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shootingmike


Posts: 94
Joined: Nov 2009
Last Visited: 21:41
16th Feb 2016
Best route to Aviemore from mid yorkshire...
Date Posted: 20.32hrs on Tue 11 Jan 11
Later on in the year, I'll be travelling up from the Doncaster area, (near the M18) and about 15 minutes from the A1.

AA route finder suggests A1 to Scotch Corner, A66 to Penrith then heading up the West side towards Glasgow, back across to Perth then up the A9. It reckons on being 367 miles and 7 hrs 13 minutes.

BUT, it just look wrong on a map! Heading West to come East etc.

I tried making it go all the way up the A1 to Edingburgh and therefore a more obvious route and wierdly, it comes up at exactly the same distance of 367 miles!!!! It reckons it takes 10 minutes longer though.

Has anyone done a similiar route and can comment on which is best? Casting my mind back to school coach trips, they took the 1st option..
Hipennine


Posts: 1061
Joined: Dec 2005
Re: Best route to Aviemore from mid yorkshire...
Date Posted: 22.44hrs on Tue 11 Jan 11
Up the A1 to just past Darlington. Take the A68, and follow it all the way to the Edinburgh By Pass. Loads of speed cameras after Carter Bar (Eng/Scot border) on A68.

A1 north of Morpeth can be painfully slow, so diverting off the A1m onto A68 is not as slow as you may think, and this way is much shorter. Also, if adventurous, come off the A1 at the junction after Scotch corner, and go straight north through Piercebridge to join the A68 about 2 miles south of West Auckland. None of the satnavs or routefinders will put you on this road, but it is the quickest way from Scotch Corner area to West Auckland. It is very straight and quite wide.
daveski


Posts: 1506
Joined: Jan 2008
Last Visited: 10:01
28th Apr 2019
What's this?What's this?What's this?
Re: Best route to Aviemore from mid yorkshire...
Date Posted: 23.46hrs on Tue 11 Jan 11
On balance coming from North Yorkshire I would use the route it suggest, tried many others but on balance this was the most consistent, even with the improved dualling on the A1 - but its pretty close call and depends on time of travel and conditions -if its wintry i would stay on main trunk routes.


hector


Posts: 225
Joined: Nov 2004
Last Visited: 13:35
19th Jun 2014
Re: Best route to Aviemore from mid yorkshire...
Date Posted: 06.17hrs on Wed 12 Jan 11
Using the M6 and M74 is always much quicker than the A1!

Every time I've tried using the A1 I get stuck behind slow lorries and buses whereas the west side is motorway all the way up with little traffic. Any traffic there is tends to be making "adequate" progress (80+) so very little chance of being held up.

Stick to the 1st route suggested by the AA. Probably easier to drive as well.

Jamie
shootingmike


Posts: 94
Joined: Nov 2009
Last Visited: 21:41
16th Feb 2016
Re: Best route to Aviemore from mid yorkshire...
Date Posted: 07.05hrs on Wed 12 Jan 11
Thanks all, I'll have a look at Hipennine's route but see what the weather is doing at the time.

Thanks again.
Snow-Bunny


Posts: 219
Joined: Jan 2008
Last Visited: 21:03
4th Aug 2019
Re: Best route to Aviemore from mid yorkshire...
Date Posted: 09.19hrs on Wed 12 Jan 11
Mike I drive regularly from Bristol and if no traffic problems it is 8 hrs to Aviemore and 500 miles. Timing of your journey to miss out on rush hours is always a good bet. I dont know the A66, is it dual carriageway? might it be worth cutting over from Leeds towards Manchester first then North. There is a big set of road works after Glasgow with about a 10 mile stretch at 40mph.
Hipennine


Posts: 1061
Joined: Dec 2005
Re: Best route to Aviemore from mid yorkshire...
Date Posted: 09.55hrs on Wed 12 Jan 11
According to the RAC, my route via Piercebridge to A68 then up is 30 miles shorter than either A1 or A66/M6 etc from Scotch Corner. The only traffic "pinchpoints" this way are the Edinburgh by-pass/Forth Bridge at the wrong times.

A66 is not d/cway all the way.Durham Constabulary have a habit of closing the A66 (for days) if there's the slightest hint of snow. It's very prone to wind drifting.

Another set of alternatives to avoid the A1 single c/ways is to take either of these quieter routes:

On Newcastle Western By pass, take A696, marked for airport, and follow this to join A68 just n of Otterburn,

or,

just north of Morpeth, take A697 up through Wooler and Coldstream and join A68 around Lauder.

Believe me, 99 times out of 100 in the winter, the A68 variants are quieter, less prone to HGV's, and are good wide single c/ways with some extraordinarily long straight sections for overtaking. The Dalkeith by-pass has removed the one potential bottleneck.
Snowborders


Posts: 163
Joined: Feb 2007
Last Visited: 20:34
24th Feb 2013
Re: Best route to Aviemore from mid yorkshire...
Date Posted: 22.23hrs on Wed 12 Jan 11
Come up the A68 you can get a lot of air in some bits!
2 hours from Sinderby to St. Boswells in a pickupwinking smiley

If you've eaten today, thank a Farmer



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 22.28hrs Wed 12 Jan 11 by Snowborders.
DaveF


Posts: 131
Joined: Jan 2008
Last Visited: 23:37
18th Dec 2015
Re: Best route to Aviemore from mid yorkshire...
Date Posted: 00.04hrs on Sun 16 Jan 11
Mike I live in Newcastle and regularly travel up to Aviemore. I nearly always take the A1 but have occasionally taken the A68 which in the daytime is a pretty but much slower route. While the A1 attracts a lot more traffic which can be frustrating, the A68 is slower and has fewer overtaking opportunities. In the dark it can be a scary road with some bad hairpin bends. My preference is the A1, which is straighter and faster and I usually travel in the evenings rather than during the day when there is less traffic on the road. I can usually make Aviemore in 4 hrs or so. In the daytime you can add another hour to your journey. If you do choose to travel in the daytime, avoiding rush hour is a must.
shootingmike


Posts: 94
Joined: Nov 2009
Last Visited: 21:41
16th Feb 2016
Re: Best route to Aviemore from mid yorkshire...
Date Posted: 21.36hrs on Mon 17 Jan 11
Thanks for that DaveF, 4 hrs from Newcastle seems pretty good.. Might look at the A1 afetr all, especially if the weather is playing up on the A66.
Coachio


Posts: 18
Joined: Oct 2008
Last Visited: 13:32
21st Jan 2011
Re: Best route to Aviemore from mid yorkshire...
Date Posted: 13.37hrs on Fri 21 Jan 11
Mike,
I have travelled from Ripon many times and without question the easiest and quickest way to Perth is across the A66. (if there are no roadworks - of which there is a considerable set going past the North of Glasgow). Even then if you time it right I still think it the quickest.
Hope that helps.
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