Driving London to Glasgow
 

A colleague asked me if I knew the approximate driving time London to Glasgow taking into consideration usual road and traffic conditions on the quickest route. She is not considering sightseeing along the way - just wants to get her car from one place to another. I suggested train or flight, but she rejected that. Can any of our UK experts help?

How about using viaMichelin or Google maps? I suspect that they probably program in some road and traffic conditions when giving an itinerary.

The AA route planner says 7hrs 3mins, I find their times are slightly optomistic and obviously don't allow for accidents, road works etc.

http://www.theaa.com/route-planner/index.jsp

A lot depends on from where in London, what time of day she plans to leave, what day of the week etc, but between 7 (on a good day) and 8 hours would be about right, not allowing for stops. Road works, accidents, rush hour would of course all add to the time taken.

I think I heard that they are stopping flights from London to Glasgow, but I could be wrong.

Yes, that is why I am hoping for a reply from someone in the UK that knows what traffic and other conditions of the roads are of late, so that she can have a realistic estimate. I told her that I thought it would be 7-10 hours which by hooameye's reply seems about right, but I would like to check on how realistic that is.

Things are making more sense - I just spoke with my colleague and she said she is asking for her son-in-law whose band is playing in both cities and they will be travelling most likely overnight in a chartered bus and wanted to know how to plan. It seems to me that the best place to ask would be the charter company.

Their tour manager and/or the bus company should be helping sort that out

It's a long tough drive in busy traffic unless you can travel late in the evening / very early in the morning. The best way is to take the M40 up to the M42 at Birmingham. Then spend the best 5 quid you ever did on a road journey to take the M6 toll around Birmingham, before heading further north on the M6 then M74. If you value your sanity, <b>DO NOT</b> go up the A1 (east coast route) or the M1 up to Birmingham.

<i> Driving times</i> alone will take 7-9hrs depending or how bad the traffic is, but when you factor in the essential pit stops, you're looking at up to 10hrs. I simply won't do it anymore and always fly.

alihutch - I agree. I think that maybe it is mother-in-law trying to act like the stereotype.

Gordon - good information, thank you. They are using a bus because they need to transport all of the band gear.

Gordon R...I 2nd the route. Drive Glasgow Newbury a lot, and Milton Keynes Glasgow sometimes....

Update to my earlier response - if they have a bus/van, then the cost of he M6 Toll will be higher, but still recommended to avoid delays on the "old" M6 around B'ham.

Thanks Gordon, as I suspected, it was just a mother-in-law acting out a stereotype. I believe they played in Glasgow last night and now it is on to Dublin.