Road Trip Tips Archives - Journeys Are My Diary

When most people think of road trips, it’s considered a representation of all things Americana: convertible tops down, hair flying in the wind between desert scenery and mountain backdrops. But you don’t have to fly to America to go on a vehicular adventure – there is plenty to see right here at home. From charming villages to awe-inspiring landscapes and small country roads, you’ll find that getting to your destination is half the fun.

Black Mountain Pass, Wales

The Black Mountains are on the west side of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The A4069 is a challenging drive with hairpin turns made famous by Jeremy Clarkson testing the AMG SLK along this route on Top Gear. It’s the perfect road trip for people who love to drive or who want to have spectacular views over the mountains and Swansea Bay.

Outer Hebrides, Scotland

A journey up to Barra means you can drive the whole Outer Hebrides – over 100 miles and two ferries to make the journey down this island chain. While it can be done in a day, you’ll want to take your time appreciating the windswept cliffs, beautiful beaches, and prominent Hebridian hospitality. Every island has its own feeling and scenery: the Uists are great for bird watching, Lewis and Harris are hilly, while Benebecula you’ll find long beaches the unfortunately named Stinky Bay.

Dartmoor Circular, England

Driving through Dartmoor offers some of England’s best views – and the place is dotted with pubs, campsites, and country walks. Start in Mill End where the town is a designated Conservation Area through the High Moorlands in Princetown, stop for a picnic in Tavistock and go for a dip at Lydford Gorge.

Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland

The coastal roads around Northern Ireland seem to have been made for exploring by car. From Belfast head up the Antrim Coast Road to see the nine glens of Antrim – named one of the most scenic drives in the world by National Geographic. The Giant’s Causeway trip allows to stop at the Glenariff Forest Park, see the rugged cliffs or Torr Head, and stay in cottages or campsites along the way. Explore the ancient seat of the kings of Ulster before heading east to the Mountains of Mourne and back to Belfast to head home.

Cheddar Gorge, England

A trip to Cheddar Gorge is a great way to see the West Country without heading too far into the countryside. This is a road trip that will allow you to see a few qualities of the country that are distinctively English: Cheddar Gorge has unique local cider and limestone cliffs, it’s close to Bristol, one of England’s most vibrant cities, and it’s not too far from the coast either. You can go from city life to farm vehicles in just one road – just one thing that makes this journey so interesting.

Invergarry to Isle of Skye, Scotland

This driving route takes you up to the Scottish highlands down the A87 to the Isle of Skye. Sweeping mountains lined with lambs, homely bed and breakfasts, and maybe even a little summer snow will take your breath away. You can taste whiskey at Scotland’s best distilleries like Glenfiddich and Danwhinnie along the way, just schedule it for the end of your driving day.

Planning Your Road Trip

Hitting the open road can be a challenging (but rewarding!) experience. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you plan.

Ensure you have good breakdown cover. If you’ll be spending a few days or more on the road, you don’t want to get stuck on the side of the road – especially if you’re doing a more remote trip!
Listen for travel updates. Getting stuck in traffic goes against that feeling of being on the open road but sometimes it’s inevitable. If you’re heading up the Scottish highlands, listen out for weather updates – sometimes the roads can freeze.
Carry water and a safety kit. On the off-chance you do breakdown, a first aid kit, tyre inflators, extra blankets, torches, batteries, and non-perishable snacks in the boot will mean that you are prepared.
Get plenty of rest. If you’re tired, just take a break. Remember that you have people’s lives in your hands, and that is more important than making it to the next hotel in time for check in.
Bring a road map. It’s easy to forget to bring one of these in our age of GPS and Google Maps, but you might run out of battery or be on a route that is covered by these apps. A trusted road map is very useful for rural driving and noting campsites and parks.

I am always looking for spontaneous adventure! Next week is my birthday and I’ve looked at so many ideas from driving to Disneyland Paris, to hopping on a ferry to Ireland or Amsterdam. There are themeparks to visit, restaurants to eat at and shops to go shopping – all of these would require me driving there and I’m absolutely fine with that. I just love a last minute decision. Age UK (charity) recently posted these tips, but I wanted to share mine with you!

For the cheapest offers, plan in advance! I know I said spontaneous adventures are my favourite, but a couple of years ago we went to Disneyland Paris and planning in advance definitely saved us a heap of money. We got a cheap Travelodge on the way out, a cheap offer on the actual holiday and also planning meant we could save! Our Travelodge on the night out, was £30 compared to the last minute one on the way back (£80!). Our holiday was £1 for the Ferry travel and £400 for the holiday, compared to the usual cost of about £1000 on the Disneyland Paris website.

Break up the journey and takes lots of stops! As with above, road trips are all very well but to really enjoy it, breaking it up (and ultimately extending the holiday) can make it way more enjoyable. Travel a large part of your journey and then do an overnight stopover. Set off early the next day fresh and ready for another good long drive. Likewise on the way home, do a good chunk of the driving but stop and sleep before finishing your journey fresh in the morning. Everyone gets tired and for the passengers in the car, they can sleep anyway. However its important that the driver definitely catches a few Zzzzs.

Always pack food and drink for the trip. Of course its always good to stop for a coffee break or even McDonalds but ensuring you have food and drink for the journey is also a good tip. Kids get hungry and thirsty easily anyway but its always good to have something to keep you refreshed. No matter where you’re road tripping to, you’re always subject to traffic jams! You don’t want to get caught out in two hours of traffic with nothing to eat or drink!

Take a SatNav or smartphone capable of navigation. Okay so technology isn’t foolproof but in this day and age its definitely a lot easier to have some sort of navigation helping you. As a driver its impossible to concentrate on the road and read a map, and road signs aren’t always that useful. A good SatNav will keep you alert and listening, while also helping you to get where you’re going. It might not be the best route, the fastest route or even the most sensible, but chances are it will stop you getting lost – or if you get lost, help you get unlost!

Keep an eye on petrol and prices! Petrol is incredibly expensive and so if you’re taking a road trip the costs can add up. Try not to leave buying petrol to the last minute as the chances are you’ll pay through the nose for it. Petrol stations near to airports, docks etc are likely to be more expensive as they know people often need petrol before immediately going somewhere or immediately coming back. Fill the car whenever you find it somewhere cheap and make the most of the lower price. Also cars tend to run better on the top end of the tank than they do on the bottom end!

Change your plans if necessary. As with all the advice above, change your plans if necessary. We originally planned our road trip to Paris with an overnight stay beforehand but a drive straight through the night on the way home. However when we got back to Dover I realised I was too tired to drive us home and instead we checked into a Travelodge (the expensive one). It may well have cost us twice as much as the pre-booked Travelodge, but it possibly saved our lives if I’d have driven tired.

This weekend we’re traveling down to London and I can’t wait! We leave at 8pm Friday night (so a day time nap is on the cards) and we’re staying Friday night and Saturday in Travelodges. We’re going to MCM Comic Con and also to see Phantom of the Opera. This is my birthday treat and I can’t wait!