It takes about 2 hours for me to drive from my home in London to Dover and always has done - from days in my Sprite and MG to today in the Rolls; from ferries through Hovercraft to the Tunnel. This trip I was about 5 minutes from the exit sliproad to the tunnel when I saw a huge black spiral of smoke like Hiroshima ahead. Oh UH. Sure enough, two minutes from the turning - traffic stopped. We sat for THREE HOURS. As we finally moved we saw a huge lorry the size of a double decker bus - blackened skeleton only - in the other lane. It had burned the tarmac right across.
Then, in the port, only 3 of the 12 French immigration/customs people working (it was May 1st - a French holiday). Long queues. All trains delayed.
Reached Paris 12 hours after leaving London. Normally it's half that.
It's not easy having a good time. Even smiling makes my face ache. (Rocky Horror Show).

Travelling to Europe by car isn't easy, as you've said - but neither is touring the UK; there's too much traffic for the roads!

Passing Stonehenge (this bank holiday weekend) - on the way to Devon/Cornwall was a nightmare - with delays; roadworks, accidents and volumes.

And every picturesque village down here has a 'Park & Ride' overworked system - to cater for the massive influx of vehicles.


It's becoming almost impossible and too much work/stress.

When I travel to Newcastle or Scotland (on business, needing a car) - I'm on the M25 by 3am. Awkward timing - but much less hassle.

The West Country is fantastic, but most of the traffic jams are caused by city slickers and surfers. A303 is bad due to people slowing down to see Stonehenge, if you have seen it once seen it a million times. It's only open to the public during the Winter and Summer Solstices.

It's a rip-off to pay for it as you walk around a boundary line. There is a pathway that you can see Stonehenge, it's pretty much the same view and distance away, that paying tourists see.

People should really stop paying to see Stonehenge which is a tourist trap, and the stones are reconstructed, and some say they are not the original stones.

Avebury Stone Circle is much better, natural, and you can feel the energy from the stone. The closer you get to them, the heavier your legs get.

I agree Barney it is becoming unbearable.

A journey to Somerset at Easter which should take 3 and a bit hours for me took 6 and a half hours with traffic, and the worst bit yes past Stonegenge on the Amesbury/Salisbury by pass, but shit everywhere.

I just increasingly can't be bothered. I live the London end of Surrey and as far as possible use train/tube with work and social around London/Surrey.

Otherwise I leave the country - Italy next for me in May, by plane.

Driving here is over for me when I can help it. Bloody awful.

All is good - with timing analyses. Monday to Wednesday are much quieter/cheaper; avoid June/July/August, and weekends.

We're in Plymouth very soon - steeped in history; Nelson/Victory and best Maritime Museum in the UK, overlooking the harbour.

Green Man wrote:
the stones are reconstructed, and some say they are not the original stones


So - for 50 years - the UNESCO World Heritage Site organisation has been totally wrong....


www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/

Al Gershwin wrote:
All is good - with timing analyses. Monday to Wednesday are much quieter/cheaper; avoid June/July/August, and weekends.

We're in Plymouth very soon - steeped in history; Nelson/Victory and best Maritime Museum in the UK, overlooking the harbour.

Avoiding busy times mostly isn't possible when, like me, you have school aged children. I got chatting to a man in Weymouth last year on the beach and he said he and his family now set off driving for UK holidays at 3AM!

Al Gershwin wrote:
Green Man wrote:
the stones are reconstructed, and some say they are not the original stones


So - for 50 years - the UNESCO World Heritage Site organisation has been totally wrong....


www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/


We have argued with English Heritage and National Trust in the past. You are like an ex girlfriend who can't let go.

Wyot wrote:
I got chatting to a man in Weymouth last year on the beach and he said he and his family now set off driving for UK holidays at 3AM!

As I do, for long journeys - see my post of yesterday.

I'm so pleased I did so much sight seeing in the 70s and 80s. I recall visiting Stonehedge and it was basically empty of tourists.

I remember going to the Coliseum in the late 70s and there were just a handful of tourists plus heaps of cats.Now you have to queue to get in.

They say there are long queues just to see The Little Mermaid in Denmark.

I live in a pretty famous beach side suburb which was once considered a bit of slum when my parents bought the flat in the 60s for a miniscle price. Now it's packed even in Winter with a sea of people everywhere & nightmarish car parking.

Blame TikTok for a lot of it, Hedda, I don't live far from the Cotswolds (60 min drive), tourists have no idea that ordinary people live there.

I read in their local paper that the Japanese people think real hobbits live in the tiny homes. Not forgetting tourists trying to open and gain access to the house as they think it's some sort of fairyland. Stonehenge is probably the UK's biggest cash cow when it comes to tourism.

Are people going to the Peak District because they saw someone do it on TikTok?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz0119xgzxyo

Green Man wrote:
Stonehenge is probably the UK's biggest cash cow when it comes to tourism


Doesn't even make the top 20!


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_most-v...n_the_United_Kingdom