Exeter to Heathrow - Best Route?
 

I'll be in England in two weeks and I'll be driving from Exeter to Heathrow, Terminal 5, returning my Avis rental car. When I use mapping tools, two main routes come up. Taking the M5 to M4 or taking the A 303 to M3. It doesn't look like there's a great deal of time difference between the two choices. Would one be easier and/or more scenic?

Thanks!

aggiegirl,

we tend to use the A30/A303/M3 more out of habit than anything, but it is marginally more scenic though less so than when we used to take it to go from Kent to north Devon and it could take 7 hours!

it does have the big advantage that if you want to stop, there are a number of places not far off the road - Langport, Podimore, Sparkford - all have nice pubs to stop at.

of course either way you run the risk of hold ups, so allow plenty of time!

Thanks, annhig!

The A303 route is prettier but there are extensive roadworks on the M3 at the moment, so you might be better off sticking to the M5/M4.

oh dear, didn't know about the M3 roadworks.

up to date local knowledge trumps anecdotal ramblings.

I only know because I did it coming home from Cornwall a couple of weeks back, Ann. :-)

If you are travelling very late at night its not a problem as the traffic is light enough to be flowing fairly freely, but during the day it constantly features in traffic updates about delays.

funny, RM, DH did the same journey about 2 weeks ago in the opposite direction and didn't mention it!

if you'd known, you could have waved!

Thanks, RM67! Guess it's the M5/M4 for me!
Looks like rains are returning for October :(
From the weather tracking I did in September, seems like that was a really nice weather month. I don't mind rain so much when I'm in London, but I'm not looking forward to driving it and touring sights like Tintagel Castle in it.

yes Aggigirl, tomorrow may be the last day of our indian summer. it has been glorious, reminding me of the first year we were in Cornwall, where we had this type of weather all the way through to the end of October and we thought that we'd moved to paradise.

my goodness did it change after that!