Best driving roads

[himpe]

I'm planning a visit to the UK with the Belgian TTOC and need some advise.

Below you find the route i had in mind.

We start the day (saturday) in Folckestone at approx. 9.00h.
I had a few stops in mind:
- Hastings (quick stop)
- Brighton (lunch)
- Portsmouth (visit to the docks and the ships)
- Salisbury and Avebury (the stone circles)
- Chipping Campden (hotel for the night)

The next day (sunday) we would drive the romantic road through the cotswolds before joining the UK TTOC annual Event in Gaydon.


I would like some advice regarding the route, what are the best roads for driving pleasure allong the route.
And what might be worth visiting ?

[sitas3]

shame you can't extend your visit by another day so you can visit Wales - particularly the mid-Wales roads which are rather good both for driving experience and also scenery. The roads in the south of England are often heavily congested - even in Wiltshire!

Enjoy anyway.

[jeffw]

Driving from Folkestone to Portsmouth on the A27 wouldn't be my idea of fun.....it's very slow for the most part with lots of traffic but I suppose it is the scenic route. Brighton can be aweful to park in and can take an hour to find somewhere on the sea front. Portsmouth is also difficult to park near to the Dockyard but it worth it to see HMS Victory, Mary Rose & the Warrior. I'm not sure that your giving yourself enough time to do either Portsmouth or Brighton justice and you may well run out of time and have to scrap going into Portsmouth. If your going to stay in Salisbury you should try and find the time to visit Stonehenge.

[simple1]

Let us know when you are coming.... as I live near your overnight stop, happy to come and chew the fat and sample some beer
Agree with Jeff, A27 is a nice drive, but it will take you all day......

[himpe]

Thx for all the replies so far !

What altenatives do you propose instead of the A27 ?

@simple1: I'll take you up on that offer !
We were planning on staying in the Kings Arms Hotel http://www.thekingsarmshotel.com/, is it any good ?

[Amosu]

I live along the route you are proposing (just outside Eastbourne) and the A27 is a pain in the backside. That said, the route you want to take, you don't have many alternatives. You could try staying along the coast all the way from Hastings to Brighton, but that's just as likely to be congested, where the A27 at least has stretches of dual carriageway.

[himpe]

I live along the route you are proposing (just outside Eastbourne) and the A27 is a pain in the backside. That said, the route you want to take, you don't have many alternatives. You could try staying along the coast all the way from Hastings to Brighton, but that's just as likely to be congested, where the A27 at least has stretches of dual carriageway.

Hmm, allot of people advised against the A27, and i'm now looking into other options ...

But as you said, there arn't that many

[JohnW]

My option would be to leave a day earlier.
That way you get to do brighton etc east of Portsmouth while most people are still at work.
When you get to Portsmouth and the docks you will find you could quite easily spend most of the day there.
And if you like shopping the new shopping centre there is great

I would suggest you do a web search on tourist information on each of the town you plan to visit, so you can be sure you see the things that your interested in.
You should also be able to find information on parking places, which will be crucial as most places are paid parking now (if you don't pay you will get clamped !)

Cheers,
John.

[jeffw]

I'd go M20. M25, M3, A303

Problem is it isn't very scenic !

[himpe]

Unfortunatly, we can't leave a day early (as you said, most people are still at work; even in Beglium ).

The point of the trip is to join the TTOC UK sunday afternoon at their anual meeting in Gaydon.

We could also travel to the Cotwolds by motorway but then we won't see anything of the beautiful countryside

So my thoughts were to take the route i mentioned above (maybe allong different roads) and make quick stops ...

So what we are after are the most scenic routes, not the quickest.

[peterb]

And if you like shopping the new shopping centre there is great

Not been back to Pompey for many years - the new shopping centre has to be better than the Tricorn!

[FatBoy]

The A272 East of Winchester to Petersfield is a great strech of road with very little traffic and could fill the gap nicely between Brighton and Southampton.
Paul

...but don't tell anyone, it's a secret

[himpe]

The A272 East of Winchester to Petersfield is a great strech of road with very little traffic and could fill the gap nicely between Brighton and Southampton.
Paul

...but don't tell anyone, it's a secret

Thx allot !

[JohnW]

The A272 east of Peterfield is a great road too !

If you aren't fussed about driving along the coast you could do worse than trying the A25, although it will be busy.

I would be tempted to go along the coast until you get to Brighton, then head north up the A23
and pick up the A272 near Hickstead.
Follow it across and stop at some of the smaller villages to have a look around. Petworth and Midhurst
are definitely worth a look. Portsmouth and Southampton would just be too busy and you could not do
them justice in your time frame.

Peterb, the tricorn is now reduced to a pile of rubble

[wazza]

A339 Alton - Basingstoke isn't bad for that area as well