misa

My friend want to do a road trip from londdon (heathrow) to devon in mid July and just look for places to rest in at night with no booking ahead. Is this crazy? I know July is high season, will we be able to find places that are open or that is not outrageously expensive? oh, this will be the first time we are driving in England so we are not familiar with the road system and traffic so any information on what we need to look out for (rush hours traffic time, short cut) will help. we are starting our trip from heathrow 7/14 around 4-5 pm and we want to be back at heathrow by 7/17. please advise, thank you.

julia_t

Are you planning to drive directly to Devon on the M4 and M5 and stay in Devon for the 3 nights (if you leave LHR at 5pm, you will reach Bristol at around 6pm and that could be a bit busy for an hour or so, but you should be at Exeter an hour after passing Bristol) or do you want to travel to Devon indirectly (possibly via Stonehenge/Avebury/Bath) on the A roads (mostly single carriageway) and stop overnight on your way?

Also, bear in mind that after 15 July when the schools break up for the summer, everywhere (roads included) will become much more crowded.

janis

Your aren't just going in July -- You are traveling on a weekend in July. Sure you can find places but many of the nice ones will be booked up - and in the summer many have a two night minimum on weekends.

I would DEFINITELY have my first night booked simply because you will likely be tired and jet lagged (where are you flying in from) and don't want to waste time searching. But then your second night is Friday and you will run into weekend crowds.

So - if you at all know where you want to travel enroute and in Devon, I'd book ahead.

rkkwan

I just did a 3-day roadtrip from Bristol to Land's End and back. Your best bet for inexpensive accomodations will be Bed & Breakfasts. The one I stayed for two nights in a small town in Cornwall charges £18 per person, or £20 for a single. That is probably on the cheap side, so expect a little higher where you're going. Real hotels will be quite a bit more.

Problem is that it wasn't as easy to find the B&B as I thought, on a holiday weekend. They are everywhere when you're not looking for one, but when it started getting late suddenly you couldn't find one that has vacancies. Many of them are on sidestreets in town, and are invisible from the main roadways. Therefore, I suggest you do some research on the web for a list of B&Bs in the area you think you may be staying, and then look for them, or call them when you're getting close.

Also, at least on M5 between Bristol and Exeter, you won't find all the Motel 6s and Super 8s at each exit, like they are along major interstates here. So, some planning ahead is required.

misa

"travel to Devon indirectly (possibly via Stonehenge/Avebury/Bath) on the A roads (mostly single carriageway) and stop overnight on your way?"
I like this idea as we love to sightsee and the main purpose of this trip is to see more of England than just London. I also like to see Torquay as I have read a lot of good thing about it on this site.

PatrickLondon

The official tourist board site, with links to driving itineraries, accommodation, and local tourist information centres, is http://www.visitsouthwest.co.uk. I'd suggest you use them to get information about the next place you're heading to so that you can book the next night's accommodation as you go.

julia_t

Can I suggest you take a look at a map of southern England, just to pick out an approximate route. Maybe take the M4 to Swindon, take a left to Marlborough, then right to Avebury (actually much more impressive than Stonehenge IMHO) where you can wander among the stones, hug them(!!) and feel their energy. You should be able to find a B&B somewhere between there and Salisbury (Stonehenge is on the way), then you could take the A36/A361 to Glastonbury, and either the M5 south to Exeter or keep going west to north Devon; or you could take the A303 to Exeter and skip Glastonbury. Torquay is not far from Exeter on the south coast, but will be full of holidaymakers staying in holiday parks and really quite touristy at that time of year. All flipflops, rubber rings and kiss-me-quick hats!!

The South Hams region of Devon is lovely, with towns like Dartmouth, Kingsbridge, and Salcombe is a sailing mecca, but quite unspoilt with sugar-almond coloured houses along the river and little ferries across. Around the point you have Hope Cove and Thurlestone- all thatched cottages and narrow lanes, and further up towards Plymouth is Bigbury Bay and Burgh Island, a 1930's art deco hotel where Agatha Christie based her novel now titled "and then there were none". At high tide you get to it on a sea tractor, at low tide you walk across the sand. Noss Mayo is a pretty little harbour at high tide, with a good pub and a very steep hill to walk up afterwards!

But that is just a snippet of South Devon, and there is so much more about this county, one of the largest in England. If you have only 3 days you really need to think about where you want to go and what you want to see. The North Devon coast is Atlantic from Hartland Point (see rkkwan's thread about his 3 day trip)and stunning - think about Clovelly. And Dartmoor is something else if you leave the main roads and drive off along little single-track lanes. Yes, you'll get lost, but eventually you'll get back to a main road somewhere!!

3 days isn't long, but I'm sure you will make the most of it. I do think Janis has the right idea about forming some sort of plan and booking ahead, at least for the first night.

misa

PatrickLondon - thanks for the website info. It looks very informative.

Julia T- your description makes we wish we alloted more time for this area! I can't wait to see it. I think we'll drive straight to Devon from LHR (this way I can book the 1st night in Devon)and then explore the countryside on the way back to LHR.

Thanks everyone for the detailed information! I feel a little more confident now about our trip.