Nice roads in the south?
Discussion
Honestly, nowhere that's easily reachable for me. The South West is a huge area, and much of it is very poorly interconnected so it takes forever to get around. It's also full of old people, you will encounter a lot of very slow, almost drunk driving cars you won't be used to if you're from further east. The nature of the roads also means you will become stuck behind them for a very long time.
Keep well out of Dorset, especially the South and East. North dorset is better, but still nothing much worth driving there you can't find more abundantly elsewhere, All Dorset is full of giffers, tractors, lost tourists, bored coppers, suicidal cyclists hidden behind the berlin wall hedging, and to top it off it's almost entirely poor condition single carrageway so you can't even make good progress through it. It's the land that investment forgot. Oh, and the council will throw mountains of salt down on all roads like it's a Scottish blizzard if there's so much as a frost on a bone dry night.
Somerset isn't much better, but at least it has the M5 so long distance traffic doesn't block the local roads so much. Sat nav also completely doesn't work there, and will send you the stupidest routes imaginable. Plan your routes carefully, if you get lost it's better to use signs. I love Somerset, but fun driving roads aren't its strong suit. Go and have some cider instead. The roads through the Mendips are probably decent if you go when it's quiet, but I've never been able to.
For driving, Wiltshire is the best of those three. Roads are a touch wider and it is noticably less busy than Dorset and Somerset. No fixed cameras, and the speed limits are more reasonable anyway. It's a much more boring county to visit than Somerset, but for driving I much prefer it.
Devon is a land of contrasts. Lots of faster roads keeping the traffic down in the more fun parts, but even the main route into some little towns will have you scraping both sides of your car against the hedges (chagford....) There are some magnificent roads there to explore though. Go only when it's off peak, and avoid the southern coast. You pretty much can't go wrong with Devon so long as it's not single track or busy.
Hampshire had far better investment in its roads, they're much more developed, but in shockingly poor condition now. Sadly it's too busy to be fun in most areas. The new forest used to be ok but you need to be careful of the horses, and it became a cyclist beehive so is best avoided now.
Keep well out of Dorset, especially the South and East. North dorset is better, but still nothing much worth driving there you can't find more abundantly elsewhere, All Dorset is full of giffers, tractors, lost tourists, bored coppers, suicidal cyclists hidden behind the berlin wall hedging, and to top it off it's almost entirely poor condition single carrageway so you can't even make good progress through it. It's the land that investment forgot. Oh, and the council will throw mountains of salt down on all roads like it's a Scottish blizzard if there's so much as a frost on a bone dry night.
Somerset isn't much better, but at least it has the M5 so long distance traffic doesn't block the local roads so much. Sat nav also completely doesn't work there, and will send you the stupidest routes imaginable. Plan your routes carefully, if you get lost it's better to use signs. I love Somerset, but fun driving roads aren't its strong suit. Go and have some cider instead. The roads through the Mendips are probably decent if you go when it's quiet, but I've never been able to.
For driving, Wiltshire is the best of those three. Roads are a touch wider and it is noticably less busy than Dorset and Somerset. No fixed cameras, and the speed limits are more reasonable anyway. It's a much more boring county to visit than Somerset, but for driving I much prefer it.
Devon is a land of contrasts. Lots of faster roads keeping the traffic down in the more fun parts, but even the main route into some little towns will have you scraping both sides of your car against the hedges (chagford....) There are some magnificent roads there to explore though. Go only when it's off peak, and avoid the southern coast. You pretty much can't go wrong with Devon so long as it's not single track or busy.
Hampshire had far better investment in its roads, they're much more developed, but in shockingly poor condition now. Sadly it's too busy to be fun in most areas. The new forest used to be ok but you need to be careful of the horses, and it became a cyclist beehive so is best avoided now.
Edited by GearKnob on Tuesday 23 March 00:17
Edited by GearKnob on Tuesday 23 March 00:24
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