ozgirl

Hi all, almost packing our bags for our SW England trip next week

We will be flying in to Gatwick, arriving early afternoon and then heading down to Brockenhurst in the New Forest for our first night.

Any tips for which route to take - we are both keen photographers and enjoy small villages, scenery etc so don't necessarily want the quickest route.
Thanks.

ribeirasacra

Crawley,
Horsham,
Petworth*
Midhurst*
Petersfield *
Winchester*
Locations marker* are (for me) the most interesting. I am sure you can find out what takes your fancy via google on these places.

Odin

Beaulieu village is very picturesque, Bucklers Hard Maritime museum is interesting, surrounding area is lovely.

MymsMan

Be careful not to take on too much driving after a long intercontinental flight, for your safety and ours! By the time you have cleared customs and immigration it might be best to spend the night in the Gatwick area and drive to the New Forest the following day.

It is a 2 hour journey by the fastest route and nearer 3 hours by the scenic route which is quite narrow and twisty - not good when jet lagged!

For Scenic route https://goo.gl/maps/9VyGA you need to take the A264 from Crawley, then the A272 towards Winchester, then A3090 through Romsey to Cadnam and A337 down to Brockenhurst. Very little motorway driving at all.

(The A272 has had a guide book written about it)

Odin

I find that jet lag kicks in the following days after arrival. So spending a night somewhere before picking up a car doesn't work for me, nor my employer (if I am on business). Have picked up rental cars after long flights 100s of times, without issue eg Honolulu, Sydney, LAX (drove straight to Vegas), Dallas, South Africa (no jetlag) SFO etc. Millions of people pick up rental cars right after their flight.

janisj

Odin: what works for you isn't necessarily best for others.

And sure - lots of people drive immediately off an overnight flight. Doesn't make it a sensible/safe option.

Ozgirl, you do have the advantage of not being on the 'wrong side' of the road. But the scenic route to the new forest is not something I'd recommend after a long haul flight. I'd just get there as directly as possible. And I'd DEFINITELY have a plan B stop over in mind in case you are too pooped to manage the drive.

hetismij2

Odin, it sounds like you were flying west on those occasions, in which case jet lag does tend to hit the following day. Flying east you can be extremely tired and zombie like by mid afternoon. Add driving on the wrong side, and small roads requiring concentration and you could have a recipe for disaster.

ozgirl

Hi everyone, thanks for the route suggestions - just what I was after.
A two (or even three) hour drive is quite short by our standards and we arrive at lunchtime so think we will be fine to drive off, especially in a country that drives on the correct side of the road
We will have two drivers if necessary as well.

Gordon_R

>>A two (or even three) hour drive is quite short by our standards<<

You're making a flawed comparison. Driving 2-3 h on an Australian road (assuming that's what you meant) is NOTHING link a similar duration journey in the SE of England. The country roads from Gatwick to the New Forest are twisty, congested 2-lane roads (i.e. one lane in each direction) with numerous hazards along the way:-

- Blind corners and blind summits
- Heavy goods vehicles in the middle of the road
- Slow-moving farm vehicles and caravans who often turn right without much prior notice
- Homicidal motorcycle riders
- Animals on the road (a work colleague wrote his car off a few years ago after hitting a deer)
- Old narrow bridges where there's only space for one line of traffic
- Busy villages where there are numerous junctions and pedestrians on the road
I could go on...

I live mid-way between Gatwick and the New Forest and know these roads like the back of my hand. Yet I would never drive back from the airport after a long haul flight (we use pre-arranged airport taxi services). I urge you to re-think this (sorry to be blunt) foolhardy and reckless plan.

bilboburgler

Given that Brockenhurst has a nice little station it does seem a little dangerous to hire a car and drive there.

Years ago my business was taken over by Kiwis who came to see us to discuss what we wanted to do on the first day. They drove down our country lanes and got there fine (well a few scratches and no passenger wing mirror) and during the meeting we watched them both fall asleep. We walked outside and thought "shall we wake them?". No, we ordered them a taxi and sent them to their hotel and would not allow them to stay at work. Next morning they thanked us.

janisj

ozgirl -- do note Gordon's and bilbo's comments. There is rail service to the New Forest, so your best options are to either stay the first night at/near LGW and drive down the next morning - OR - take the train and collect your car the in next day to two.

But IF you do decide to drive (not at all recommended) don't attempt any sort of meandering/scenic route. Get there and get off the road as soon as you can.

But honestly - having an accident while impaired (jet lag qualifies) is a serious offense.

ozgirl

Thanks everyone for your concern . We don't consider ourselves to be either foolhardy or reckless and have driven in foreign countries many times before, including after coming off of flights.

We generally manage to get quite a bit of sleep en route but of course would not attempt to drive if we felt we weren't up to it.

Our part of Australia also has 2 lane roads ( in fact, that's all it has)
- Blind corners and blind summits
- Heavy goods vehicles in the middle of the road
- Slow-moving farm vehicles (but they carry grapes not hay)
- Homicidal motorcycle riders ( they are obviously worldwide)
- Animals on the road (but they hop not run, although we do have deer as well!)
- Busy villages where there are numerous junctions and pedestrians ( and many of them are TOURISTS who seemingly have no brains!
So, we are already practicing

Once again, your concern is appreciated.

janisj

>>Our part of Australia also has 2 lane roads etc etc etc << . . . But few people