driving in two halves as i'm taking my dog and he hasn't travelled that far in the car before. so i am heading to gloucester next friday and then finishing off the journey on saturday morning.

 

having set off to cheltenham at around 2pm from sheffield a few times on bank holiday friday i have usually spent hours sat in traffic jams, i wondered if anyone could suggest a better time to set off for the first leg of the journey so as to avoid the jams - or an alternate route. i was going to head down m1, m42 and m5. i don't really want to leave at the crack of dawn on friday as, lovely that i'm sure gloucester is, we are really just going there to sleep / break up the journey

 

any suggestions? thanks

[Longcol]

I used to go regularly down that way to see my parents in South Wales. You'll hit traffic anytime on a Friday - more so on a BH - although I've never experienced major hold ups on M1 / M42 / M5.

 

An alternative route would be M1, M69 then A46 round Coventry and past Kenilworth, Leamington Spa, Stratford, Alcester and Evesham to Tewksbury, then A38 to Gloucester. This will avoid the wall to wall caravans on the M5 and there are plenty of places to pull of if the dog needs a break.

 

I'd check out where roadworks / motorway upgrading is taking place first before choosing either route.

[tinfoilhat]

I used to go regularly down that way to see my parents in South Wales. You'll hit traffic anytime on a Friday - more so on a BH - although I've never experienced major hold ups on M1 / M42 / M5.

 

An alternative route would be M1, M69 then A46 round Coventry and past Kenilworth, Leamington Spa, Stratford, Alcester and Evesham to Tewksbury, then A38 to Gloucester. This will avoid the wall to wall caravans on the M5 and there are plenty of places to pull of if the dog needs a break.

 

I'd check out where roadworks / motorway upgrading is taking place first before choosing either route.

 

Wouldn't go through Coventry unless I really really had to - roadworks on the A46 are shocking (and poorly signposted).

 

Go very very early. If you aren't where you need to be by lunchtime youll be sat in traffic.

[Guest]

 

any suggestions? thanks

 

Don't mention Fred West.

[Longcol]

Wouldn't go through Coventry unless I really really had to - roadworks on the A46 are shocking (and poorly signposted).

 

Go very very early. If you aren't where you need to be by lunchtime youll be sat in traffic.

 

The A46 is now the Eastern Bypass - it doesn't go through Coventry - but yes BBC travel news showing congestion were A46 heads S for Kenilworth / Leamington.

 

Once clear of Coventry I wouldn't expect any delays on the A46.

[tinfoilhat]

The A46 is now the Eastern Bypass - it doesn't go through Coventry - but yes BBC travel news showing congestion were A46 heads S for Kenilworth / Leamington.

 

Once clear of Coventry I wouldn't expect any delays on the A46.

 

Ive been stuck in those roadworks at 6 in the morning so Im not a fan.

 

OP, if you want a rough idea monitor the roads on a traffic website or app (I used to like the RAC app until the latest update - the Barclays travel app is good, radio 2 isn't a bad guide either) to see what the roads are like and where the likely holdups could be on the day or time (a week in advance) when you plan to travel. A lot of the time there isn't a crash or roadworks or meteor strike that causes congestion, just too much traffic.

[metalman]

Lots of roadworks on the M42 and the M5 as well at the moment, including some road closures (though mainly at night).

[Nagel]

Whichever way you travel to Gloucester you definitely should make an early start on your way to North Devon to get past Bristol before the motorway gets jammed up.