2day road trip idea

rivarama

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1,102
Two mates and I want are planning a 2day road trip for March / April from London (where we all live) to Wales.
The idea is to avoid motorways as much as possible and take scenic routes all long. We know there are a lot of stunning B and C roads in Wales, and as typical Londoners, we are not familiar with that part of the country, but are all quite keen to go on a discovery journey of this beautiful part of the world.
We are happy to do 5-6hours of driving each day (including the odd stop here and there for coffee, snacks and enjoying the scenery), and would need a nice hotel and restaurant for the over night stay.
The drive back would be through a different route.

Any recommendations you may have from past experience to help us plan this journey would be very welcome.
 

RoaryRati

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1,582
Michelin road maps highlight scenic routes - if that helps (I've used it to plan a tour round Spain returning through France3)
 

tokyomb

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263
Sports Car Hire in Shrewsbury have a map on the page linked that highlights some good driving routes in the mid and North Wales area and also includes some recommended hotels.

If you are foodies, I would highly recommend Ynyshir (Michelin starred restaurant with rooms on the South-Western edge of Snowdonia). Not cheap - but Gareth Ward cooks some excellent food - e.g. see Grace Dent's review in Guardian.
 

rivarama

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Awesome recs so far. Please keep adding to it. You have personally done a trip in that area, sharing your itinerary would be amazing. Thanks
 

Whiterose

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14
Sounds like a great trip, I can only recommend the roads near the dams in Rhayadar , Elan Valley if you want to venture there
 

Lozzer

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2,280
Always wanted to stay/visit/even live @ Portmeirion, that would be on my list for a road trip for sure .
 

Hurricane52

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1,211
Always wanted to stay/visit/even live @ Portmeirion, that would be on my list for a road trip for sure .
That would be my choice too. We stayed there for a couple of nights and what was so cool, was having the run of the place in the evening after the gates shut to the public. It can seem like a busy theme park in the day, but after hours it’s magical. The Portmeirion Hotel food is excellent (less so the related, but cheaper, castle place by the entrance). We booked an apartment above one of the shops as we had young kids and it came with its own parking space. The outdoor pool is freezing anytime of year.

If you “did” mid and North Wales on your day one, then came down the coast road, you could visit us on the estuary in Cardigan on your second day if you’ve got time. There are some good roads near us too and then it’s a schlepp down the M4 back to town.

You should have a blast - Wales is generally much better than it was when we moved here 20 years ago. I reckon you’ll be hard pushed to do the whole country in two days, but you’ll have fun trying. Watch out for plod, motorbikes and sheep.
 

Nayf

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2,734
Current issue of MC has our trip to the Elan Valley in it. Glorious place but put it this way - the Focus RS felt a bit too fat in places. Threading a GranTurismo through it would rather detract from the fun angle. If you do go, I can’t reccomend the Metropole Hotel enough, very car friendly, big tarmac car park.

I’d be tempted to head further north - the road from the west into Bala is one of the most stunning stretches of tarmac in the country. Only Scotland can top it.
 

Hurricane52

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1,211
Current issue of MC has our trip to the Elan Valley in it. Glorious place but put it this way - the Focus RS felt a bit too fat in places. Threading a GranTurismo through it would rather detract from the fun angle. If you do go, I can’t reccomend the Metropole Hotel enough, very car friendly, big tarmac car park.

I’d be tempted to head further north - the road from the west into Bala is one of the most stunning stretches of tarmac in the country. Only Scotland can top it.

Agree. Stick to the bigger roads in wide or low slung cars. The Elan Valley area is lovely, but there is only one way to do it...

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rivarama

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1,102
Hurricane - great recommendation.
Small roads don’t really bother us, quite the opposite, unless they are full of potholes.
We would travel with a 360, a F430 and a 997TT - so the cars aren’t that big (although a bit wide.
We definitely want to find a way to get to Wales without travelling on the M40/M6/M54...
The sportshire link shows some decent route segments.
Any recommendation to get from London to Worcester through the Cotswolds without taking the M40?
 

Hurricane52

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1,211
Hurricane - great recommendation.
Small roads don’t really bother us, quite the opposite, unless they are full of potholes.
We would travel with a 360, a F430 and a 997TT - so the cars aren’t that big (although a bit wide.
We definitely want to find a way to get to Wales without travelling on the M40/M6/M54...
The sportshire link shows some decent route segments.
Any recommendation to get from London to Worcester through the Cotswolds without taking the M40?
I think you’re limited to either the A44 or the A40 - but there may be some local knowledge to be had from Cotswoldians. Looks like Harry Metcalfe knows a few decent roads, which feature in his Harry’s Garage videos.

As you’ll be in sportcars, there are a few more roads which come to mind. The road around Lake Vyrnwy is a magical experience, but I have to say that, as that’s where we got married. The roads in and out are fun too, especially over the hills towards Bala. There are plenty of good roads around Snowdonia, but also a lot of walkers, motor homes and Fiat Doblos.

Near Portmeirion, the coast roads A493 from Machynlleth and A496 Dolgellau have great views, but best approached from the South with the sea on your left.

The A4212 road from Bala to Trawsfynydd has been mentioned above. Not to be missed. I remember a particularly special drive in my old 456 and we did it in the QP last year.
There’s the A4120 - a cut through from the A44 via Devil’s Bridge which ends up joining with the coast road at Aberystwyth. Great views especially if heading west.

Further south, I like the A482 from Llanwrda to Lampeter. There’s the Abergwesyn Pass from Llanwrtwd Wells to Tregaron and the roads aroud Llyn Brianne. The Epynt rally stage is near Brecon. Come to think of it, there are four or five roads in the Brecon Beacons which I often see in car magazines. Usually, the North/South roads over the hills are more fun. The East/West one’s are often old drovers’ roads which tend to follow rivers and valleys, to save wearing out cows.

In Pembrokeshire we have the Preselis - the B4329 - and the A487 coast road out to St David’s.

Finally, we use the b4333 to get from Newcastle Emlyn to Carmarthen - it featured in Classic and Sportscar’s great roads series about 15 years ago and I remember seeing Simon Taylor driving it in his beautiful blue AC Ace.

Whichever way you go, you’ll no doubt have a blast.
 

RoaryRati

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1,582
We had an excellent run out Worcester to Ludlow via Tenbury (A456 I think) yesterday - only car going our way, (not so good on return stuck in a queue behind lorry and not that many overtaking spots, especially if you don't know the road), and lovely sun - but, like most roads in this country, there are a couple of potholes you have to watch for. And an excellent lunch in a rather ram-shackled looking cafe (a former mill) by the river (we were lucky to get in - most people had reserved a table!!). And Oxford to Worcester I'd recommend the A44 over A40 - although it is slower I think its prettier, especially if weather is good, and more fun - and if you want a coffee in my home town of Pershore let me know. PS with all these options you may have to extend you run to two weeks!!
 

rivarama

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1,102
Thank you so much. These are great suggestions. I am going to piece everything together and see how much time it would take... if we have to extend, we might do another trip later this year to finish it off.
If we decide to stop in the area, I will def PM you ahead of time and see if we can meet up for a coffee.
Any other suggestions, feel free to add on. I will share back the first draft at some point.

Is it worth creating a sticky in the “meet ups” section for people to post their actual itineraries and recommendations of road trips across UK/Europe?
 

Lozzer

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2,280
The crack here reignited my desire to visit this place, our silver wedding anniversary being the perfect excuse , welcome to portmeirion, it's just magical.
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MrMickS

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3,951
Hurricane - great recommendation.
Small roads don’t really bother us, quite the opposite, unless they are full of potholes.
We would travel with a 360, a F430 and a 997TT - so the cars aren’t that big (although a bit wide.
We definitely want to find a way to get to Wales without travelling on the M40/M6/M54...
The sportshire link shows some decent route segments.
Any recommendation to get from London to Worcester through the Cotswolds without taking the M40?

Some of the small roads are pretty narrow
 

Oneball

Member
Messages
11,070
Hurricane - great recommendation.
Small roads don’t really bother us, quite the opposite, unless they are full of potholes.
We would travel with a 360, a F430 and a 997TT - so the cars aren’t that big (although a bit wide.
We definitely want to find a way to get to Wales without travelling on the M40/M6/M54...
The sportshire link shows some decent route segments.
Any recommendation to get from London to Worcester through the Cotswolds without taking the M40?

3 options to get to Worcester:

M4 get off at Swindon come via Cirencester and Birdlip, you can then go Cheltenham, Tewksbury, Worcester or a little bit of M5 and M50 and hit the bottom of Wales.

or

Part way up the M40 then Oxford, Cheltenham, Worcester, basically A40 route

or

Part way up the M40 then Oxford, Chipping Norton, Broadway, Evesham, Worcester basically A44 route.

All are main roads first one is probably about 30 mins slower than doing motorways all the way and is always my chosen route from Worcester to the SE as it's nice and super easy. Others will take longer, A44 route probably the most scenic and you can vary it with smaller roads to see more of the Cotswolds but it will be busy in summer with Asain tourists, MPs and London media types!

If you want to avoid motorways completely you have to do Maidenhead to Reading or to Henley and it'll be super slow.

Once you're in Worcester loads of choices which way to go. The Teme Valley or A44 into Wales are very pretty roads.
 

Fangio63

Member
Messages
614
Some of the small roads are pretty narrow


I recognise that first bit of road, just near Dwygyfylchi going towards Conwy, If you were coming from the opposite direction at the top of the hill theres a rock that juts out into the road. Toot your horn and get an echo from across the valley, (my grandfather used to do it to amuse us as kids). Back in the '70's there were quite a few burnt out cars at the bottom of that hill, best be careful in the wet..

Though it's more scary on horseback in the ice !
 

AT3200AC

Junior Member
Messages
73
I regularly travel east to west and if you are only planning 5-6 hours driving a day I would go early and M4 it to South Wales around 90 minutes to get over the bridge from the M25 and then grab some breakfast before heading north. There are loads of good roads over the Brecons and up into Snowdonia. If you set off at the wrong time of day and go A roads in England you could spend 4 hours just getting to the border and the Cotswolds and Gloucestershire countryside are congested and dull compared to mid Wales. Check out the Evo triangle if you get chance.

Have a good trip.