Dover to Scotland

[Deester]

Hi Guys,

I am in the process of organizing a trip for next weekend. I am driving from Frankfurt to Glasgow via Ostend. It takes me 4 hours to get to Ostend from Frankfurt but I am unsure how long it will take to go from Dover up into Scotland.

Has anyone made this trip? Any estimates on how long to get to the Scottish border?

Journey through the UK will start at 4pm on a Saturday.

Hows the M25 at this time?

Thanks in advance,
Deester

[Bodo]

If you don't mind travelling with a ferry:

www.superfast.com/Scotland/English/home.asp

[dcb]

quote:
Has anyone made this trip? Any estimates on how long to get to the Scottish border?

How long is piece of string ?

Six hours London to Glasgow is good going.
Add on another hour London to Dover.

This is pure journey time. Add extra for meals,
rest stops etc. M20-M25-M1-M6-M74.

quote:
Journey through the UK will start at 4pm on a Saturday.

Hows the M25 at this time?

Quiet. Expect only mild levels of poor driving.

BTW, have U driven in UK before ?

UK average driving standards are very low, almost
American. Don't expect any lane discipline, and compared
with the rest of Europe, Brits drive slowly.

[McNab]

Deester, you would be completely crazy to do this. Eight hours minimum. Everyone says the Zeebrugge - Rosyth ferry is brilliant. Why not try it?

[Deester]

Thanks for the info. I got a really cheap crossing with Hoverspeed to dover, thats my reason for choosing this crossing and not the superfast to Rosyth.

I don't know how I will cope with driving for 8 hours at 70MPH max, its like punishment in a fast car.

Think I will return via superfast. Saves driving through one extra country

Thanks,
Deester

[VTECDave]

I would guess if there was no road works (there will be!) and you had only a couple of quick food and fuel stops then 8 hours would not be too much of a problem.

Don't know about speed traps really far south but I think that once clear of Birmingham on the M6 you can go as fast as you like and take yer chances as to whether the police are out.

ie: Was at GTi international in May (near Swindon) once our convoy was back on the M6 speeds were 80-120mph all the way north with no problems.

It really comes down to hows your luck?

[McNab]

Last time I did this it took longer to get from Dover to the M1 than it took from Salzburg to Calais. OK, it was a Sunday. Then I got stopped for doing 120 (mph) on the M6...

If you figure the price of UK fuel and the xtra mileage you'd probably save money using the ferry. Dover to Scotland isn't just awful, it's worse than the worst Chinese torture.

Let us know how you get on

[Deester]

Having made the trip by car to St Petersburgh and back (from London) I can't see how Dover to Scotland can be that bad! Well, you can't really bribe the British police the same way as those Russians, thats the only thing.

[apache]

why not break the trip into 2, aim for Newcastle or Gretna Green and go for a beer and a kip

[grevlinggott]

i drove to fort william for new year - with traffic flowing the trip to glasgow took around 6 hours (A6 Avant, making progress). it takes me about 1h 15 to get to dover from mine so figure 7-8 hours. Traffic was hefty around Birmingham, but after that it was pretty clear all the way.

[manek]

London to Glasgow with reasonable luck with the traffic takes me 5 hours with maybe one fuel/rest stop for 20 minutes, in a TVR, making progress. Dover would add another two hours max, so a total of seven hours should see you there.

[Nevin]

This is the most boring journey in the world ever and whilst usually taking about 6 hours, has taken me 12 before. Be prepared to sit in random queues of traffic on stretches of motorway in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason for hours on end. I have.

Also going up the M6 rather than M1 all the way seems to be the preferred option.

[manek]

Unless you don't mind a slightly more interesting journey -- up the A1, which is often less crowded, then across the Pennines on the A66 to join up with the by-now uncongested M6 at Penrith. It adds about an hour to the journey, maybe 1.5 hours.