Driving Times Southampton to the Lake District

I used to drive north London to Keswick in around 4 hours but traffic has increased since then and I'd say your 6 hours would be minimum on M Ways. Scenic routes take as long as you want them to.

If you are drigin on the M6 then the Toll Road is a must......can shave a good couple of hours off your journey time if you hit the 'normal' M6 at Birmingham at the wrong time of day.

The toll road is well worth it.
Drove an old van from central London to Whitehaven via Barrow/coast Rd last year in about 8 hours including a couple of stops

Thanks for the comments & 'multi-map', Happy. Our travel day is a Saturday so my guess is that this is not a good choice but has been determined by the weekly rental. Out by Saturday at 10 am!

This looks like a good route Tharq and your evaluation is encouraging. It is very difficult for 'outsiders' to accurately assess things like driving times. You lose a bit of time just with the differences but that also adds to the 'adventure'. There are so many scenic distractions.

We would like to make our way north at our own speed and, if necessary, to stay overnight when we find a nice place. In arranging accommodation for our trip we found it developed into a bit of a scramble so we are not confident we would always be able to find a place enroute. We eventually cancelled Chester because it got to hard to book.

Good onya, we think we are getting a feeling for what is ahead. Thanks everybody and we have some more places to think about....Lacock, Kidderminster, Telford, Hobbington and the Barrow Coast Road!

Oops, just one more thing. Where is this toll road? They usually seem to be in the right places and work well so it may be an idea to work towards it.

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<hr>the Barrow Coast Road!<hr></blockquote>but avoiding Barrow which is out on its own sort of peninsula

Barrow - One road in, one road out. Not quite, but the other one is a bit twisty. The toll for the lakes may be an idea. I've never used it. I live in Southampton, and go to Barrow a fair bit for work. I wouldn't go scenic until after Manchester, just as the roads are unpredictable. Past Preston, you fly. I was born in Settle, which is pretty close. #2 has some good suggestions. I'm not sure about Cambridge, I think someone's been on the funny pills there.

Thanks Nerb And Ravings. Settle sounds like another name to check out and visit. We are really going to England to visit the wife's aging mother. Don't know if we will be able to fit her in! ;-))

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Oops, just one more thing. Where is this toll road? They usually seem to be in the right places and work well so it may be an idea to work towards it.<hr></blockquote>Toll road is around Birmingham - it is well signposted, you can either stay on the normal M6 or take the toll road. The tariff is GBP £4.00 for a car.

I've never used it as the times I've been on the M6 it hasn't been that busy - I've not done any of your route on a weekend so I can't really comment on how busy certain stretches will be but I would imagine that it will be quieter than a week-day.

Just want to make it clear, there is not a lot to see (in my opinion, apologies to those residents of these no doubt lovely towns) in Kidderminster or Telford, but the A roads I suggested pass through them. The countryside between the towns can be lovely though and very English looking.

Theres even a lot to be said for the M6 that runs though the lake district from Kendal over Shap summit and up to Penrith where you would turn off for Keswick. Amazing road and normally very quiet.

Have a fab time.