Overnight stop half way?

[Csardas]

We're driving to Southampton for our July cruise from Ayr, a 7 hour plus stops, slog. We're not in a hurry and have booked the night before the cruise in Southampton. Any suggestions for a nice overnight en-route halfway?  I had thought of Stratford as I've never been there before but any recommendations are welcome!

[tring]

42 minutes ago, Csardas said:

We're driving to Southampton for our July cruise from Ayr, a 7 hour plus stops, slog. We're not in a hurry and have booked the night before the cruise in Southampton. Any suggestions for a nice overnight en-route halfway?  I had thought of Stratford as I've never been there before but any recommendations are welcome!

 

We stop part way on a regular basis even with a shorter journey from Wirral.  Stratford is a good stop, though you would not have time to do much in the way of the museum's on an overnight.  Also if you are looking at this year, we have noticed the hotel prices have risen a lot - it is very popular.  Would still recommend though and worth two or three nights if you have the time to do the museum's/River walk sometime.

 

We like Leamington Spa and found a reasonably priced Holiday Inn in Kenilworth, which is only a couple of miles away.  It is near the M40 (the A road through Stratford avoids the motorway and is pleasant, but takes longer).  Warwick very near there as well, so worth considering that area in general.  Trip Advisor and Google Earth are good tools to use to investigate.

 

Your halfway would be north of Birmingham and not too sure about that as we would be on a different route there - others may help.  We often search for decent, reasonably priced hotels away from noisy roads etc. and then look closer at the area and have found some interesting places which are not necessarily too touristy.  Other times we do not bother a lot about where we stop if a good hotel choice, but take two days of leisurely travel with a long stop off or two.  We are National Trust and English Heritage members, so easy to stop at one their properties (need to book those ahead now), but often quite expensive if not members.  Beware stopping off is easy to get used to - we no longer think of the south coast as accessible in one day, and from Ayr we may well take two nights out.  Some would call us lazy.

🙂

 

 

[Eglesbrech]

If you just need a clean bed for the night the days inn on the m6 toll is a good stopping off point. It then takes just under 3 hours to Southampton the next day (traffic allowing) so you would have most of the day before in town.

 

We have done Stratford a couple of times on the way and took the chance to see the sites on a whistle stop there. We stayed right in the middle and also on the outskirts which was actually easier for the next day and for car parking. Really enjoyed it.

 

We have also gone as far as Bath the day before a stay in Southampton but you are almost there! It is however a great place to fill a day with lots to see and do (but book a hotel with on site parking as it is not easy to find in high season).

 

I don’t know if it is open (or indeed your thing) but we have also stayed at the Drayton Manor theme park hotel and visited the park, it’s not far off the motorway and a good half way point.

[MX-Drew]

One thing worth bearing in mind is infection rates in different areas and how that may affect boarding the ship. At the moment there are no issues but if we revert back to the tier system then you may not be able to travel or stop in an area that is on a higher tier level.

Of course that is IF, who knows what will happen so may be best to make sure any hotels booked can be cancelled. 

[ann141]

3 hours ago, Csardas said:

We're driving to Southampton for our July cruise from Ayr, a 7 hour plus stops, slog. We're not in a hurry and have booked the night before the cruise in Southampton. Any suggestions for a nice overnight en-route halfway?  I had thought of Stratford as I've never been there before but any recommendations are welcome!

As others have suggested Stratford or Leamington Spa are nice places to visit but if you want somewhere convenient ,though further north, we haver stayed at the Travelodge on the M6 at Knutsford) which was fine and Tatton Park is nice to visit. Also Oxford is nice but very pricey.

[Eglesbrech]

2 hours ago, MX-Drew said:

One thing worth bearing in mind is infection rates in different areas and how that may affect boarding the ship. At the moment there are no issues but if we revert back to the tier system then you may not be able to travel or stop in an area that is on a higher tier level.

Of course that is IF, who knows what will happen so may be best to make sure any hotels booked can be cancelled. 

Absolutely, more good advice.  Things change so fast at the moment and it’s difficult if you don’t know the areas to know if they are affected or not. We still have the hated “levels” here but right now only Glasgow City is a no go area.

[Windsurfboy]

If you want a  stop somewhere nice and turn it into an road trip/extended holiday especially if you want more than one night do it quick , for example were looking at Cotswolds a month ago lots I'd say 75% of places full. 

 

The only choice may be find a clean bed at Days inn , premier inn etc by the motorway,  if you leave it too late, nothing wrong with these if you just want a bed to break a long journey.

 

Have you got parking arranged via cruise. We do the 5 hours from Cornwall,  stay in New forest  for a couple of nights a park and cruise package, love new forest, then a lazy morning taxi at 11.30 to ship. 

[grapau27]

21 hours ago, MX-Drew said:

One thing worth bearing in mind is infection rates in different areas and how that may affect boarding the ship. At the moment there are no issues but if we revert back to the tier system then you may not be able to travel or stop in an area that is on a higher tier level.

Of course that is IF, who knows what will happen so may be best to make sure any hotels booked can be cancelled. 

Last time after Flybe went bust I drove 300 miles  from Durham to our Southampton hotel but as a sales representative I am used to driving mega miles so I wouldn't recommend this but if you both drive you could share the driving.

I looked at Premier Inn prices near the M1 for our route down but all were over £100 a night  room only.

[Elaine0138]

We often stop around Newbury on the way down to Southampton, just a short drive in the morning. 

[joeecco]

Me personally, I’d google what’s on at the theatres in the Midlands and make my decision based on that. Makes stopping half way much more exciting if you’re seeing a show I believe! 

[Issyalex]

We’ve not stayed in Southampton pre cruise for a while as there’s not that much to do. We’ve stopped overnight in Newbury before as it’s only about a 30-45 min drive into Southampton. This time for our Aug cruise I was thinking of stopping in Winchester for 2 nights as it had loads to see but then I received a to good to refuse email for 2 nights stay in Newbury, well a 20 min or so walk to Newbury so I’ve booked that. 
 

Oxford is on the way if you go the better M6 route. If you take either A1 route then you could take a detour to lovely York. Or Nottingham or Leicester.  We drive down the M6 using the Toll road however the sat nav took us home the A1 once, nightmare as it was dark nights. Hubby hates the A1 route. 

[Issyalex]

On 5/23/2021 at 10:07 AM, grapau27 said:

Last time after Flybe went bust I drove 300 miles  from Durham to our Southampton hotel but as a sales representative I am used to driving mega miles so I wouldn't recommend this but if you both drive you could share the driving.

I looked at Premier Inn prices near the M1 for our route down but all were over £100 a night  room only.

My hubby drives the whole journey from Glasgow to Southampton as I don’t ‘do’ motorways but I have offered to drive once we leave the main traffic through to the Scottish Borders as the road is so quiet there but he needs to take me out in his car , as it’s keyless and hasn’t got a hand break eek, so I can get used to driving the car and motorway but it’s a no from him. It’s not as if taking me out to practice would bother him as he’s a driving instructor. He says he enjoys the drive and he does love driving. 

[wowzz]

25 minutes ago, Issyalex said:

the sat nav took us home the A1 once

Sat Navs do sometimes have a mind of their own. I try not to rely on mine 100%, but on my last long trip the sat nav totally avoided the M6, which I thought was strange, but went along with the advice - pleased I did as, a short time later the radio advised of a 2 hour queue on our M6 route.

[MX-Drew]

1 hour ago, Issyalex said:

he needs to take me out in his car , as it’s keyless and hasn’t got a hand break eek,

That reminds me when we got our new car, keyless entry and start, automatic etc. I had to drive my wife to work and pick her up in the evening for 3 days as she was scared to drive it. I got tired of the 18 mile round trip twice a day so I forced her to drive it one evening by taking her out for a meal and accidently drinking too much to drive. Now she would drive no other car, she loves it.

[Issyalex]

4 hours ago, MX-Drew said:

That reminds me when we got our new car, keyless entry and start, automatic etc. I had to drive my wife to work and pick her up in the evening for 3 days as she was scared to drive it. I got tired of the 18 mile round trip twice a day so I forced her to drive it one evening by taking her out for a meal and accidently drinking too much to drive. Now she would drive no other car, she loves it.

Now that was sneaky. 🙈😂😂😂

[Issyalex]

5 hours ago, wowzz said:

Sat Navs do sometimes have a mind of their own. I try not to rely on mine 100%, but on my last long trip the sat nav totally avoided the M6, which I thought was strange, but went along with the advice - pleased I did as, a short time later the radio advised of a 2 hour queue on our M6 route.

Several years ago the sat nave took us off the M6 route and round some lovely wee villages due to congestion as it was a public holiday. Another time we were driving home from Haltwhistle and the sat nav took us home via the A1. As it was Nov/Dec the road was dark so 5his is why Hubby doesn’t like the A1 and also we have to cross over the country from Edinburgh to Glasgow. 

[wowzz]

39 minutes ago, Issyalex said:

Several years ago the sat nave took us off the M6 route and round some lovely wee villages due to congestion as it was a public holiday. Another time we were driving home from Haltwhistle and the sat nav took us home via the A1. As it was Nov/Dec the road was dark so 5his is why Hubby doesn’t like the A1 and also we have to cross over the country from Edinburgh to Glasgow. 

I have to say that for a sat nav to take you to Glasgow from Southampton via the A1 is sheer nincompoopery !

[Issyalex]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

I have to say that for a sat nav to take you to Glasgow from Southampton via the A1 is sheer nincompoopery !

Not from Southampton but from Haltwhistle near Hadrian’s wall. 

[wowzz]

6 minutes ago, Issyalex said:

Not from Southampton but from Haltwhistle near Hadrian’s wall. 

Sorry - a bit confused!  

But the principle is still the same. Using the A1 from Haltwhistle makes no sense at all. 

As a matter of interest,  why did you use that route? Surely you must have known it was an idiotic routing?

[Issyalex]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

Sorry - a bit confused!  

But the principle is still the same. Using the A1 from Haltwhistle makes no sense at all. 

As a matter of interest,  why did you use that route? Surely you must have known it was an idiotic routing?

Hubby just followed the sat nav as it was our first time travelling from Haltwhistle.

[Son of Anarchy]

Althiough I do use a sat nav for long journeys, I always have a look at a map first, only relying on the sat nav for the last stretch from the motorways/dual carriageways.  Usually goes to plan.  Then use it to get from wherever we've been back to the major routes. 

[davecttr]

10 hours ago, wowzz said:

Sorry - a bit confused!  

But the principle is still the same. Using the A1 from Haltwhistle makes no sense at all. 

As a matter of interest,  why did you use that route? Surely you must have known it was an idiotic routing?

For the first 30 miles you were heading away from Glasgow

The shortest way is West via the A69 to Carlisle and then the A74(M) and M74 to Glasgow

[DamianG]

We've stayed at Mercure Daventry Court Hotel a few times though that may be a bit off your route. We've also stayed at Brandon Hall just outside Coventry which was very good and a handy location for an easy run to Southampton the next day.

[Windsurfboy]

On 5/28/2021 at 9:16 AM, Elaine0138 said:

We often stop around Newbury on the way down to Southampton, just a short drive in the morning. 

 

The Regency park just outside Newbury , used to have very good dinner bed and breakfast rates. Good 4star hotel an reasonable. 

[batholiver]

There's always the Bicester area for the shopping village - if there's room in the car!