how far should i go?

[mattandamanda]

good evening. We have only recently bought our 1972 early bay crossover. A week after we took over ownership we took him to France for le Tour de france and then across to the seaside in Noirmoutier. A Long Drive. We had problems with our carburetor so constantly broke down not to mention a massive electrical failure on the M25 on the last leg of our journey - in the dark with no indicators or rear lights!!

Anyway all these problems have been resolved and I have driven the van on a daily basis and its been wonderful. This weekend I am due to go and visit a friend in cornwall and am wondering how many stages to attempt the drive in? The journey will be approx 298 miles in all. Way further than we drove in a day in France but obviously a lot shorter than our overall journey. I would be grateful for any long distance advise. Should I do it all in one day with several stops or do an over night stay ( or two!!).

Thank you for reading this and I welcome any advise. Amanda

 

[Lee152]

How long is a piece of string. I've driven from Edinburgh to London in a 1986 T25 in less than 2 days but its what you feel comfortable doing in a stint. Assuming the bus is mechanically sound should be able to drive for 2 hours before a refuel/toilet break. Start out early and possible to do in a day easy. Nice stop on the way down would be my choice but that's me, the journeys half the fun.

 

[hogseye]

hello Amanda a few years ago my wife and i plus another couple in their van went to cornwall from ipswich, we stopped over night near stonehenge. this was mainly because we wanted a look, but seemed like a good point. If you find a nice campsite to stop at en route (look on net before you go) stop for a night, if not just take breaks when you get a numb bum.......
going to cornwall is easy from this direction its all downhill :lol:

 

[Dave.P]

Having driven from Suffolk to Cornwall and Devon for the last 5 years in the summer holidays ( on saturdays) I always allow 8-12 hrs depending on traffic and thats stopping at least every 2 hrs for 15 mins-1hr. The A30 traffic in Devon & Cornwall is what can be the problem especially on a saturday as everyone seems to be going / coming back off hols and its heaving during the day seeing as there's no other main roads in or out of Cornwall really.
Two years ago it took me an hour to get about 1 mile on bank holiday saturday morning off the services in Cornwall.
My advice for an easy journey; get down there for night time/EARLY morning and avoid the all other buggers !
safe journey , enjoy

 

[mcvw]

We're driving down to Perranporth on Monday 26th (about a 250mile trip from Surrey). Planning on stopping every 1.5/2hrs, and major school-boy error here... I didn't even consider that Monday was a bank holiday :shock: so I've no idea how that might affect the traffic LOL!!

Ah well... It'll be worth it once we get there

 

[Resto-raider]

Until last June I had never driven more than 200 miles on one journey with mine. Then I decided to take it on a trip to Spain and it held up great for 2000 miles. I always said that whatever happened I could always have it towed back home in case anything major happened.

Just go for it.

 

[magui]

Holland to Portugal, stock 1600, 1 night @ camping so about 12-14hours driving in one day, next day the same. Its all possible, just depends on the condition of your van and your own driving desires. (wont be doing above anytime soon again)

 

[Analog]

I drove back from North Devon to East Sussex/Kent border a couple of weeks ago in one trip, 2 or 3 stops for 30mins or so, 8 hours worth of driving 250 ish miles, most of it sitting in traffic

bus did great, got a little hot a couple of times, but was fine.

bus drivers back is a pain though over that sort of journey... i would make an overnight stay i think next time, or leave at a completely different time than the Sat Am.

 

[DeeDeeTheBay]

Just take it easy and treat the journey as part of the fun, stop off and have a brew every now and then and enjoy your bay

 

[Whatemilydid]

What we used to do was set off at night, drive through until we got half way then stop for a sleep, then carry on at daylight no traffic etc either.

 

[Araon]

Can you try and post in the right section please

 

[DeeDeeTheBay]

Can you try and post in the right section please

Bit harsh that fella

 

[sacramentobay]

Hi, before I got my microbus, I was talking to a seasoned air-cooled VW driver who told me they stop for about 15-30 ins every 2 hours or so just to let the engine cool down. This is what I stick to and my bus seems to appreciate it. !

 

[r73]

Normally drive to and from Cornwall with one short stop.
Just got back last week 300 miles - 8 hours - one stop - no problem
Kids love riding in the bus and so do I - seems longer when I take the car and do it in half the time!!

 

[Hadders]

I'm not sure it matters that much - or at least not with an engine that's set up correctly, has all the correct tinware etc. I agree that it used to make me feel better when I stopped, but I'm not sure that I needed to.

We came back from Cornwall on Saturday, stop start as far as Bristol, back to Derby, a smidge over 300 miles. we had to stop for fuel, about 5 minutes and a 'comfort' stop, again about 5 mins. It was on an engine that's just been run in (admittedly not standard) - it ran perfectly, temperature was consistent and almost totally stable.

I'm not entirely sure what it proves, if anything, but I do wonder if we worry more than we need to. I suppose it's a different story if it's having it's arse ragged all the time

 

[AndyO]

Edinburgh to Essex, 1 Day, 2 drivers, Just fuel stops really. Seemed to be OK - just luck of the draw I guess

I think it was 10 hours, but was a couple of years now.

 

[dodge6x6]

Do whatever you're happy with we went to north devon last year but didnt leave till 8at night got to Bristol services at 10 and stopped the night there only cost £10 partner got a capachino for breakfast and we were at the seaside by 9 the next morning.

Above all enjoy yourselves

 

[busdiver]

leicester to newquay 1 stop just south of bristol,

 

[Termite]

I drove all the way from Calais to Munich in one go only stopping for petrol and a wee when needed. Think it took about 12 hours.

Prior to that, the van had only gone from Surrey to Vanfest to give it a run after the semi-resto. :mrgreen:

 

[Araon]

Can you try and post in the right section please

Bit harsh that fella

There's enough to do keeping spam at bay and dealing with arguments etc to then spend a lot of time moving posts about, so no I disagree it was measured the next time it simply gets deleted