road trip cost uk

Travel Cost Calculator

Quick links, trip pricing calculator.

Travelmath provides an online cost calculator to help you determine the cost of driving between cities. You can use this data to figure out a budget for a road trip. The driving calculation is based on the average fuel efficiency of your vehicle, and you can change the gas mileage in mpg or L/100 km to match your exact make and model. Gas prices are automatically estimated based on current fluctuations, and again you can adjust these to fit your local gas station prices. Both U.S. and international units are available to make the calculations easier to use, and the output is given for both one-way and round trip travel routes.

Check the driving distance for your planned route, and see if the total driving time requires an overnight stay. If it's a long trip, you may want to research some hotels along the way . Or compare whether it's better to fly or drive to your destination.

Home  ·  About  ·  Terms  ·  Privacy

Route Planner

Driving directions.

The route deemed to be the safest and simplest with minimal scope for error along the way. The default recommended route from Michelin.

The route offering the shortest distance to a destination via the most accessible roads. Journey times for this option will tend to be longer.

The most fuel-efficient route that also avoids toll roads.

My cost options

• B7 (Diesel)
• E5 (Unleaded)
• E85 (superethanol)
• CNG (Biomethane)
• H2 (Hydrogen)

My route options

• E5 (Unleaded) €1.700
• Route : Fast
• Distance in : Kilometres
• No restrictions
• Route from this place
• Directions to this place
• Route via this place
• Nearby hotels
• Nearby restaurants

Arrive at %{address} Organise your trip

Accommodation, other services, restaurants at %{address}.

• See restaurants from the Michelin selection

Tourist Attractions at %{address}

• View the must-see tourist sites

Keep in contact

My michelin account.

Work in progress.

17 Tips To Plan The Ultimate UK Road Trip

The United Kingdom is a road tripping paradise – windy roads, scenic vistas, rolling hills, majestic mountains, meandering rivers, quaint towns, castles and history galore. 

Every great travel adventure starts with an equally great plan. So, I’ve put together my best British driving and planning tips to help kick off your own epic UK road trip. 

Let’s jump in!

1) Start from the end

When hiring a car, it’s much cheaper returning the car to the starting point, rather than paying for an exorbitant one-way fee. Pick out a few key non-negotiable locations you want to see along the way (you’ll find ideas at the end of this article) and plan the high-level route first, then fill in the detail from there. Avoid the temptation to cram in too much detail (yes, I’m often guilty of that!).

2) Choose your car rental wisely

If you’re starting in the south (and don’t live in the UK already), chances are you’ll be flying (or train-ing) into London . Check out the cheapest London car hire options, or save time and go with SIXT car hire . If you’re starting in the north, then look through Edinburgh car hire options. Once you’ve settled on a rental provider, ensure you’re adequately covered. It is mandatory to have at least 3 rd party insurance, which most rental car providers will include. However, check the fine print of your credit card or travel insurance terms to find out if “full cover” (also known as collision damage waiver - CDW) is automatically included. No point paying for the same thing twice!

Typically, you can use your driver’s license from your home country, but check the official list .

3) Don’t pay for a GPS

Pffft! Rental GPSs are sooooo 1999! Download offline maps using Google Maps. Or even better, travel with a Wi-Fi hotspot . Many roads in the UK were designed before automobiles, so there’s no shortage of 1-way streets and unexpected sharp turns. If you find yourself taking the wrong turn accidently you’ll be glad you’ve got Google Maps to re-route.

Tip: Bring your own car power adapter & USB cable so your smartphone never goes flat.

4) Make your drive cheaper by selling space

If your trying to stretch your road trip budget as far as it can go, make a little extra cash by driving other passengers using BlaBlaCar - a smart, safe carpooling platform. Once you’ve registered, let the platform know of your route and add as many “stopovers” as possible (cities that you’ll be driving through) for a better chance of picking up a paying passenger along the way. That’s guaranteed to make your road trip conversations more interesting!

5) Be flexible & book accommodation on the way

There’s oodles of small hotels and cute B&Bs in the United Kingdom. I recommend checking the latest accommodation prices on Kayak.com.au . It saves you time by comparing prices with several big agents, including Booking.com and Expedia. If you keep your hotel bookings flexible, and only book a day or two in advance (or even on the day), then you can go with the flow and see where the road takes you. Preparation is simple – just download the free Kayak mobile app before departing.

Travel tip: if you're flying into London but don't need to take all your luggage with you, I recommend this  London luggage storage  service. Less luggage means you can fit into a smaller (and cheaper) rental car for your road trip.

6) Stick to the speed limits

This is one thing you can’t be flexible about. Don’t just follow everyone else because the Brits have a reputation for speeding. Speed limits are indicated with black numerals on circular white signs with a red border. The “National Speed Limit” is indicated by a plain white circular sign with a black diagonal stripe (no numbers) which is 60 miles/h (~97km/h) on single-carriageway roads and 70 miles/h (~112km/h) on dual-carriageways and motorways. Built up areas are usually 30 miles/h(~48km/h) and school areas typically drop down to 20 miles/hr. It’s no fun adding the cost of a speeding fine to your road trip. Trust me!

7) Beware of local driving laws

If you’re from the United States or Canada, some of the local road laws may seem a bit foreign. There’s no “right on red”. And of course, they drive on the left side of the road (not a problem for us Aussies!). If you’re going through a roundabout (also called a “traffic circle”) don’t change lanes mid-way through and give way to traffic on the right (already on the roundabout). 

8) Roads are narrow!

On UK roads it's often necessary to stray into the opposing lane to get around obstacles such as parked cars, vans unloading, or roadworks. Drive with caution and use courtesy. In rural and more remote areas, including Scotland, it’s common to find “single track roads” – just 1 lane that allows traffic in 2 directions. Fortunately, there are “passing places” (that’s their real name!) that you can pull off on the side of the road to let opposing traffic pass or an impatient overtaking driver from behind. If you get stuck, stay calm and patient. Just use a bit of common sense, and if in doubt, vehicles travelling uphill have right of way.

9) Park in the right places

While parking areas on streets are usually clearly marked with white lines, there’s marked areas that you should also avoid. A single yellow continuous line along a kerb means there are parking restrictions at certain times of the day. A double yellow continuous line means no parking any time. These are typically strictly enforced. No lines at all doesn’t necessarily mean that parking is acceptable either, so pay attention to what other local drivers are doing.

10) Avoid toll roads

There aren’t too many toll roads and bridges in the UK, but every penny saved is a penny earned. So, use your favourite maps app to try to avoid unnecessary paid roads.

11) Avoid driving around central London

This is especially true within the inner-city area called the “ Congestion Charging Zone ”. If you zip through here, even for a few minutes, you will get slugged with a hefty extra fee that is charged automatically to your car rental provider (and passed onto you). Cameras are used to track the number plate of every vehicle that enters and leaves. On top of that finding parking in central London ain’t easy (or cheap!). I found out about this the hard way, when the rental car provider notified me when I returned my vehicle. It would have been handy to know about it before !

12) Metric & imperial living side-by-side in harmony

File this under “strange but true”. The road speed limits and distances on signage in the UK are indicated in miles (imperial) but fuel purchasing is measured in litres (metric). No point fighting it, just go with the flow. 

13) Take a ferry

Yes, you can drive your car onto some ferries. This is the best way to extend your UK road trip into Ireland. Check that your car rental agreement allows travel outside the UK – some, like Enterprise, may charge extra for the privilege.

14) Consider mixing a train with your car

The train network in the UK is world class, and especially for long distances. In some cases it can be more convenient than driving, especially if left-side driving freaks you out a little. So, consider mixing train travel with a car on your UK road trip. You could use a car to zip around a small region/city, then return the car and catch a train elsewhere in the UK. This is a good idea if you’re not planning on returning to the starting point of your road trip. 

15) Save money on historic sites

A lot of historical sites in the UK are free or have a relatively small entry fee. However, on a road trip you’re likely to be stopping at quite a few of these places. If you purchase a special ticket in advance from specific organisations, you can access multiple sites for a deeply discounted rate. Check out prices from National Trust (specifically, their Touring Pass ), and the Scottish Heritage Pass .

16) Road trip weather

Keep an eye on the daily weather forecast. As you can imagine, it can change very quickly in the UK. The ideal time for a road trip in the UK is late June to early September . There’s a good chance you’ll hit rain at some point, so don’t stress, and just pack your poncho. 

17) A little location inspiration

If you don’t know where to start your UK road trip planning, here’s a few locations (with map links) to get the creative juices flowing: 

Stonehenge – iconic prehistoric monument in the southwest of England. 

Bath – known for its natural hot springs that were popular back in Ancient Roman times. 

Salisbury – old medieval town home to the magna carta. 

Oxford – home to the world-famous university and plenty of historic sites.

Stratford-upon-Avon – birthplace of William Shakespeare.

Liverpool – industrial city that was the birthplace of The Beatles. 

Edinburgh – Scotland’s capital and home to Scotland’s crown jewels. 

Glasgow – Scotland’s cultural hub (tip: Save up to 40% on Glasgow car hire ). 

Cardiff – Wales’ capital with a beautiful redeveloped waterfront. 

If you want a smaller road trip, check out my Wales road trip . 

I hope this has helped to inspire you for a road trip around the UK. 

Happy travels!

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

• Eurail Pass On The Ultimate Europe Train Trip: 8 Countries In 50 Days
• Save Big Dollars With Car Leasing In Europe
• Southern Europe Road Trip: 18 Days Across Italy, France & Spain
• The Ultimate Irish Road Trip Guide: How To See Ireland In 12 days

First Time Visiting London: 28 Best Things To See + Food, Tours & Neighbourhoods

More posts from united kingdom.

London is one of my favourite cities in the world. But it wasn’t always that way. The first time I immersed myself in Britain’s capital as a naïve, bright-eyed 20-year-old, it was…

The Ultimate Scotland Road Trip Itinerary: 9 Days in Isle of Skye, Edinburgh, Loch Ness & More.

Scotland has long lingered on my travel bucket list. Its grassy carpet-like fields, uncounted cascading waterfalls, stirring mountains, and craggy coastlines are pure fantasy for…

5 Days in London: Best Museums, City Icons & Discount Attractions Pass

Planning a short vacation to the UK’s mega metropolis, London, will inflict decision anxiety even on the most ruthless traveller. How do you trim down a mammoth wish list of…

6 Best Walking Tours in London

Most international tourists choose to book a London walking tour to discover the city through the eyes of a savvy local. But choosing the right walking tour is harder than it…

3 Days In York: Long Weekend Itinerary For English History, Culture & Ghost Stories

York’s backstory had no shortage of drama, and the modern city celebrates its past, warts and all, creating a charming fusion of classical and quirky that’s ripe for exploring. My…

5 Things To Do With Kids In Mid Wales

Find out where we stayed in Machynlleth, as well as 5 fun places to take your kids on your next holiday to Mid Wales. I’m sure you’ll love it as much as we did.

Facing My Fears Deep Inside The Earth At Bounce Below, Blaenau Ffestiniog

Bounce Below is the world’s first subterranean playground and luckily for us, it is located in north Wales within the Llechwedd Slate Caverns not far from where we were staying.…

Drayton Manor: Theme Park Treat & A Presidential Suite

It’s difficult to find birthday treats for people like us who travel permanently. But I knew my energetic 6-year-old would love nothing more than celebrating their birthday at a…

I Didn’t Know Holiday Cottages In Pembrokeshire Looked Like This!

Living in the big city had worn us down. While we love London we were eager to get away. So eager in fact, we made the 6-hour drive to west Wales in one trip. Now we were in the…

Reader Comments...

Hi, This is very impressive and very helping blog. You explain each and every detail information about UK road trip. Thanks for sharing this blog with us. Please keep sharing more blogs about more countries road trips experience.

Hi there, I really love your blog and thank you for sharing so much of information with us. keep posting such information for us. thanks again

WOW! This is something which everyone will be looking for! These tips really very helpful for me because i planning to go there in next month. Thank you so much!!

Excellent post – so many great tips and very helpful The picture itself speaks how the fascinating places are they and thank you for posting it. What an interesting blog post! This is a great post and place you visited. Lovely pictures.

Write Your Comment

Please DO NOT include links, URLs or HTML in your comments - they will be automated deleted and you will waste your time.

HOT: My top 48 photos of 2022 .

My name is Josh and I'm an Aussie who has been travelling the world non-stop for 11 years , and explored 70+ countries so far. I'll help make your next vacation awesome with first-hand guides and essential travel tips.

(click my smiling face to find out more)

Latest Post

17 Things To Do In Bali For Couples

Bali is a haven for couples of all ages. I recently returned to Bali for my 20th visit, and I was inspired to explore parts of the island I had not seen before, as well as revisit…

Travel Hacks

Best Free eSIM Plan for Travel: Try Before You Buy

I’m always looking for travel hacks to save money and get more bang for my buck. I recently came across an established international eSIM provider that has just started offering a…

UK Road Trip Planner

Planning a UK road trip is a popular way to explore the countryside of the UK. While we personally love train travel around the UK we know that there are a multitude of advantages when it comes to exploring by car (and we have often combined train itineraries with car trips at various places to be able to visit sites not easily accessible by rail.

As we are often asked about UK road trip itineraries in our Facebook group we have put links to all relevant articles and podcasts below to create the ultimate UK road trip planner.

🚗 You will need a car! Read our complete guide to renting a car in the UK

UK road trip planner

UK Road Trip Itinerary Planner | The 7 Best Routes

If you love to take to the wheel and you’ll be visiting the UK at some point in the future, then you need to find…

Episode 59 – Trip Report 12 day family road trip of England + Scotland with Debra Blazer

Episode 44 – Coasting Around Cornwall: Tales and Tips from our 7-Day Road Trip Adventure

Cornwall Road Trip Itinerary [with logistics + practical tips]

Are you planning a road trip around the beautiful English county of Cornwall? Use our Cornwall road trip itinerary with destination information, travel tips and…

Episode 32: Trip Report – A month-long road trip exploring Britain (London, England, Scotland & Wales)

This post may contain compensated links. Please refer to my disclosure here for more information. In episode 32 of the UK Travel Planning Podcast I chat with…

Episode 30 – Scotland Road Trip Itinerary

Podcast Episode 18 – The Bruns 4-week family trip around England & Scotland

Best Scotland road trip itinerary (10, 14 & 18 day options)

Planning a Scottish road trip? Our detailed Scotland road trip itinerary includes many of the most popular destinations, scenic routes, landmarks and sights when touring…

UK road trip podcast episodes

6 of the best road trips in the UK

Book your individual trip , stress-free with local travel experts

• roughguides.com
• best-road-trips-in-the-uk

Plan your tailor-made trip with a local expert

Book securely with money-back guarantee

Travel stress-free with local assistance and 24/7 support

written by Mike MacEacheran

updated 16.11.2023

There is something about a road trip that creates a state of heightened excitement. No matter the destination, a road trip unfolds at the same, ascending rhythm. Back roads are followed (whenever possible), motorway service stations are avoided (at all costs) and the countryside flies by with the same tempo as a rock song (cue Status Quo). If you’ve got wheels – be it a car, bike or camper – here are 6 great road trips in the UK to try.

Prepping for your trip

1. north coast 500, scotland, 2. a yorkshire circuit, england, 3. the atlantic highway, england, 4. coastal circuit, northern ireland, 5. ben nevis to the isle of skye, scotland, 6. the black mountain pass, wales.

Whether it's an Easter break or your summer holiday, none of these routes will disappoint. For everything from car hire to the best routes to take, we can help! No time to plan and book yourself? Try our tailor-made travel service and our local experts will create an itinerary according to your preferences, ready to book, like The Great British Road Trip .

It's important to prepare carefully for a road trip – it's no fun being stuck roadside because you've run out of fuel, or getting a puncture with no spare wheel. If you've not got a banger of your own, that's no problem: there are plenty of rental companies offering competitive deals. Better still, hire an electric car and help protect the pristine landscapes you're driving through. Be sure to check charging points along your route, or – if you're car isn't electric – fill up the tank before you leave.

If you're taking your own car, it's worth a trip to the garage before you leave to check it's in good shape. Make sure you've got all your car documents on hand, as well as a spare tyre in the boot. It also pays to pack a first-aid kit and some non-perishable snacks, just in case. Take out breakdown cover and keep the emergency number handy.

This circular route is a greatest hits of Scottish icons, stretching across 805 km of back roads. Skirting the coast from Inverness and the Black Isle, past the seaboard crags of Caithness, Sutherland and Wester Ross, it offers up gothic ruins, rugged fairways, historic castles, shingle-sand beaches, tiny fishing hamlets and peaty whisky distilleries. Even the name is a doff of the cap to The Proclaimers.

Along the way, the road becomes a symphony, building note after note, bend by bend, from its rallying start through the east coast villages of Dornoch and Wick to Aultbea, Poolewe and Gairloch on the savage west coast. Here, it reaches a crescendo below the impregnable peaks of Loch Maree.

Finally, the road reaches the brilliant Bealach na Bà, which loops up and over the Applecross Peninsula like a piece of gigantic spaghetti. It could scarcely be more isolated or awe-inspiring — there's a reason this was featured in our reader survey of the most beautiful places in Scotland .

Best for: Escaping urban life and enjoying unexpected traffic jams, courtesy of wayward Highland cows and stags.

Duration: 4-7 days.

Need to know: Accommodation options are few and far between, so book in advance. Outside of summer, you’ll have the route to yourself, when even a witches’ brew of winter clouds couldn’t dampen the drama or Highland spirit.

Where to stay: Straddling the banks of the River Ness, Inverness is the hub of the Highlands. You'll find plenty of accommodation options here, but for sprawling grounds, airy rooms and a luxury spa, treat yourself at Kingsmills Hotel before your road trip. Once you're on the road, sea-view Harbour Quay in Wick (private accommodation) and the Shiskine Pod (think: cute wooden chalet with blow-away views) in Gairloch are good bets.

The Scottish Highlands offer magnificent scenery © Mountaintreks/Shutterstock

In Yorkshire, the roads move from moor to dale through centuries of dark medieval history, once a backdrop to the War of the Roses, the bloody struggle between the royal houses of Lancaster and York.

Here the mix of A- and B-roads create a daisy-chain link between some of the most beautiful villages, waterfalls and rolling backdrops in northern England . When heading through fields of summer grasses over the Buttertubs Pass from Wensleydale to Swaledale, the road twists and turns like a thrashing snake.

Set off on the A59 from Harrogate towards the historic market town of Grassington before boomeranging back to Aysgarth Falls, a wide, multi-tiered falls that’s perfect for a hazy summer ramble.

Next, putter along the valley floor to the Wensleydale Creamery Visitor Centre at Hawes to stock up on Wallace and Gromit ’s favourite cheese, before plunging over into Reeth and looping back to your start point via Jervaulx Abbey. A spooky Cistercian monastery in the moors, the abbey also has an excellent tea room if you need a pitstop.

At the end of a long day’s drive, there’s nothing more satisfying than the promise of a pint of Black Sheep ale from Masham Brewery. The welcome here is warm, the people friendly, the surrounding landscapes wild, and the beer strong. It's undoubtedly one of the best road trips in the UK.

Best for: Ale drinkers and cheese lovers.

Duration: 3 days.

Need to know: The Yorkshire Dales are a magnet for tour buses and parking can cause major headaches.

Where to stay: The starting point of Harrogate – a gorgeous, historic spa town with more tea rooms than you can shake a spoon at – has plenty of places to stay. The DoubleTree by Hilton , occupying a 19th-century beauty, has all the facilities you'd expect, as well as 12 acres of lovely gardens – perfect for stretching the legs. For something a little less imposing, try the friendly Franklin Mount Boutique Guesthouse . Over in Grassington, meanwhile, plump for The Clarendon Country Pub with Rooms – the bedrooms are all super cozy, and you can wind the day up with a hearty meal and pint at the pub downstairs.

The Yorkshire Dales in the evening light © BerndBrueggemann/Shutterstock

A storied ribbon of tarmac and maritime history, this 275 km road has the wild beauty that has become the hallmark of southwest England: it’s all about the big views.

Sandwiched between barley fields and a succession of bays and beach breaks, the A39 from Bridgewater to Bude is a magical concertina that creases and folds along the Devon and Cornwall coasts . Beyond the roadside hedgerows, the windswept dunes become the territory of shaggy-haired surfers, where foaming waves beat the shoreline.

Stop off at Exmoor National Park for hikes across the hilly moors, before driving south from Barnstaple through the salt-tanged seaside towns of Bude (for surfing), Padstow (for seafood) and Newquay (for weekend partying). Then it’s onwards to Land’s End – the place Cornish residents once thought was the end of the world.

Best for: Surfers and wannabe hippies.

Duration: 4-5 days.

Need to know: The name is a bit of a cheat. The route travels inland for much of Cornwall, eventually feeding onto the shoreline at Newquay. The only way to do this trip is in a VW camper van with a board tied to the roof.

Where to stay: At the edge of Exmoor National Park, overlooking pretty Lynmouth Bay, the Rising Sun Hotel will charm your socks off with its thatched roof, crooked stairways and wooden beams. In Padstow, make for St Petroc's B&B , with stylish rooms and a charming garden. And while there's a whole raft of accommodation to choose from in Newquay, if you're after some of your own space, try Porth Cottage Studio , which has its own kitchen facilities – though full breakfasts can be provided, too.

Newquay's golden sands © Lukasz Pajor/Shutterstock

Related articles from the blog

Plan a journey around the knuckle-shaped fist of the Northern Irish coast and you won't regret it. There’s a hypnotic quality to this 195 km route from Belfast to Derry/Londonderry, one that can see you detour off the road to find smaller villages. It's one of the most varied road trips in the UK in our list.

First, head for the Gobbins Cliff Path, an ambitious walkway chiselled out of basalt rock with hammers and rudimentary tools. North of Belfast, it carves a path through caves, over bridges and gantries, and down steep drops. Following a £7.5 million investment, the path reopened in 2015 for the first time in more than 65 years.

As the journey continues, stories, both ancient and modern, will pull you over. Detour to Antrim to see the Dark Hedges, a tree-lined road used in Game of Thrones , while making sure to stop at Ballintoy harbour (also another GoT location).

Stare in awe at the 40,000 jigsaw pieces of the Giant’s Causeway, then pop into the Old Bushmills Distillery for a refresher of Irish whiskey.

Freedom on a road trip like this is only limited by how far your imagination takes you. After Londonderry, the road keeps going south into Ireland , to Sligo and Galway or Dublin. Simply roll down the window and keep on driving.

Best for: Story-lovers and stargazers

Duration: 3-5 days.

Need to know: Rathlin, Northern Ireland’s only inhabited offshore island, sits around halfway along the route and is home to an RSPB reserve. Its resident guillemots, razorbills and puffins are a must-see for birdwatchers.

Where to stay: You won't be pressed to find a fabulous place to stay along this route. Belfast and Londonderry are buzzing cities full of options, though our picks are Maranatha House in Belfast – famed for the chef's Ulster Breakfast – and the 4-star Beech Hill Hotel near Derry, a country house just outside the city set in glorious scenery. While on the road in Antrim, meanwhile, try Crockatinney Guest House : stock up on supplies and use the BBQ facilities in the garden.

The Giants Causeway, Northern Ireland © Jon Chica/Shutterstock

This 74 km scenic drive route from Fort William to Mallaig has an antique weirdness, like stepping back in time. Every mountain and loch tells a story and the ghosts of the Jacobite and Victorian eras are never far away.

At Fort William flows the Caledonian Canal, first built for trade and commerce; past Loch Eil stands the Glenfinnan Monument, where Bonnie Prince Charlie kicked off his bid for the crown in 1745; then comes the glorious West Highland Line, one of the great railway journeys of the world.

Start in the shadows of the UK’s most alluring peak, Ben Nevis, before tracing your route like a squiggly marker pen across a fold-out map from its namesake whisky distillery onto the A830. Venture westwards and you’ll pass a series of stand-out movie locations – the Glenfinnan Viaduct, famous for its starring role in the Harry Potter films; then Camusdarach Beach at Arisaig, where Bill Forsyth’s classic Local Hero was filmed.

Near the journey’s end, Loch Morar, the deepest freshwater lake in the UK, will fill your windows with stunning views. From here you can stop and enjoy the surroundings, or continue across to the Isle of Skye.

Best for: Historians and Harry Potter fans.

Duration: 2-3 days.

Need to know: Like Loch Ness , Loch Morar has a storybook monster of its own; Nessie’s cryptid cousin, Morag.

Where to stay: Gateway to the Highlands, the main draw of Fort William is its location – including its proximity to Ben Nevis – but it's as good a base as any, and it's not short on places to stay, either. On the Caledonian Canal you'll find the Moorings Hotel , housed in a funky building with some brilliantly garish interiors and stellar views. In Arisaig, Brae Hoose is a holiday home with a smart TV, surround-sound bar and an excellent hygiene rating. In Mallaig, after your long drive, bed down at the West Highland Hotel – be sure to dine at its fantastic Terrace restaurant, with fresher-than-fresh fish, panoramic views and a wood-burning stove. End-of-the-road meals don't get any better than this.

Camusdarach beach, Arisaig © alan92 todd/Shutterstock

The shortest road trip of the bunch, this epic mountain road more than makes up for it with spectacular Brecon Beacons scenery, unrivalled views of the Tywi Valley and the kind of hairpin bends and switchbacks that’d bring a Swiss Alpine engineer out in hives.

It rolls between Llandovery in the north, crossing the dragon’s humps of Pont Aber and Herbert’s Pass past jaw-dropping viewpoints, before sinking low and cascading down to the village of Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen.

Along the way, you’ll be met by rustic farmhouses, ruddy-faced farmers, wayward sheep and perhaps the odd motoring journalist. Thanks to ex-BBC host Jeremy Clarkson, Black Mountain Pass is also known as the Top Gear road and is enduringly popular with test drivers.

If you need to gear down, catch a breath and take a break from driving, our guide to 21 most beautiful beaches in Wales has just the place.

Best for: Driving enthusiasts.

How long: One day, though it’s far better to extend your trip and stay in the Brecon Beacons area for at least 48 hours. The A470 running through the park’s east is also highly recommended.

Need to know: Make sure to tackle the route north to south.

Where to stay: For a Welsh cottage experience, look no further than Merlin Cottages or The Byre . Both are excellent options near Llandovery, with stone walls, original features and plenty of country charm.

The Brecon Beacons National Park © antb/Shutterstock

Well, what are you waiting for? Get your car in gear and take to the open road.

Mike MacEacheran is a travel journalist & guidebook author based in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has reported from 108 countries for National Geographic, Conde Nast Traveller, The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Observer, The Sunday Times, The Wall Street Journal, Mail on Sunday, The Independent, Evening Standard, The Sun, The Globe and Mail, Scotland on Sunday, The National and South China Morning Post. Follow him on Twitter @MikeMacEacheran

• Inspiration

Planning your own trip? Prepare for your trip

Use Rough Guides' trusted partners for great rates

Find even more inspiration here

Ready to travel and discover scotland, get support from our local experts for stress-free planning & worry-free travels.

Finding the Universe

Travel tales, photography and a dash of humor

How Much Does it Cost to Travel in the UK?

Last updated: October 31, 2022 . Written by Laurence Norah - 28 Comments

One of the most common questions we’re asked from people who read our UK guides, and in particular our detailed one week and two week UK itinerary posts is: how much does it cost to travel in the UK?

Of course, the answer is – it depends! There are a lot of factors to consider, from your travel style (budget to luxury) through to who you are travelling with (solo, family, group), and the kind of travel you want to do (self-drive, group tour, etc).

Then of course there are the attractions you are interested in visiting, the time of year you visit – there are just so many variables to take into account. Which makes answering the question quite tricky!

But we’re going to tackle it anyway. In this post I’m going to go through all the major costs you need to consider when planning a trip to the UK, and provide budget ranges for each of them.

This should give you some good ideas of what a trip like this might cost. We’ll also provide some money saving tips for each area.

Let’s get started.

In summary, you are looking at between £75 and £200 per day per person for travel in the UK. These costs will of course vary depending on your travel style, sights visited, type of transport used and dining choices.

In this post we’re going to go into detail on the four main cost areas you need to consider when travelling in the UK. These are:

• Accommodation
• Sightseeing

We’re going to look at each of these individually to give you some cost ideas. At the end of the post we’ll then put these together to give ideas of a total trip cost for the UK for a few different travel styles.

1. Transport Costs for Travel in the UK

There are a number of ways to travel in the UK. To start with, there is an excellent public transport network in the UK which includes long distance bus services (also called coaches in the UK), a good passenger rail network and multiple low cost airlines.

Our preferred way of travel in the UK (and abroad), is to self-drive where possible. We find it gives us the greatest flexibility, letting us stop when we want to, and not have to be strict about following a timetable. Of course, depending on the type of trip you want to do, this might not be the best option – if you’re only visiting cities for example, we recommend using public transport to get between them.

Price of Car Rental in the UK

• Budget : £100 – £150 per week for a small car that will fit two people and luggage
• Mid-range: £200 – £300 per week for a mid-range car that will fit four people and luggage
• High-end:  £400 – 600 per week for a small SUV or car capable of carrying more than five people

Money Saving Tips for Car Hire in the UK

Book by the week.  Most car hire companies offer better rates if you book for a week rather than a few days. Of course, there’s no point booking for a week if you only need the car for a day or two, but you might find that seven days is cheaper than six for example. We have also found that when we book a car for two or three weeks, many hire car companies have given us a free upgrade to say thanks for our custom.

Pick up your hire car on leaving the city.  In the UK, there is really no need to have a hire car in a city. UK cities are for the most part easy to get around either on foot, or have excellent public transport networks. Your hire car will likely spend its time costing money in an expensive parking lot. So just book your rental for when you leave the city.

Don’t pick it up at the airport. If you can avoid picking up your hire car at the airport, you will usually save money. Most car hire companies charge higher rates for cars picked up at the airport – it’s a combination of a trapped market and a convenience factor. Compare prices between the airport and the city, and if you can get to the city easily from the airport, and the price is better, do that.

Avoid one-way trips where possible.  Most car hire companies will charge you extra if you want to drop the car off in a different place to where you picked it up. We have actually done this many times – the key is to find a car rental company that charges minimal one-way fees. In our experience, Enterprise is pretty good for this.

Don’t forget the fuel costs. Fuel in the UK is relatively expensive compared to somewhere like the USA. Thankfully, the majority of cars are quite fuel efficient and distances aren’t that great. However, fuel prices vary wildly. Generally, the cheapest fuel can be found at supermarkets, such as Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury’s. The most expensive fuel is usually along the motorways, at the service stations.

Avoid additional fees:  The way that hire companies bump up their revenues is by charging you for a lot of addons when you come to pick up your car. These can include everything from a GPS unit through to extra insurance cover. Many of these are not truly necessary, and some travellers might find that their credit card already offers things like Collision Damage Waiver insurance. So definitely check in advance what addons you need, so you don’t fall prey to high pressure sales tactics at the rental desk.

Use a comparison service:  For car hire, whilst we often use  Enterprise , we will also check with other providers. We find the fastest way to do this is with a comparison search site that lets us compare prices across multiple providers at the same time. Two good options that cover car hire in the UK are  Rentalcars.com  and  AutoEurope . Just make sure when comparing prices that additional fees like one-way drop offs are covered.

Consider your age:  Car hire companies around the world give better rates to what they consider to be more experienced drivers. Younger drivers, particularly those 21 and under, can pay hefty surcharges for car rental. Usually, drivers over 30 get the best rates. If you are travelling in a group of different ages, consider renting the car in the name of the older driver. Just be aware that you might need to pay more to add additional drivers, so be sure that the named driver is happy to do all the driving if necessary.

Price of Public Transport in the UK

Public transport in the UK is difficult to put a price on as there are huge variables depending on where you are going, how far in advance you book, and how you travel (bus, train, plane) – as well as if you choose to travel in standard class or a more premium class.

As an example though, a one way single ticket from London to Edinburgh by train (~4hr 30 min) would cost you around £150. If you book the same trip in advance, you could go on the same journey for as little as £25 one-way.

A similar journey by coach would take between 10 and 15 hours, and cost between £16 and £80.

You could also fly, which would take around an hour of actual flight time (although you would need to factor in the time of getting to and from the airport and check-in). Flights with a budget airline from London to Edinburgh for example start from as little as £13 (with no luggage!), and go up to around £200.

Money Saving Tips for Public Transport in the UK

Book in advance.  For planes, buses and coaches, the best prices are available if you book well in advance, and if you can be a little bit flexible with your timings. Avoid travelling at peak times (usually 0630 – 0930 & 1530 – 1830).

Use the right booking site.  For train tickets, we recommend The Trainline, which we have found to be the most user friendly option. Opt to pick up your tickets from the station to avoid postal charges, or use their e-ticket option. They also let you book tickets for destinations all across Europe, and so are a handy one stop shop for all your ticket needs.

For long distance buses, there are a number of operators to choose from. The two we would recommend are  National Express  and  Megabus , both of which offer a wide range of routes across the country.

For flights, we suggest a good comparison engine that includes the budget airlines – we recommend Kiwi.com .

Go carry on only.  If you choose to fly, packing carry-on only can save you a good amount in baggage fees. Just be aware that UK airlines have different baggage size standards to other airlines around the world, so always check with the airline first.

2. Accommodation Costs for a UK Trip

Accommodation is one of the major costs for any travel, and a UK trip is no different. Of course, the question  “how much does accommodation cost in the UK?” is not straightforward, and there are multiple factors to consider – everything from time of year through to the level of comfort and service you need will affect the price.

There are lots of options for accommodation in the UK, so whatever your budget, we are confident you will be able to find something to suit your travel needs.

Our costs are based on two people sharing a private room, but there are other options of course, including dormitory accommodation in hostels, if you are looking to save even more.

Price of Accommodation in the UK

• Budget:  £40 – £100 for a budget room for two people, usually this would be an en-suite room. Dorm rooms are also available, think around £25 per bed.
• Mid-range: £100 – £150 would get you a nice room for two in most parts of the country
• High-end: £250+ would normally be the starting point for a room in a luxury property, although deals can be had, see below for more information

Money Saving Tips for Accommodation in the UK

Travel off-peak.  If you can travel in the quieter times of year, such as January and February, particularly in less visited parts of the UK, you can score some remarkable deals. For example, we stayed in this luxury hotel near Inverness for £70 per night including breakfast in February. The same room in June is over £300!

Check the hotel website for deals.  Whilst we love booking engines for their convenience, sometimes we find that a particular property has a special deal running that’s only available if you check their website. These might be things like three nights for the price of two, or free breakfast if you book direct.

Book online.  We use booking.com extensively for our travel accommodation. After making five bookings, we qualified for their extra “Genius” discount, which often scores us an extra 10% off. We also like that they list everything from hostels to apartments to hotels of all categories, making it an excellent one-stop shop for our accommodation needs.

Use Alternative Accommodation Providers . There has been an explosion in options in the accommodation market over the last decade or so. If you’re on a tight budget, definitely consider websites like  Couchsurfing.  There are lot of options out there to help you find great value accommodation, so take advantage of them. Take a look at our guide to AirBnB Alternatives and holiday accommodation websites for the UK for more inspiration.

3. Food Costs for a UK Trip

The UK used to have a pretty poor reputation when it came to food, but thankfully over the last ten – twenty years this has improved a great deal, and you can now get really fantastic meals as you travel. That said, dining in the UK is not particularly cheap, although there are some ways to reduce the costs.

One thing to note, for US readers in particular, tax is always included in menu prices in the UK, so what you see is what you pay. Service is not included, but tips are appreciated.

Price of Dining in the UK

• Budget:  £5 – £10 per person per meal at a fast food restaurant or takeaway style meal
• Mid-range:  £10 – £30 per person per meal at a mid-range restaurant or nice pub style meal
• High-end:  £35+ per person per meal at a nice restaurant

Money Saving Tips for Dining in the UK

Drink less.  Drinking with a meal can really push your budget up. Even soft drinks can be quite expensive in the UK, so if you can stick with tap water with your meal, you can save a fair bit of money.

Find deals.  Whilst not as common as say France, you can still find good deals in the UK for dining out. Many restaurants will offer early-bird dining specials for example, for dining at times earlier than usual, such as 5pm – 6.30pm. Others may have special menu deals, where you can get a two or three course meal at a discount at lunchtime.

Fast food.  Don’t forget the fast food chains if you’re looking for cheap and easy food on the go. As well as reducing your time spent eating if you’re having a full day of exploring, these can be very cheap. To really save money, skip the extras, and find the really cheap menu items. For example, you can normally buy a single hamburger at McDonald’s for under £1. Two of those and a medium fries will keep you going for a while.

Small cafes.  If fast food doesn’t do it for you, consider stopping off at a small cafe. Often attractions have these, as do department stores and other high-street locations. Normally they have a small selection of well priced menu items, such as a soup and a sandwich, or a baked potato with a filling. Usually these meals will come in at under £5 per person.

Supermarket meals. If you’re ok with a cold meal, a reliable cheap option is to get a meal from a supermarket such as Marks and Spencer. These places usually have an extensive range of sandwiches and other snacks, often very well priced. You’ll be able to get a sandwich, snack and a drink for under £5 in most cases. Plus you can then find somewhere pretty to eat it and dine al fresco! Other options for cheap eating include chains like Eat and Pret a Manger, which also offer soups and hot items.

Cook for yourself.  To really save money on your food in the UK, you should opt to cook for yourself if you can. Obviously this will need a bit of forward planning, as you’ll need to book accommodation that includes cooking facilities, such as a self-catering holiday cottage, or a hostel with a kitchen. Cooking for yourself can really save you money though.

Eat the included breakfast. If you’re staying at a hotel or bed and breakfast that includes a breakfast (or other meal), make sure you take advantage of it, as that saves you the cost of a meal.

4. Sight-seeing Costs for a UK Trip

Sight-seeing costs in the UK will really vary depending on what you are interested in seeing. There are lots of free attractions, including many museums and outdoor sights, that won’t cost you anything at all.

There are also other trips and activities, such as day trips to specific sights you might want to see (for example Stonehenge from London ) that you will want to book a tour for. If you are thinking about taking a tour, we can recommend Rabbie’s , who offer small group tours in the UK & Ireland. We also recommend Viator who offer a huge range of tours in the UK .

Costs for sight-seeing in the UK

Costs will vary tremendously depending on what you are interested in. Museums and other attractions like stately homes range from free to around £25 per person at the upper end of the scale, although £6 – £12 per person is a more common cost.

Note that many of the major museums in the UK are free, like the Natural History Museum in London, or the National Museum of Scotland, for example.

If you decide to take a tour, the price of these will vary depending on a number of factors. Private tours will cost more than group tours for example, and multi-day tours will be more expensive than day trips.

As a guide, a day trip from London, such as a visit to Stonehenge  will cost you between £50 and £110 , depending on duration and inclusions. This price is fairly reflective of day trip prices from cities around the UK – see our guides to day trips from Edinburgh , day trips from Glasgow and day trips from Inverness for more inspiration.

Multi-day group tours will cost more, usually in the region of £75 – £150 for each day of the trip. When comparing tours like this, always check what is included and what isn’t – for example, some tours will include accommodation and attraction entry, and others won’t.

Private multi-day group tours are the most expensive option of all, and you should look to budget in the region of £500 – £1000 per day for this sort of tour, which will usually include the cost of your driver and vehicle, with accommodation costs added on top.

Money Saving Tips for Sight-seeing in the UK

Get a City-based Attractions Pass.  If you’re planning on visiting a lot of attractions in the same city, you will probably find that an attractions pass will save you money. For London, we recommend the  London Pass  (see our review here ). For Edinburgh, there’s a good pass that covers Edinburgh’s royal attractions .

Get a society membership. For certain types of attraction in the UK, such as historical homes and castles, you can save money with a membership to the organisation that manages the properties.

In the UK, there are a number of these, but the key organisations are the National Trust and English Heritage .

For English Heritage, visitors to the UK can purchase either a full year long English Heritage membership or a special English Heritage Overseas Visitors Pass .

The latter pass is specially designed for overseas visitors who might want to visit a few attractions on a visit, but who might not get the full value from a yearlong membership.

For the National Trust, the story is similar. You can either join the National Trust, or get a visitor pass here .

Visit on free Days.  Sometimes museums and attractions in the UK will have free days where you can visit for free. Check the attraction’s website or social media accounts for details of when these might be.

Use qualifying concessions. Many attractions offer discounts to different demographics – for example based on your age or eligible military service. It’s always worth checking if you qualify for a discounted price. If so, make sure you carry proof of your eligibility, for example, if it’s an age-based discount, carry official government issued ID like a driving license or passport so you can prove your age.

In Summary: How Much Will a UK Trip Cost you?

Assuming two people are travelling together in the UK, using a hire car to get around and staying in private hotel rooms with en-suite facilities, our suggested costs per person per day would be as follows:

• Budget : £50 – £100
• Mid-range:  £100 – £250
• High-end: £300+

So, for a trip like our suggested two week UK itinerary , you would likely be looking at the following total approximate costs for two people for a two week UK trip.

• Car hire: £300 – £600 + fuel (~£100 – £200)
• Accommodation: £700 – £2000+
• Food: £300 – £1000
• Sight-seeing / tours:  £200+
• Total:  from around £750 per person

Of course, you can spend a little less or a lot more, depending on your travel style, but these ballpark figures should give you an idea of costs.

Also, don’t forget to include any visa costs, travel insurance, additional sightseeing, nice meals out, souvenirs, and of course, the cost of getting to and from the UK.

Further Reading for Planning your UK Trip

Hopefully in this post we’ve answered the question of how much does it cost to travel in the UK. To further help with planning your UK trip beyond the budgeting side, we have a lot more content that we think you will find useful.

• For itinerary ideas covering the whole UK, check out our 1 week and 2 week UK itineraries . These are self-drive itineraries, so do check out our guide to driving in the UK for tips.
• If you’d rather not drive yourself, we have a UK itinerary by public transport
• If you’re heading to Scotland, we have a 7 Day camping itinerary for the North Coast 500 , as well as a detailed North Coast 500 Planning Guide and a guide to our favourite B&B’s on the North Coast 500
• A two day Edinburgh itinerary  &  21 Highlights in Edinburgh
• A Two Day Glasgow and Loch Lomond itinerary
• A guide to  10 of the best Stately Homes in England
• For London, we have some detailed itineraries to help you plan your visit. These include a  1 Day London Itinerary , a  Two Day London itinerary , a 3 day London Itinerary and a  Six Day London itinerary
• The top Harry Potter sites in London
• The  Best Photography Locations in London
• Tips on Buying and Using the London Pass
• Our favourite  Things to Do in Kensington
• A guide to things to do in Portsmouth
• The  Highlights of Oxford
• Things to do in Cambridge
• Visiting  Blenheim Palace and the Cotswolds
• 20 Things To Do in Dublin
• A  Guide to Touring the Scottish Borders
• If you want a physical (or digital!) book to accompany your travels, then Amazon do a good line in  UK Travel Guides , and there is naturally a  Lonely Planet  and a  Rough Guide  to the UK available.

And that’s it for our guide to how much it costs to travel in the UK! We hope you found it useful – as always you’re welcome to share your questions and feedback in the comments below.

Enjoyed this post? Why not share it!

There are 28 comments on this post

Please scroll to the end to leave a comment

Toni Hendrix says

7th October 2022 at 12:59 am

Hello, A friend and I are in our 70’s and would like to do a month+ trip perhaps in April-May 2023 so that we can see a bit more, thinking Wales, Scotland, England, Ireland. Sort of a retirement blowout! Have we lost our minds…definitely! We’re debating about various ways to travel, where to stay,etc. One of us has had Covid but no shot and the other has all shots and still got Covid. Do we both need to be vaxed? We both have Donne ancestral research and would like to see castles in our lineage: Compton in Devonshire, Bamburg, Strickland & Devonshire. She has taught school overseas and I have been. flight attendant and done some travel. Hopefully, we can figure out a rational way to do this. Is there any hope? Thank you!

Laurence Norah says

7th October 2022 at 2:23 pm

Sounds like a fun adventure! So currently you don’t need to be vaccinated to travel to the UK. You can see the latest rules here , which you will want to check before you travel. You will also want to check the rules for the country you are traveling from so you can get back home. I’d also add that things can change very quickly, so vaccination requirements for example might be reintroduced if a new strain appears. So if possible being vaccinated might make that easier, because getting a vaccination whilst abroad is likely to be challenging. Whatever you choose though, good insurance is a good idea to cover any eventualities.

I definitely think you can do the trip you mention. Given that your trip is to a few different locations you might find renting and driving a car is going to be the easier option for getting around.

Have a great time!

Ann E. McCollister says

5th February 2022 at 6:36 am

I’m 70 years old, not well off, always wanted to go to UK (England, Ireland, Scotland). Saved $2000 (!), want to make a trip with my 3 sisters before I die. I appreciate all the advice and suggestions you’ve made and will share with my sister’s and investigate further. Cheerio and much thanks, I want to do what YOU do! You needn’t reply but encouragement would help. Afraid my dream won’t be fulfilled. Annie

6th February 2022 at 12:45 pm

It’s lovely to hear from you. I am sure that with your budget the three of you will be able to make the trip happen. There are lots of good value accommodation. I’d recommend looking for good value B&B’s where breakfast is normally included. If you are happy to drive, renting a car between the four of you will be quite inexpensive. Alternatively, we can also recommend the Rabbie’s Tour company – they do really good value tours all around the UK and are a great alternative to driving yourself.

I am very sure you will be able to realise your dream. The main cost is likely to be your flight, but luckily there are lots of routes. I’d suggest signing up for something like Google Flights and their alerts for prices.

I’m also happy to offer more specific input and help if you need it, it’s no trouble at all. If you have any questions, fire away!

21st May 2020 at 4:50 pm

Dear Laurence,

Have you ever balanced the costs (in time and money) of car rental,parking and accomodation in UK?

Car rental is relatively unexpensive compared to public transport and hotels whilst unconvenienlty located accomodation sites tend to be more affordable.

Many times, having a car allowed me to stay on those far away locations and swiftly reach my daily tourist destination by car.

On the other hand, parking availability and costs sometimes bars me from reserving otherwise most convenient accomodation sites.

21st May 2020 at 4:55 pm

I haven’t done the maths precisely. The challenge is that public transport costs can vary hugely, depending on how far in advance you book it. The same ticket booked 8 weeks in advance might cost £20, wheras the same day price might be £200. So if you are able to plan in advance and be flexible with dates and times, it can be more affordable.

We prefer to travel by car if we can though, as it’s just a lot easier for the more remote locations. Public transport in the UK is great for cities and towns, but outside of this you start to rely on slower and less regular local bus routes, which will really slow a trip down. For our UK itineraries, my suggestion is usually to start in London, and to only pick up the hire car after you have done the sightseeing in the city. Outside London, parking is generally a lot easier to find and less expensive.

10th February 2020 at 7:19 am

This is great information! Many thanks. I am planning 19 nights in GB in August with my daughter. We want to drive with a train perhaps from London to Edinburgh. One travel agent here in Australia told me he couldn’t find a hire car company that would add my daughter as a second driver due to her age. She will be 21 with an open licence for more than a year. Surely this is not so!!! Are you able to reassure us that we will both be able to drive?

10th February 2020 at 1:28 pm

Thanks very much! So the legal age for renting a car in the UK is 21, however unfortunately many car hire companies set a minimum age of 25 or 23. This is down to each company having their own policy and approach to risk. However, some companies will rent to drivers at 21, such as Sixt – so it is possible. However, they charge hefty fees for the privilege, of up to £39 per day! I wasn’t able to find any other rental companies, but it’s possible if you contact local smaller car rental agencies that you might be able to find a better deal.

Best of luck, and have a great trip!

Sue Knauf says

13th January 2020 at 4:18 pm

So pleased to have come across your informative website. We (my husband & I) are looking planning a trip to the UK. We prefer rural rather than cities & hope to spend most of our time exploring Scotland (including some of the outer islands) & Ireland. We tend to ‘wing’ our travels rather than be highly organized. Our quandry is whether to hire a car & find accommodation each night or hire a small campervan. I have heard campervans can be a pain on the narrow roads in rural area’s. We are looking to travel probably in July. Would your answer be different if we came in May?

13th January 2020 at 4:27 pm

Lovely to have you here as a reader 🙂

So a smaller campervan will generally be fine as long as you are used to driving a manual vehicle and don’t mind reversing and driving on the left. I believe based on where your e-mail address suggests you are from that neither of these will be an issue for you.

I would say that based on your preference to wing it, that a campervan is going to make more sense. Whilst it will be more expensive than a normal car, you can get smaller vehicles ( Spaceships just launched in the UK with a range of options for example) which should be reasonably priced and easier to manoeuvre. However, the main reason for suggesting this is that winging it in the Scottish Highlands in both May and July can be a risky approach. Accommodation can book out weeks and sometimes months in advance, and not booking ahead definitely runs the very real risk of having to drive for hours to find somewhere to stay (accommodation is spread out and the roads are slow). Combine this with the fact that there are large areas with no cell phone coverage, and this would end up just being a stressful trip.

So for that reason alone, having your own bed is going to be a lot less stressful.

May and July are both popular times. May is usually busier for normal accommodation, whilst July tends to have more families and campers. May is our favourite month to travel in Scotland though, as you can usually avoid the dreaded midge 😉

We have a range of content on Scotland to help with your planning, I’d say our NC500 camping itinerary would be a great starting point.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

Renuka Rajput says

7th January 2020 at 12:51 pm

Hello I am really glad to find your website. We are planning to travel UK in March as planing to few liverpool matches at that time. Will it be good time to travel or will it be too cold to explore tourist destination.

Thanks in Advance.

7th January 2020 at 3:10 pm

Hello Renuka,

I will try to help 🙂 It is hard to answer because everyone has a different definition of cold. If you are coming from a tropical country, then March in the UK might seem cold, however if you are travelling from somewhere like Canada, it will feel warm!

Generally, March should be fine though. Temperatures will likely be between 12C and 16C, which in my opinion is good for sightseeing. March is also a good month as it won’t be too busy with tourists. You will want to bring some warm layers and also either an umbrella or raincoat, as rain is likely. That said, rain is a possibility all year in the UK.

I hope this helps 😀

11th April 2019 at 6:05 am

Hi, really great sharing with much details for travelling in UK. Wonder if you have any suggestions for travel to Manchester and thereabouts?

11th April 2019 at 11:25 am

I haven’t visited Manchester for a while, despite living there for a period many years ago. So I don’t currently have any up to date recommendations, however, we hope to visit Manchester soon and fix that!

Rosemary Anderson says

23rd March 2019 at 6:50 pm

I love your site and have found great ideas for my family’s upcoming trip.

One question: We are doing a home exchange with a family who has offered to let us use their car–which is great. But we have looked (quite a bit!) online, and it seems to be very difficult to get insurance on anything other than a rental car. Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks, Rosemary

23rd March 2019 at 7:10 pm

Hi Rosemary!

Thanks very much 🙂 So this is an interesting question. Normally in the UK the car insurance policy is associated with a specific driver (normally the owner and then any other drivers) rather than some countries where you insure the car and then anyone can drive it.

My initial response is that I’m not sure exactly how you would go about doing this. Based on my experiences driving friends cars in the UK, they have had to ring their insurance to add me as a named driver. However, I don’t know exactly how this works with non-UK licenses, nor do I know how it might affect their insurance should something happen.

I did a search, and whilst this service does exist, it doesn’t seem to cover US license holders, only holders from specific countries like those in the EU, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand.

The only company I found that does seem to include US drivers was this one: https://www.hertsinsurance.com/walkabout/

I have never used them and I can’t comment on what they cover or if they are any good, but it might be worth a try!

Good luck 🙂

13th January 2019 at 2:36 am

Wow, just found your itinerary and I’m going to follow it, with a couple minor tweaks to the schedule when I go June 1st with my husband and son. Thanks for all the great advice and mapping it out. Mona

13th January 2019 at 9:48 am

Our pleasure Mona – have a great trip, and let us know how it goes!

Paul Gadsdon says

23rd December 2018 at 4:24 pm

You will find UK car hire half the price of the US. You can get a small car for £80 a week

Also dont forget all UK national museums (about 300 or so), are free

23rd December 2018 at 4:32 pm

Thanks for your input! I’ve updated the budget hire car price. I think £100 – £150 is reasonable, I’ve taken a look on various sites and for various dates, and it’s a definite struggle to get a week of car hire with unlimited mileage for much less than that.

I’ll make a point about the free museums too 🙂

Thanks again!

Cheang PY says

26th November 2018 at 2:00 pm

Awfully glad to have found your website. Very informative. 6 of us retirees (age 57-80) are planning to self-drive UK for 2 weeks, visiting Cornwall and Wales. Would like advice on accommodation (homestay/airbnb?), etc. Thank you.

27th November 2018 at 11:21 am

Our pleasure. With a group, an AirBnB or similar would be a great idea, as you can usually get more for your money. Our only advice is to only book places with good reviews. The best option is simply to search a site like AirBnb (we also have a list of Airbnb alternatives here, ) for the dates and number of people for the destinations you want to visit, and work from there.

Have a great trip!

19th January 2019 at 4:14 pm

Thank you for your suggestions. We are also looking at mpv for hire for six. Is it cheaper to get the vehicle at the airport? Thank you.

19th January 2019 at 4:24 pm

My pleasure. If you mean in comparison to booking in advance, I would say in general it will be more expensive booking car hire at the airport.

If you mean will it be cheaper picking up from the airport or from another location, usually it is cheaper to pick up a car from an location different to the airport, as airport car hire is nearly always more expensive than city locations, due to the convenience.

Samara says

29th July 2018 at 9:55 am

Great read! I appreciate the in depth breakdown. Just got to London and am going to be following your 2 week itinerary religiously!

29th July 2018 at 12:28 pm

Thanks very much! Have a great trip – do let us know if you have any questions 🙂

Ryan Smith says

3rd May 2018 at 3:03 pm

Thanks a ton for all the useful information about cost of traveling in UK, it saves me so much time Googling for the guide like this. Thank you 🙂

3rd May 2018 at 7:11 pm

My pleasure – have a wonderful trip!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Let me know when there's a reply to my comment (just replies to your comment, no other e-mails, we promise!)

Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter where we share our latest travel news and tips. This also makes you eligible to enter our monthly giveaways!

We only ask for your e-mail so we can verify you are human and if requested notify you of a reply. To do this, we store your data as outlined in our privacy policy . Your e-mail will not be published or used for any other reason other than those outlined above.

Route planner

Driving directions.

The route deemed to be the safest and simplest with minimal scope for error along the way. The default recommended route from Michelin.

The route offering the shortest distance to a destination via the most accessible roads. Journey times for this option will tend to be longer.

The most fuel-efficient route that also avoids toll roads.

My cost options

• B7 (Diesel)
• E5 (Unleaded)
• E85 (superethanol)
• CNG (Biomethane)
• H2 (Hydrogen)

My route options

• E5 (Unleaded) €1.700
• Route : Fast
• Distance in : Kilometres
• No restrictions
• Route from this place
• Directions to this place
• Route via this place
• Nearby hotels
• Nearby restaurants

Arrive at %{address} Organise your trip

Accommodation, other services, restaurants at %{address}.

• See restaurants from the Michelin selection

Tourist Attractions at %{address}

• View the must-see tourist sites

Renting a car, an attractive proposition for the holidays

Monthly Report

Eco-mobility

Keep in contact

My michelin account.

Work in progress.

Join our Adventure: Get all my insider tips for motorhoming & road trips

England Road Trip: 50 Unmissable ideas (for every UK itinerary)

Planning an England road trip? Here are some of the best itinerary ideas for all schedules, including London to Cornwall, the Cotswolds and Kent in southern England, National Parks like the Lake District or Peak District, Northern England and all the way up to the Scottish border.

Whatever your cup of tea, there’s a UK road trip idea here for you. We’ve also provided a helpful map so you can visualise your route.

*We work hard to make this the best motorhome travel blog and road trip website possible, full of helpful content for you. The website is supported by our readers, so if you buy through links on this site we may earn a commission- at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain our own .

If you find this post useful, you can also treat us to a coffee – we promise to enjoy it while creating more useful content like this- we might even indulge in a biscuit (or two!)

JUMP AHEAD TO...

UK Road Trips- How to Plan

Planning a UK road trip to England or elsewhere can be tough. 

There are SO MANY places, ideas, options and reviews- how on earth are you supposed to choose the best way or most scenic drives?

Then, you have to factor in how long you have for your UK road trip (remembering that much of rural UK has smaller, slower roads, so it takes a lot longer to get there than you might expect. 

So, if you’re planning a road trip around England (and the UK) and feeling overwhelmed, here are some of our favourite road trips and itinerary ideas to help you. We’ll discuss the best bits of each area, why and when you should visit, how far it is from London and where you should allow extra time to explore.

England Road Trip Ideas- Where to Start

The first thing to decide is where you want to visit on your road trip. Also, remember that England is only one section of the UK- there are several other countries to explore (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland make up the United Kingdom).

So, if you want to do a full UK road trip, you’ll need more time than if you were just doing an England road trip.

Our biggest tip is not to overface yourself. Whether you only have a long weekend for a quick trip from London or a week to get out on the open road and tour, make sure you leave time to actually get out of your vehicle and explore the places you’re visiting- you’ll find plenty of historic sites, sandy beaches and incredible routes to enjoy. 

Roughly speaking, you can split England in half- the South of England and the North  (the line roughly goes through Birmingham) or even further into quarters if you only have time for a one-week road trip. 

Again, how far you can travel will depend on how much time you have, as well as how you are travelling (rental car, motorhome or public transport), but to do each half ‘properly’ we would recommend at least 2-3 weeks- especially if it’s your first time in England.

Having said that, you can see some of the best sights in less time than that- here’s our one week in England road trip itinerary .

Make planning your next road trip EASY (& fun!)

When you’re planning a road trip, keeping track & organising all your ideas is often the hardest part. Fix that TODAY with our printable pdf road trip planner. Grab yours FREE now

This form subscribes you to our mailing list. We share tips, itineraries, stupid mistakes and guides like this for road trippers and motorhomers.

We never spam (yuck) and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Where to stay during your England road trip

If you’re planning a motorhome or campervan trip , you’ll be able to travel and stop along the way, often without booking in advance, using schemes like Brit Stops or wild camping in your motorhome .

If you’re in a car or motorbike, there are PLENTY of hotels and BnBs to use en route. If you’re travelling in summer we recommend booking at least the first stop in advance- if you use Booking.com for all your accommodation you’ll find you can get a great deal and save a lot of money.

England Road Trip Map

I know how hard it can be to visualise places if you don’t know the country well, so here’s a map of England with several of the road trip destinations shown on it.

Out of interest, if you did this route, it’s about 1056 miles (1700km) long. You could technically do it in a week, but you’d barely have time to get out of the car!

Common England Road Trip Questions

How long does it take to drive the whole of england .

Many people wonder “ How long does it take to drive the whole of England ?” That’s a tough question, as there are so many places to go and depends a lot on your starting point.

Most people allow 2-3 weeks to drive through as much of England as they can, but that will involve a LOT of driving. Of course, you can take a look at the road trip itinerary ideas below and see which scenic route or quaint villages most appeal to you- and then plan your trip around that.

One common UK road trip idea is to drive from Land’s End in Cornwall all the way up to John o’Groats in Scotland, which is about 838miles (1350km). Obviously, this is a road trip which involves England AND Scotland, and that brings me to another important point.

Want to rent a vehicle for your road trip?

These might help:

• Discover incredible deals for motorhome/ camper rentals
• Find the best deals for car rental

READ: 10 essential questions to ask before you rent a motorhome

Can we go to England by road?

This is a common question for anyone who doesn’t live in the UK- and the short answer is yes, you can drive to England from mainland Europe.

Whether you’re enjoying a European road trip (here are some ideas for you ), or want to combine a trip to England with another country, you can drive to England from Europe via either the Eurotunnel or taking one of several car ferries (they also take motorhomes/ campervans on most of the ferry routes.)

If you’re planning a road trip from France to England, which route you take will depend on which part of France and England you want to visit- find out more in our Eurotunnel vs Ferry post.

And if you’re going the other way and will be driving in Europe, make sure you are aware of the new rules for driving in Europe after BREXIT .

If you’re like more help planning your trip, this post about how to plan an epic UK road trip will help.

Is England the UK or Great Britain?

Neither. And part of both 🙂

It’s common for people to confuse an England road trip with a UK road trip. England is just one country within the UK, along with Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. If you want to extend your trip and see more of those countries, you might enjoy our post on the best UK road trips and scenic drive ideas.

The UK is short for ‘The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’.

Great Britain is the LANDMASS of the largest island in the British Isles (the one which makes up England, Wales and Scotland). Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are not included in this.

And, to make things even more odd, the British Isles includes ALL the islands, including the whole of Ireland, which isn’t part of the UK at all.

Thoroughly confused? Ok, let’s just stick to England road trip ideas! 🙂

South England Road Trip Ideas

If you’re visiting London and want to explore part of the country for a few days, southern England is a good place to start. Of course, there are a HUGE number of places to explore in ‘South England’ (which is roughly classed as anywhere below Birmingham), so I’m just going to pick a few highlights to inspire you.

Cornwall- South West England

Cornwall is one of my favourite places to road trip in England. I spent 2 years living there whilst I was in the Navy, and have been back many times since. There are plenty of things to do in Cornwall , but there are some important tips you need to know before you arrive!

Why is Cornwall one of the best England road trips?

If you want cute villages, incredible beaches and more history than you can shake a stick at, Cornwall is perfect. Also, they have some of the best ice cream IN THE WORLD (no kidding) and it’s perfectly acceptable to eat a scone with jam and clotted cream EVERY day and no one will judge you.

IMPORTANT NOTE : There is intense rivalry between Devon and Cornwall over whether jam or cream should go first on a scone. In Cornwall, they do jam and THEN cream, which is apparently the way the Queen preferred her scones .

(Don’t worry, they’re used to tourists and won’t stone you if you get it wrong. But be warned if you want to live there…!) 

In Devon, they do it the other way. I’ve tried both, and I’m a jam first girl (because you can then put more cream on!)

When should you visit Cornwall?

Cornwall is best anytime between Easter and mid-October.

TOP TIP : Avoid July and August if you possibly can. The schools are on holiday and it feels like EVERYONE in England has travelled to the same small Cornish village as you.

Beaches are overcrowded, parking becomes a struggle and there’s a very real chance of shops running out of ice cream. Don’t do that to yourself. You deserve that ice cream.

Also, many businesses and attractions close after mid-October for the winter, so you might find you can’t do everything you want to outside the season.

Having said that, we find Cornwall one of the best places to enjoy Autumn in Europe – the weather is still warm, but everywhere is quieter and easier to get to.

How long should you spend roadtripping Cornwall?

How long is a piece of string!! But, as you can see on our Cornish road trip itinerary , we recommend 7-10 days minimum to see all the best places.

Where are the best places to visit in Cornwall on a road trip?

Did I mention that I used to live here? I have SO many recommendations for places to visit we could be here all week!!! Some of my absolute favourites (and this is like choosing my favourite child… or chocolate bar) include:

• Tintagel Castle (the home of Arthur and the round table)
• Minack Theatre (built onto the side of a cliff)
• St Michael’s Mount
• Boscastle (where one of the best witchcraft museums in the world is!)
• Newquay beach (and bars!)

READ MORE: Discover our complete Cornwall road trip itinerary (45 places you HAVE to see!)

Recommended by Ben at Driftwood Journals

Famed for its endless rolling hills, craggy coastlines and clotted cream delights, Devon is unsurprisingly one of the most popular destinations in the UK – and a dream for rural road-trippers! With wild moors galore, cutesy towns and villages, and bountiful beaches, you don’t have to drive far in Devon to stumble upon scenes of unparalleled beauty.

Highlights and best places to visit in Devon

• Dartmouth- one of the best towns in the county (and home of the Royal Naval Officer training. I spent a year here…running up those bl***y hills!) Hire a boat and explore the river.
• Paignton- the beach with the red sand and is also known as the English Riviera.
• Dartmoor National Park
• Exmoor National Park
• Exmouth with its beautiful painted houses
• Salcombe Harbour – a holiday hotspot for all generations.
• Dulverton- head to the Copper Kettle tearoom; you won’t regret it!

Devon road trip ideas

Pack up your motorhome/ camper (or car with tent) and find a site with views across the Devonshire cow-grazed hillsides of the Lyn Valley, or out over Dartmoor. You can wild camp in Devon, but not on the moors. Find out more about motorhome wild camping in the UK.

For a coastal trip, explore sea towns like Salcombe and Dartmouth (where you can take a boat up to Greenway, Agatha Christie’s summer home) and round to Exmouth, before heading north to Woolacombe, Dawlish and the fishing boat bobbing harbour of Ilfracombe. Enjoy the bustle and culture in the capital of Exeter or discover the notorious prison of Dartmoor.

Alternatively, head to North Devon and enjoy the wilder seas and views of the north coast. This is a great area for surfing and watersports.

If you have more time (and fuel) to burn, take to the A386 between Appledore and Plymouth, traversing through forested valleys to picture-perfect towns like Great Torrington and Tavistock, where you can tour the tearooms and plan the rest of your trip in the park while dangling your toes in the River Tavy.

But the true beauty of road tripping in Devon is that you don’t really need to plan too extensively. You’ll never be far from a cream tea pitstop, and the verdant country roads will offer up some of the most perfect picnic spots you’ll ever see. All you need is is a full tank, and a little patience when stuck behind tractor after tractor!

When is the best time to visit Devon on a road trip?

As with Cornwall, the best time to visit Devon is Spring to Autumn, but avoid the high summer months if you can, especially if you’re on a UK motorhome holiday .

Can you visit Devon on a day trip from London?

You can, but it’s quite a long drive. I’d say you’d need at least 2 or 3 days to really be able to explore anything.

Dorset- One of England’s Best Road Trips

Recommended by Paul | Anywhere We Roam

The Jurassic Coast stretches 95 miles across Dorset in southern England. With an iconic coastline of towering white cliffs, it’s an excellent destination for a classic road trip. Stunning scenery, historical sites and local breweries make the Jurassic Coast one of the best places to experience the beautiful English countryside.

Dorset road trip- best places to visit?

The main highlight of a road trip to Dorset in the area has to be Old Harry Rocks – a collection of white stone monoliths that have been carved out along the coast. It’s one of the most impressive stretches of scenery in the UK with dazzling chalk stacks assembled like a jigsaw puzzle waiting to be completed. If you get time, be sure to enjoy one of the many fabulous Dorset walks- you won’t regret it.

A thirty-minute drive away, Corfe Castle stands as a reminder of England’s 11th-Century past. It was one of the earliest Norman castles built and today it glows in its dilapidated glory overlooking the Dorset hills. It’s a stunning, photogenic inclusion on a UK road trip.

For another natural phenomenon, Durdle Door is possibly one of the most recognisable symbols of the Jurassic Coast. Over time, crashing waves have eroded limestone stacks in the sea leaving a glorious natural arch.

It’s a beautiful stretch of beach, ideal for a long summer stroll. It’s also next to the famous Lulworth Cove, which is a wonderful place to enjoy an ice cream!

Editors note: (I (Kat) actually jumped off the top of Durdle Door on my hen party!)

After soaking up the stunning scenery, head west to Lyme Regis, a quaint town with a vibrant independent retail scene. The historic Cobb Harbour set against moody cliffs is well-preserved and houses some of the best coffee in the area.

When is the best time to visit Dorset on an England road trip?

The best time to visit the Jurassic Coast on a road trip is from May to early July when the surrounding countryside will be verdant green and covered in wildflowers, but there’s not too much traffic!

Hampshire road trip

Hampshire is another county in England we know well, having lived here for 14+ years. There’s plenty to enjoy on a road trip to Hampshire, from beautiful cities to picturesque country houses.

Highlights of a Hampshire road trip

Some of our favourite places to visit in Hampshire include:

• Winchester- be sure to visit the Cathedral where Jane Austen is buried and you can see one of the oldest Bibles in the world. If you’re lucky enough to be visiting in December, don’t miss the famous Winchester Christmas Market , held in the Cathedral grounds each December.
• Highclere Castle (or Downton Abbey, as you might know it!)
• Lymington – for the oldest open sea water baths in the UK – and the New Forest (check out the Wildlife park there and make sure to take some memorable photos).
• Hinton Ampner- 18th century famous manor house known for its gardens.
• Portsmouth (you MUST go to the Mary Rose museum and HMS Victory)
• Isle of Wight (see below)

Isle of Wight road trip

Recommended by Darek | DarekandGosia

The  Isle of Wight , famous for its beautiful views, is an island on the south coast of England, just below Southampton. Technically, it’s part of Hampshire, but feels like a different world.

With a motorhome or car, you can reach the island by ferry from either Southampton or Portsmouth – book in advance during summer. There are also a couple of foot passenger ferries and a hovercraft from Southsea.

Why is it one of England’s best road trips?

The Isle of Wight is like going back in time. It’s worth a road trip here for even a weekend, to escape the hustle and bustle of normal life, ride bikes and take a walk on the cliffs.

Also, there are some wonderful places to stay. If you’re on a road trip, check out these amazing Isle of Wight campsites – some with stunning sea views!

What is there to do?

You can start exploring the island in Shanklin – one of the coastal villages famous for its beautiful beaches. On the promenade along the sea you will find many restaurants and hotels – most of the Island is typically tourist-oriented.

From Shanklin drive to the western part of the island. The most characteristic point is The Needles – three chalk rocks emerging from the sea with a small lighthouse built at the end of one of the columns. You can get to Needles by car and then follow the path on foot to the cliff slope. It’s a fabulous place for a picnic.

Next to Needles is Old Battery, a military fortification dating from the nineteenth century. There you can find World War II memorabilia or visit one of the various exhibitions are also taking place.

While driving around the island make sure you get to Carisbrooke Castle near Newport. Its construction began in the 12th century. It is worth taking a moment to walk around the castle, relax in the Edwardian-style garden.

One of my favourite places on the Island is Osborne House- Queen Victoria’s summer home. You can walk around the gardens and the house and even enjoy an ice cream on her private beach. Osborne House is run by English Heritage.

When is the best time to visit the Isle of Wight?

The Isle of Wight is a must-see for anyone who wants to admire the British climate and above all fantastic views. It is worth going here all year round – it’s actually one of the best places to visit in Europe in October , when there are fewer tourists and you can enjoy the views & roads!

Norfolk Broads

Recommended by Mandi | Big Family, Little Adventures

Sometimes you want nothing more than to escape the hustle and the bustle of everyday life, the noise, the bright lights, the never-ending pace of life. If you want to get away, the Norfolk Broads is pure escapism; big skies, plenty of peace and quiet and an abundance of wildlife.

Best places to visit in Norfolk on a road trip

• The Old Roman Fort at Burgh Castle with an elevated position and commanding views over the marshes – perfect for a walk in both winter morning frost or a hot and hazy mid-summer evening
• If you prefer a bit of activity, Wroxham is a bustling Broads village- home to Roy’s of Wroxham, possibly the largest village shop you have ever seen
• Plenty of riverside pubs and restaurants in Wroxham and all around the Broads- the perfect places to stop for a bite to eat
• St Benet’s Abbey – an 11th century monastery defying time, standing in a stunning green valley.
• If you are an animal lover, you will enjoy a visit to Wroxham Barns to feed the lambs or spot the grey seals on the Norfolk beaches

Norfolk Road Trip- when is the best time to visit?

You can explore Norfolk all year. In summer, if you would like to explore the best Norfolk beaches or Broads up close, why not hire a dayboat; these can be hired at various boatyards throughout the Broads. Waveney River Centre is another stunning place to stop and admire the view, either by boat or car.

The challenge is (as always in England!) the weather. In dry conditions, most paths are excellent, but it can get a bit more challenging in wet weather.

However, over the years, an increasing number of boardwalks have been developed, increasing safe access to the Broads whatever the weather. Also, seeing the windmills and rivers on a crisp winter morning is unforgettable.

Time does not stop in Norfolk, but it really does feel like it slows down.  To be able to watch the sunset across the broads any time of year is a magical experience and the perfect place to enjoy a chilled road trip.

Sussex, Kent and Surrey

Ahhh, the picturesque south-east corner of England, which includes the Garden of England (that’s the other name for Kent). This area is lush, green and has some many historic buildings and castles you’ll find it impossible to avoid them.

It’s also home to plenty of gorgeous sandy beaches, white cliffs (such as Dover and Beachy Head) and some truly wonderful parks to walk in.

Even better, it’s all easily reached from London by car and train, so it’s easy to get away from the city for a few days if you’d like a countryside break or a trip to the beach.

Best Places to visit in Sussex include:

Sussex is actually split into East and West Sussex, but to make things easy on your road trip I’ve made one list for you. They’re not that far apart from each other!

• Brighton : A vibrant seaside city famous for its pebble beach, iconic pier, and the Royal Pavilion with its distinctive architecture. Explore the Lanes for unique shops and enjoy the city’s lively arts and music scene. See below for more ideas
• Arundel : Home to Arundel Castle, a medieval and Victorian castle that overlooks the River Arun. The town itself is picturesque with cobbled streets and antique shops.
• Chichester : A historic cathedral city with Roman origins, Chichester offers a mix of history, culture, and shopping. The Chichester Cathedral and Pallant House Gallery are notable attractions.
• Lewes : Known for its medieval architecture, Lewes Castle, and historic streets. The Lewes Bonfire Night is a famous annual event.
• Eastbourne : A traditional seaside town with a Victorian pier, beautiful seafront, and the iconic Beachy Head cliffs nearby.
• Rye : A charming medieval town with cobbled streets, half-timbered houses, and views of the surrounding marshland.
• Battle : Famous for the Battle of Hastings in 1066, this town is home to Battle Abbey and the Battlefield. Explore the historic sites and learn about this pivotal event in English history.
• Petworth House and Park : A stately mansion with an impressive art collection set in a vast deer park. The gardens are also worth exploring.
• Seven Sisters Country Park : A stunning coastal area with dramatic chalk cliffs and rolling hills, perfect for hiking and enjoying breathtaking views.
• Bodiam Castle : A 14th-century moated castle surrounded by water and picturesque landscapes.
• Sheffield Park and Garden : A National Trust property known for its stunning gardens, lakes, and vibrant displays of plants.
• Birling Gap and Beachy Head : More stunning chalk cliffs and coastal views, with the added beauty of the natural arch at Birling Gap.
• Glyndebourne Opera House : Known for its world-class opera productions, the opera house is set in beautiful countryside and offers a unique cultural experience.

Best places to visit in Kent include:

• Canterbury – home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Canterbury Cathedral
• Dover : Known for the iconic White Cliffs of Dover, this coastal town is home to Dover Castle, which boasts a complex history and offers panoramic views of the English Channel.
• Rochester : A charming town with a medieval castle and cathedral. It’s also the birthplace of Charles Dickens, and you can visit the Dickens World theme park.
• Whitstable : This coastal town is famous for its oysters and seafood. Enjoy the quaint streets, beach huts, and seafood restaurants along the coast.
• Margate : A seaside town with a revived artistic scene, featuring the Turner Contemporary art gallery and the scenic Margate Sands.
• Leeds Castle : Often referred to as the “loveliest castle in the world,” Leeds Castle is set on an island in a lake and surrounded by beautiful gardens.
• Hever Castle : The childhood home of Anne Boleyn, with historic architecture, gardens, and a maze.
• Chatham Historic Dockyard : A maritime museum where you can explore historic warships, submarines, and learn about Britain’s naval history.
• Biddenden Vineyards : If you’re a wine enthusiast, Kent has several vineyards. Biddenden is one of the oldest and most well-known.
• Canterbury Tales Visitor Attraction : An interactive museum where you can step back in time to experience Chaucer’s famous tales.
• St. Augustine’s Abbey : A UNESCO World Heritage Site, this abbey in Canterbury dates back to the 6th century and is a significant historical site.
• Chartwell House : The former home of Winston Churchill, now a museum showcasing his life and legacy.

These are just a few highlights of what Kent has to offer. Whether you’re interested in history, nature, or culture, you’re likely to find something appealing in this diverse and beautiful county.

Best Places to Visit in Surrey

• Box Hill : A National Trust site known for its stunning views and walking trails. It’s a popular spot for outdoor enthusiasts and offers panoramic vistas of the surrounding countryside.
• Polesden Lacey : A grand Edwardian estate with beautiful gardens, Polesden Lacey is a National Trust property that offers a glimpse into the lives of the wealthy in the early 20th century.
• Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village : Located in Compton, this unique attraction is dedicated to the works of Victorian artist George Frederic Watts and his wife Mary Watts. The village includes a gallery, chapel, and artist studios.
• Hampton Court Palace : While part of the palace is in Greater London, the stunning Hampton Court Palace is right on the border of Surrey. It’s famous for its Tudor history, grand architecture, and beautiful gardens.
• RHS Garden Wisley : A flagship garden of the Royal Horticultural Society, Wisley offers a wide variety of plants, landscapes, and garden designs to explore.
• Brooklands Museum : A museum dedicated to motorsport and aviation history, located on the site of the world’s first purpose-built motor racing circuit.
• Loseley Park : A grand Elizabethan manor house surrounded by beautiful gardens and parkland, open to the public during certain times of the year.
• Denbies Wine Estate : England’s largest vineyard, Denbies offers tours, wine tasting, and beautiful views of the surrounding countryside.
• Newlands Corner : Another viewpoint offering breathtaking views of the Surrey Hills, perfect for picnics and outdoor activities.
• Epsom Downs : Known for Epsom Downs Racecourse and the famous Epsom Derby, this area offers open spaces and walking trails.
• Virginia Water : Part of Windsor Great Park, Virginia Water features a lake, ornamental cascades, and woodland walks.

Surrey’s mix of historic sites, natural beauty, and cultural attractions make it a delightful destination for a variety of interests. Whether you’re into history, outdoor activities, or simply enjoying scenic landscapes, Surrey has something to offer.

Brighton – East Sussex

I’ve given Brighton it’s own section because it’s one of my favourite cities in England and you should try to add it to your England road trip itinerary, especially if you’re heading toward East Sussex.

Brighton is a city renowned for its diverse communities and innovation, the quirky shopping areas, its music and art scene, and its large LGBT population. Read more about Brighton in Autum .

Why is Brighton one of the best England road trips?

Brighton is less than an hour away from London (76 km) and on a direct train line. It offers plenty of fun and exciting activities to enjoy (more than just fish and chips at a pier!)

Brighton has been famous as a cultural centre for over a century. It’s home to the world’s oldest operating aquarium (which opened in 1872- now called ‘’Brighton Sea Life’’), and you can even ride the world’s oldest operating electric railway, the Volks Railway, built in 1883.

Other Brighton Highlights include:

• See the Palace Pier
• Catch the latest release in the Duke of York Picturehouse, Britain’s oldest cinema.
• Have a stroll down the North Lane- home to over 400 independent shops
• Discover the Victorian innovations still in operation in the city.

How long should you spend in Brighton?

You will want to spend at least two days in Brighton to truly take in the city, but you can easily make a week of your itinerary if you want to explore more places in Sussex, Kent and Surrey.  

What is the best month to visit Brighton?

The sunniest (and therefore warmest!) time of the year in Brighton is from May to September. July and August are peak tourist season, with hotel prices skyrocketing, so be aware of that and plan your stay accordingly.

Cambridgeshire & Cambridge

Cambridgeshire is a county in the East of England with plenty to do. The jewel of the county is Cambridge, with a historical, 800-year-old centre you should definitely not skip.

Why should you include Cambridge on your England road trip?

Only 1 hour and 30 minutes away from London via M11, Cambridge offers so much: a rich history of English heritage, a buzzing local community, and a picturesque setting. You’ll even find a gift Henry VIII gave to Anne Boleyn!

Cambridge Highlights

• See the King’s College Chapel 
• Enjoy breakfast at Fitzbillies
• Go punting in the River Cam
• Have a picnic by the river.
• Enjoy walking the historic streets

Cambridge Trip Itinerary idea

Leaving London, head up to Cambridge via the M11.

Start the day with drinks and a meal in one of the many deli and brunch places in Market Square before setting off to explore the city. I highly recommend the famous Fitzbillies- the food is delicious.

From there, you can choose from a variety of activities: visiting King’s Chapel, punting in the River Cam (pass under the Bridge of Sighs), hiking on the Cam Towpath (lots of hidden gems if you know how to look for trails!), or taking in the city views from St. Mary’s Tower.

If you’re staying overnight, end the day by attending the Evensong at the King’s College Chapel (select days only)

When is the best (and worst) time to visit Cambridge ?

Cambridge is beautiful all year round. However, the worst time to visit would be spring – the university students sit their finals between April and June, which means many of the college sites are closed to visitors. 

What are some of the best places to visit in Cambridge?

The King’s College Chapel in the University of Cambridge is the third-oldest university in operation and the most iconic and instantly-recognisable building in the county.

Don’t miss out on an opportunity to drink at the Eagle, a historic pub in the heart of Cambridge’s city centre famously linked to Watson and Crick’s discovery of DNA.

If you are feeling adventurous and are ready to brave the British winter, visit Cambridge in December. It’s off-peak season and features one of the best UK Christmas markets you should visit. Read all about the Cambridge Christmas market here.

How long should you spend in Cambridge?

One day in Cambridge is usually enough time to visit the majority of the main sights, especially if you are visiting during the summer. You’ll need tickets for most of the chapels and university buildings, so go first to buy those.

Wiltshire & Cotswolds Road Trip – 3 day trip from London

Recommended by Ann | The road is life

The Cotswolds is the largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in England and Wales. If you look at a map of England, find Bristol (west coast, just below the indent of southern Wales) and the Cotswolds is the area north-east of Bristol.

There is so much beauty and fascinating history to discover around the Cotswolds region and luckily you don’t have to travel far from London to get there! You can reach Bath or Bristol easily in a day from London, but we recommend at least 3 days to really explore the area by car/ motorhome, plus explore Stonehenge and Salisbury on the way back to London. If you’re travelling with children, don’t worry- there’s plenty of things to do in the Cotswolds with kids.

Highlights & Best Places to Visit in the Cotswolds and Surrounding Area

• Explore the charming stone villages of the Cotswolds
• visit the historic city of Bath
• marvel at the mysterious ancient stones of Stonehenge
• Indulge in some shopping at Daylesford farm
• stop at the magnificent Salisbury Cathedral.

When is the best time for a Cotswolds road trip?

Although the Cotswolds can be visited all year, this road trip is best completed in the spring or summer months to ensure warmer and sunnier sightseeing weather.

The days are also longer- allowing you to see more each day. However, unlike Cornwall and Devon, most places to NOT shut during winter, so feel free to explore whenever suits you!

Wiltshire & Cotswolds road trip itinerary from London

• Departing London, drive out to the Cotswolds. This is where you should spend 3-4 days exploring as many lovely little towns and villages as you wish to.
• A few of the prettiest Cotswolds villages include Bibury, Stow-on-the-Wold, Lower Slaughter, Bourton-on-the-Water, Castle Combe and so many more! The beauty of the Cotswolds region is that the villages are all located in close proximity with minimal driving time in between them.
• Once you have seen your share of lovely English villages , carry on to Bath which is only a 30-minute drive from the village of Castle Combe- well worth a visit.
• Spend a full day and night in Bath visiting the Roman baths.
• From there continue to Stonehenge. A visit to this incredible ancient site can easily take half a day. We camped overnight at Stonehenge and saw the most INCREDIBLE sunrise we’ve EVER seen. (Seriously, watch the video. It’s breathtaking)
• From Stonehenge, it’s only a short 20-minute drive to the medieval town of Salisbury which brings you to the final stop of this road trip.
• The highlight of Salisbury is the stunning Salisbury Cathedral which has the tallest spire in all of Britain! Spend one night in Salisbury before making the final 2-hour road trip back to London.
• Another option is to return to London via the historic city of Oxford. Don’t miss a meal in Sticks and Sushi- one of the best restaurants in Oxford and with incredible views over the city.

North England Road Trips- Why You Should Visit

It’s easy when planning an England road trip to get sucked into famous places like Cornwall, Devon or the Cotswolds- and those are all AMAZING places to visit.

However, I strongly encourage you to visit the north of England as well if you have time. You’ll find villages just as pretty, delicious food (chips, pie and gravy is the best thing in the world) and incredible history.

Again, we were lucky to live up here for 4 years- here are some of our absolute favourite places to road trip, although there are of course many more we have yet to discover! I hope they give you some ideas and inspiration for your next trip.

Don’t forget to Grab your ULTIMATE road trip planner here – it has everything you need to help you pack for your road trip.

Peak District National Park

The Peak District is a huge and stunning area in Derbyshire, just to the east of Manchester. It’s a perfect place for a road trip because there are so many things to see!

A car or motorhome makes it easy to travel between the sites and there are plenty of campsites or hotels to use as you explore.

There are a multitude of hikes, walks and tors to climb and the area is famous for its caves, which people still lived in as recently as 1910!

The Peak District was the UK’s first National Park and is also considered the real ale capital of the world! If you’re exploring the Peak District with kids , there are steam trains, tramways, cycle paths and even a cable car taking you up to see some stunning views! There’s also Alton Towers theme park – one of the best in the UK.

Best places to explore in the Peak District

Some of the highlights include:

• Chatsworth House
• Ladybower reservoir
• Alton Towers theme park
• Heights of Abraham cable car

Lake District road trip

Recommended by Fiona/ Passport & Piano

The Lake District National Park is a UNESCO heritage site that makes for the perfect road trip.  Walking around the lakes and fells to see the magnificent scenery is one of the many pleasures of the area.

Quintessential villages are plentiful as are traditional English pubs with real ale and hearty food. Don’t just rush by on your way from England to Scotland; take a few days and enjoy all that the lakes have to offer.

Best places to visit on a Lake District Road Trip

Most people arrive from the south via Windermere, but to explore the areas hidden gems its worth spending at least three days here. The Lake District has some of the worlds best scenic drives and a trip along the Honister Pass and Kirkstone Pass are a must.

In the South Lakes, I’d highly recommend a  visit to Grasmere . Here you can visit several homes of the famous poet William Wordsworth and enjoy Sarah Nelson’s delightful gingerbread.

If you love Beatrix Potter, you can follow in her footsteps at Beatrix Potter World in Bowness- on- Windermere.  Her home near Hawkshead is open to visitors, and Wray Castle is a beautiful spot where she enjoyed her family holidays.

In the North Lakes, the towns of Keswick and Cockermouth have plenty to explore. The Castlerigg stone circle, with its stunning views across the fells, is worth stopping at, and the “Surprise View” across Derwent Water is spectacular.

If you’re not exploring in a motorhome or campervan, accommodation throughout the area is plentiful. There are boat rides and water-based activities to enjoy on most of the lakes and a plethora of outdoor pursuit centres for the more adventurous.

When is the best time for a Lake District road trip?

In the summer months, the National Park can be rather busy particularly on the main A66 road which runs through the centre. Hence if you want to avoid the crowds, consider visiting in the spring or autumn.

While you’re not guaranteed sunshine at any time of the year, the weather is probably at its best between April and September.

England Road Trip- Yorkshire & The Dales

Recommended by Sinead | Map Made Memories

England’s largest county, Yorkshire, is a perfect destination for a road trip. There are so many diverse attractions to see within a relatively short drive of each other.

Highlights and some best places in Yorkshire to visit

• Hardraw Force–England’s highest single-drop waterfall
• White Scar–The longest show cave in England
• Visit the ‘Best Street in Britain’
• Visit the cobbled Shambles, named ‘the Best Street in Britain’.
• Marvel at the Ribblehead Viaduct, the 24 arches that span the Yorkshire Dales, a true masterpiece of Victorian engineering.
• Castles and ruins all over the place
• Stand on Hogsmeade station (or at least the station which played it in Harry Potter!)

Yorkshire Road Trip Itinerary

Start your road trip in the rolling hills and river valleys of the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. Visit the 11th century Skipton Castle or descend underground to marvel at the formations in White Scar Caves, the longest show cave in England.

Clamber over Brimham Rocks or hike the stunning landscape around Malham Cove. Browse the independent shops in the Victorian spa town of Harrogate.

Places to visit on the Yorkshire Dales

The Yorkshire Dales are packed with attractive waterfalls. Choose between the plunging falls around Ingleton, popular Aysgarth Falls or, my favourite waterfall, Hardraw Force which is England’s highest single drop waterfall. Before leaving the Dales, visit the impressive monastic ruins and landscaped gardens of Fountains Abbey.

Continue your road trip by exploring the historic city of York . This compact city is easily navigated on foot and is an ideal location for history buffs. You can visit Viking, Roman, Georgian and Victorian sites all in one day!

See the iconic York Minster, walk the city’s medieval city walls and stroll along the cobbled Shambles, which has been voted the ‘ Best Street in Britain’ and was the inspiration behind Diagon Alley from the movie adaptation of the Harry Potter series!

Road trip over the Yorkshire Moors

End your Yorkshire road trip with a drive across the wild Yorkshire Moors. Take a scenic trip on a steam train across the Moors to visit charming Goathland train station which doubled as Hogsmeade station in the Harry Potter movies. Alternatively, your legs with a hike at the Hole of Horcum, a huge ancient natural amphitheatre.

How long should you spend exploring Yorkshire on a road trip?

You could ‘cover’ Yorkshire in a couple of days but to truly appreciate all it has to offer I would recommend at least one full week.

When is the best time to road trip to Yorkshire?

Yorkshire can be explored all year around- and expect rain at any time! But Spring is incredible on the moors- with the wildflowers blooming and the days getting longer, it’s a perfect time to visit. Autumn also offers spectacular views with the leaves turning colour, providing an incredible backdrop.

England Road Trip Idea – North East Coast

Northern England’s east coast is full of charming towns and villages, and is the perfect destination for a road trip.

Best places to visit on a North East coast England road trip

• Saltburn-by-the-Sea (to search for fossils)
• Lemon top ice-cream – Its legacy goes back over 100 years!)
• Staithes- picturesque fishing village
• Whitby Abbey – the inspiration behind Bram Stoker’s Dracula
• Robin Hood’s Bay (where smuggling was commonplace
• Scarborough Castle

North East England road trip itinerary

Start in Saltburn-by-the-sea. Be sure to search for fossils throughout your visit. I actually found one in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, but you can get lucky in any of the places on this list! Saltburn-by-the-Sea is home to the historic Saltburn Cliff Tramway and affords beautiful views from the bluffs above town.

You can walk along The Cleveland Way, a historic trail that runs through each of the 5 locations mentioned. I’d also recommend trying Lemon Top Ice Cream, or vanilla ice cream with a dollop of lemon sorbet on top.

Staithes is a quaint fishing village laden with narrow pathways and quirky cottages.

The Whitby Abbey towers above the town, giving it an eerie feeling – it’s even credited as the inspiration behind Bram Stoker’s Dracula!

Robin Hood’s Bay has a long history with smugglers, and its red rooftops and crowded buildings conceal hidden routes. In Scarborough, you can enjoy rides at the Luna Park amusement park or visit the historic Scarborough Castle!

When is the best time to road trip England’s north-east coast?

Although you can visit this area all year round, I’d suggest visiting in the summer or fall. It rains much of the year in this region of England, but there’s a higher likelihood of sunshine from July through October.

How long to spend on this England Road trip?

You can complete this road trip in less than 2 hours, but I’d suggest spending at least a few days exploring the region. Each Yorkshire coastal town has its own charm and activities to offer, so you certainly don’t want to rush!

How far is it from the North east coast to London?

Scarborough to London takes about 5 hours by car. Avoid travelling Friday afternoons or Monday morning- those are the peak road traffic times.

Don’t miss Durham

We spent a lovely couple of days exploring the city of Durham. There are so many wonderful places to explore, but one of the highlights for us was Durham Cathedral. This incredible building was built in the 11th Century and is the largest surviving stone vaulted ceiling of its size.

However, if I’m honest, I was more excited by the fact that several scenes in Harry Potter were filmed here, including in the cloisters and many of the covered walkways.

It was also in Durham Cathedral that Harry, Ron and Hermione encounter ‘Fluffy’- the forbidden corridor was also part of the cathedral.

Other fantastic things to see in or near Durham include:

• Durham Castle
• High Force Waterfall (one of the best waterfalls in Europe )
• Finchale Priory

Northumberland Coast

Recommended by Tracy | Travels in Time

The Northumberland Coastal route stretches for over 35 miles from Alnmouth in the south to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne in the north.

The drive takes you through an area of outstanding natural beauty with many beautiful villages and places of interest to visit along the way.

How long to spend on a Northumberland coast road trip

This itinerary covers a day trip but you could spend a few days exploring the area or even walk the Northumberland Coastal Path along the same route if you are feeling up to it!

Northumberland road trip itinerary

The first village to visit is Craster – famous for its kippers and overlooked by Dunstanburgh Castle. If you’re looking for impressive castles in England , Northumberland is the place to go- there are more castles here than any other county in England!

After exploring Craster and the castle, head to Seahouses. A popular seaside town for families with lots of arcades and fish and chip shops this is the place to stop for a bite to eat.

If the weather is good why not hop on a boat over to the Farme Islands? With large colonies of seals and puffins the islands are popular with nature lovers.

Bamburgh Castle dominates the horizon and is worth exploring. It was once the home to the Royal Seat of the Kings of Northumbria and also has a ghost or two!

After Bamburgh head to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. Make sure you check the tides before you go- the island is tidal and is only accessible during certain times.

Once on the island take a stroll up to the castle. Don’t miss exploring the ruins of Lindisfarne Priory. This is the place famous as the home of Christianity in England until Viking raids eventually led to the abandonment of the priory.

When is the best time for a Northumberland road trip?

The best time to visit Northumberland and places in North East England is in the summer – the days are long and the sun will hopefully be shining! Be aware that on occasions during the summer a sea fret (mist) can hang over the coast and cool temperatures and decrease visibility. Make sure to check the weather forecast before you travel.

Wow- anyone else want to jump in their motorhome/ camper/ car/ bike and head off to start exploring? What a fantastic list of England road trip destinations!

As you can see, it really doesn’t matter where you go or how long you have to explore England- you’ll have plenty of places to enjoy. And who knows- next time we set off for Norfolk, we might even make it there without swinging by Cornwall first!! 🙂

Planning an England road trip? You might find these posts useful:

• How to plan an epic UK road trip
• How to create a road trip itinerary with Google Maps
• 100 best road trip driving songs
• How to plan a motorhome trip to UK or Europe

See all our UK travel ideas and tips

Kat never planned to buy a motorhome. She also never planned to quit her job as an air traffic controller, go touring around Europe in said motorhome, start one of the UK’s largest motorhome travel websites… or get a cocker spaniel.

Find out how she went from stuck in the rat race to being a digital nomad and inspiring thousands of people to have their own epic adventures here.

If you’d like to connect with Kat, send her an email or follow her adventures on social media.

Sharing is caring!

Similar Posts

Cirque De Gavarnie- 10 things you need to know (with map!)

France road trip ideas- 11 best areas to visit

Winchester Christmas Market – 10 Essential Tips (from a Local!)

Visit Zugspitze- the highest mountain in Germany

10 essential tips to visit the REAL Disney castle in Germany- Neuschwanstein!

Cornwall Road Trip Itinerary (& MAP)

Cornwall is such a beautiful part of the UK to visit in a motorhome, although it can be a little tight around those country roads.

So true- some of those roads are tiny, but worth it for the incredible views and places to visit.

Have you been on the welsh coast much

Our very first motorhome trip EVER was to the Welsh coast. We’ve put together some of our favourite Welsh road trips here if you want some ideas: https://wandering-bird.com/wales-road-trip/

Although all road trips are lovely, I particularly enjoy traveling in a campervan through Devon in the UK. I appreciate you sharing this list of road trip suggestions.

Fantastic article for anyone travelling England on a road trip

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Budget , North of England , Scotland , Wales

This is the ultimate uk road trip budget breakdown.

• June 25, 2023

One of the most EPIC road trips I’ve done to date is through Scotland, Northern England, and Snowdonia National Park in Wales! It was adventure-packed, filled with history and some of the most beautiful landscapes I’ve ever seen. I want you to be able to have the same experience, so let me do a complete breakdown of this UK road trip budget for you!

Below, you’ll first find an overview of our entire trip. Yours most likely won’t look identical (I mean it can if you’re inspired!), but it’ll give you an idea to base what your own budget should look like. I’ll then break down all of my expenses throughout this road trip. From accommodations to excursions, you’ll know exactly what we paid, to give you an idea of what to expect.

My ultimate goal here so to help you feel prepared for your own road trip in the UK. I want you to have the best trip possible, so feeling prepared right from the get-go will hopefully, help you do that!

*Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking one of these links, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Trip overview:

Of course, your trip might look different than mine, as we fit in A LOT of spots on this road trip. This particular road trip I did in August 2020 with a friend of mine (when we had a window of eased lockdown restrictions) was over the course of 14 nights and 15 days.

To keep in mind: Since it was the summer of 2020, the prices of our trip could have been impacted since travel was restricted for the most part. Either way, this should give you a general idea of what to expect!

In this breakdown, for expenses that we shared (ie. accommodation and transportation) I list the total we paid and what that meant per person. Whereas my own individual expenses (ie. food, excursions, and souvenirs), I listed expenses per person. At points, I will also break down our costs for Scotland specifically and for Northern England + Snowdonia . I’ll break it down this way in case you’re curious about how the different areas cost!

It is also important to note that I was living in the UK at the time. This road trip budget does not include the cost of entering or leaving the country (ie. flying to any destination). Those costs are largely varied depending on where you’re coming from, which airline you use, when your travel dates are and when you purchased your tickets.

Here is a quick overview of our itinerary. We began by taking the train from London to Edinburgh where we stayed for 2 nights. We then picked up the rental car and drove to Inverness for a few days. Next, we then drove to the Isle of Skye for a night and then down to Glasgow for a night. We then drove to York for a few nights before heading to Snowdonia and ended our trip in Liverpool . This is where we dropped off the car rental and took the train back to London.

PRO TIP: You can book your trains using Trainline or Omio . These platforms compare train prices so you can find the best deal!

Accommodations Expenses:

🏨 Total: £639.27 (or £319.64 per person)

Part 1 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿: £393.83 total

Part 2 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿: £245.44 total

We tried to keep the costs of our accommodations low since we knew we would be out exploring most of the time. In total we stayed at 7 airbnbs over 14 days. Most of them we had the entire apartment , especially when we were staying for multiple nights. But for the places we were spending 1 or 2 nights, we had a private room inside someone else’s home. This was our personal preference on how to keep expenses low! All bookings were made on airbnb !

That means on average we were spending around £45 per night on accommodations (or roughly £22 per person). We had to keep in mind that we needed access to parking on the premises but for the most part, for this UK road trip budget we managed to keep our accommodation costs low!

Here were some of my favourite airbnbs from this trip: 

✨ Private Room in Inverness

✨Entire Rental in Isle of Skye

✨Entire Apartment near Snowdonia

Transportation Expenses (car rental, gas, and trains):

Total: £956.17 (or 478.09 per person)

🚂 Train: $CAD 127.40 per person (roughly £72.62)

We purchased a BritRail pass since we were Canadians living in the UK , which was a really great investment. We chose a 2 day flexi pass which meant that in the span of a month we could take any trains for 2 days using our pass. Once we purchased the pass, we activated it when we knew the exact first travel date. We then reserved our tickets from London to Edinburgh and Liverpool to London. There is a lot of flexibility with the BritRail pass – you can learn more here !

🚗 Car rental & Insurance: £ 546.86     ⛽️ Gas: £ 241.82 

Road tripping around Scotland and the UK was an amazing decision in my opinion. I believe a car is necessary to get around . To visit the rural towns, explore the highlands and other stunning locations were only possible with the flexibility and freedom that a car rental offered us. I’m sure you could make do with public transportation, however it would take a lot more logistical planning.

🚨Important Reminder: most car rentals in the UK will be manual cars. There are options for automatic but they tend to be more expensive. They also drive on the left-hand side of the road in the UK.

I will note that the roads in Scotland specifically varied from high to lower visibility . There were definitely moments when there were very tight roads and stone walls or large hedges lining the street impacting your visibility. It is entirely doable but there were some tense moments for sure.

🚕 Uber: £22.25

We only had to take an Uber once, to take us from the car rental drop-off into central Liverpool. This is something to keep in mind with car rentals, sometimes their location might be a bit far from the central city. We preferred to opt for an Uber for convenience rather than wasting our time trying to make sense of the bus routes.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE : My 2 week Road trip through Scotland Itinerary

Food Expenses:

🐠 Total: £175 per person (roughly)

Part 1 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿: ~£100 (per person)

Part 2 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿: ~75 (per person)

Our food budget was another way to save money. The first day we got the car rental, we stopped by a grocery store and picked up fruits and car snacks. These lasted almost the entire trip – this was the best way to save money.

For lunches, most grocery stores in the UK have a meal deal where you can buy a sandwich with a snack and a drink. We did this most lunches because we were normally out hiking, driving or wandering. These meal deals were the PERFECT solution for a road trip like this. We would pick them up on our way out, and keep them in our backpacks until we were ready to eat. Highly recommend!

For dinners, we switched between trying local restaurants and pubs . Pubs or Fish & Chip shops were often cheaper since they were more similar to fast food. But we wanted to make sure we were also trying local restaurants and foods beyond fast food. We felt that this was a good balance, snacking, having the menu deal during the day while at night having a more substantial meal.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Complete Cornwall Road Trip Budget 

Excursion Expenses:

🏰 Total: £ 36 per person

Since we had a car, we didn’t need to look at tours to take us around the region; we could get there ourselves. During the 2 weeks, we did a walking tour in Edinburgh , visited a castle in Scotland and the Beatles Story in Liverpool .

The majority of our activities were FREE , such as hiking and visiting national parks. I was surprised that many other hidden gems we found (such as castles and similar historic sites) were free to explore. Especially if you opt not to go inside the castle and just admire the grounds. Visiting the outdoors made a huge difference for our UK road trip budget!

Miscellaneous Expenses (gifts, souvenirs, unexpected expenses etc.):

💸 Total: £ 50 per person (roughly)

My personal souvenirs usually tend to be magnets – on this trip I bought 2! I also bought a few other small souvenirs and gifts for myself and to bring home to others. Unexpected expenses included a car charger and a luggage locker for our last day in Liverpool. We wanted to explore the city more before our train so arranged a locker at the train station.

Summary: My personal UK road trip budget was roughly £1,058.73 (or 70.59 per day)

It was after this road trip that Scotland became one of my favourite countries of all time! I highly recommend once in your life embark on a road trip around Scotland and explore the North of England and Wales. And hopefully, with the help of this budget breakdown, you’ll see that it isn’t too expensive to do so!

UK Road Trip Budget: Final Thoughts

Considering the length of our trip and the amount that we saw and did, I was happy how we managed to keep our expenses low. Depending on the type of traveller you are or the trip you want, your expenses might look different. You may want to camp, travel by train, do more excursions, or try more guided tours – there is so much to do and see in the UK! I would also like to mention, there were moments when some food spots were cash-only . This is an important reminder to have cash on you while you’re travelling!

PRO TIP: Using a travel-friendly credit card is another great money saver, especially if you need to take cash out. Wise has been my choice for 4 years now! You can have multiple currencies on one card, withdraw cash and everything is super user friendly. 10/10 recommend using Wise if you’re an avid traveller!

I have built the ULTIMATE 2-week road trip itinerary through Scotland . The itinerary is based on my travels, but I expanded it based on where I felt I would have loved more time on our trip and on some conversations with locals. You can browse my other UK guides on Thatch here !

Share this!

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Related Articles

Complete Cornwall Road Trip Budget

If you are thinking of a road trip in the UK this summer, you might want to consider checking out Cornwall. Cornwall is the southwestern

Complete 1-week Road Trip Budget for Germany and Alsace

You know when you picture fairytales, with timber-framed houses nestled into rolling hills? Yeah, that’s Germany and Alsace – and they actually look like that!!

Travel and Save Money in Malta: A Helpful Budget Summary

If you’ve caught the travel bug and can’t wait to go on your next trip but your budget is holding you back, Malta is the

Caity Zagar

Travel planner & blogger.

Welcome to CZ Phones Home! I’m here to help make your travels easier by giving you tips, advice and inspiration to make your trips memorable!

Driving in France: Complete Guide for First Timers

SafetyWing Nomad Insurance: My Honest Review

Summer in France: the BEST places to visit

Cutest Villages in Provence

How to spend 2 perfect days in Athens

Best time to visit Amsterdam for Tulips Season

Best Weekend Itinerary: Seeing The Tulips In Amsterdam (2024)

10 Restaurants you NEED to try in Lille

Follow along on instagram, cz_phones_home.

We noticed you're visiting from Netherlands. We've updated our prices to Euro for your shopping convenience. Use Canadian dollar instead. Dismiss

Privacy Policy -- Terms and Conditions

UK Road Distance Calculator Between Cities

Distance Calculator helps plan your UK travels by mapping routes, calculating driving distances between cities, and providing mile measurements. Calculate travel time and distance between two points or cities efficiently.

This distance calculator, covering Great Britain, Europe, and worldwide, is your go-to tool for planning routes efficiently. Simply enter your starting point and destination in the "From" and "To" fields, which accept city names, addresses, or GPS coordinates. Clicking the crosshair icon allows you to pinpoint locations on the map directly. After inputting your details, press "Calculate" to see your route.

Utilize the "Fuel consumption" and "Fuel price" fields for an accurate estimate of your journey's fuel costs. For a tailored travel experience, explore the "Advanced options" to include stops or adjust speeds, ensuring your drive is perfectly aligned with your preferences.

Routes and Mileage Between UK Cities

• Distance from Newcastle to Sunderland
• Distance from Dublin to Belfast
• Distance from Glasgow to Oban
• Distance from Ipswich to Norwich
• Distance from Manchester to Derby
• Distance from Manchester to Wolverhampton
• Distance from Preston to Bolton
• Distance from Scarborough to Bridlington
• Distance from Stirling to Dundee
• Distance from Liverpool to Manchester

Using the Distance Map Calculator for Route Planning

Family Holiday Planning : Families can utilise the distance calculator for orchestrating summer holiday journeys by car. It enables the estimation of total travel distance, facilitating budget planning through the calculation of fuel expenses, based on the vehicle's fuel consumption and the prevailing average fuel price per litre.

Business Travel Organisation : Professionals planning car trips for business purposes can benefit from this tool by identifying the most efficient routes, thereby optimising travel schedules and estimating travel expenditures, including fuel costs.

Logistics and Freight Management : For logistics companies and freight forwarders, the distance calculator is indispensable for mapping out routes, calculating distances between cities, and estimating transportation costs in line with company tariffs, thus enhancing the accuracy of freight quotations.

Coordinating Midpoint Meetings : The tool also proves valuable for friends planning meetups, allowing them to calculate a halfway point between different cities, making it simpler to arrange gatherings that are convenient for all parties involved.

Calculate Driving Distances Between Two Cities

Changes in infrastructure, such as new roads, highways, and bridges, mean that distances between cities may vary from year to year.

Our Distance Between Cities Calculator is the perfect partner to your preferred GPS navigator , enabling you to plot your journey ahead of time while your GPS takes over the navigation.

Drawing on OSM data, our calculator offers all the familiar features of Google Maps , including:

• Visualising your route on a map for a clear overview of your journey.
• Interactive map controls such as zoom, drag-and-drop, and a full-screen option.
• Route adjustment by relocating map markers or adding waypoints with addresses.
• Option to calculate distances in kilometres or miles, with a simple adjustment available in the top-right menu.

Unique to our calculator are several standout features:

• Options to print, save as PDF/PNG, or export your route in formats compatible with GIS systems and GPS navigators, such as GPX, KML, and GeoJSON .
• A route outline that provides a sequence of cities and timings for intermediate cities, a succinct alternative to lengthy turn-by-turn directions for longer trips.
• Fuel cost estimations that accommodate various types of fuel, including petrol, diesel, and LPG. Users simply input their fuel efficiency.
• The ability to freely generate distance matrices, which can be saved in Excel format for further analysis or planning.

Great Britain, Europe and Worldwide

This service measures the distance between cities around the world and is available in several languages:

• English www.drivebestway.com Calculate drive across USA cities
• English ca.drivebestway.com Distance to Canadian Cities Tool
• Spanish www.mejoresrutas.com Herramienta de cálculo de distancias México
• Portuguese www.melhoresrotas.com Distância intercidades no Brasil
• English au.drivebestway.com Australia Road Distance Finder
• Spanish es.mejoresrutas.com Distancia entre capitales de provincia españolas
• Spanish ar.mejoresrutas.com Medir distancias en rutas argentinas
• Spanish co.mejoresrutas.com Medir distancias en rutas de Colombia
• Spanish us.mejoresrutas.com Distancia entre estados de EE. UU.
• Spanish cl.mejoresrutas.com Medir km de viaje en Chile
• Spanish pe.mejoresrutas.com Medir distancias entre pueblos peruanos
• Spanish ve.mejoresrutas.com Calculador de distancias entre ciudades venezolanas
• Spanish br.mejoresrutas.com Ruta de viaje en Brasil
• Portuguese pt.melhoresrotas.com Distância intercidades em Portugal
• French www.bonnesroutes.com Outil de distance urbaine FR
• French ca.bonnesroutes.com Calcul de route nationale Canadienne
• German www.besterouten.com DE Streckenplaner
• Polish www.najlepszetrasy.com Oblicz trasę w Polsce
• Czech www.dobracesta.com Autem mezi českými městy vzdálenost
• Italian www.percorsomigliore.com Percorsi stradali in Italia
• Malay www.pandujalanterbaik.com Alat ukur jarak antara tempat di Malaysia
• Dutch www.besteroutes.com KM berekenen in Nederland
• Turkish www.duzgunyolusec.com Yolculuk mesafe hesaplama Türkiye
• Dutch be.besteroutes.com Van punt naar punt in België
• German be.besterouten.com Routenplaner kostenlos BE
• French be.bonnesroutes.com Planificateur de trajet belge
• French ch.bonnesroutes.com Outil suisse de calcul des distances
• German ch.besterouten.com Routenplaner gratis CH
• German at.besterouten.com Routenplaner kostenlos AT

How Distances Are Mapped and Calculated

Distance calculation: time and mileage algorithm.

This calculator determines routes using shortest path search algorithms within a weighted road graph, employing algorithms such as Dijkstra, A-Star, and Contraction Hierarchies . Unlike other calculators that prioritize distance or travel time, this tool optimizes drive time for cars, favoring routes along higher-class roads.

The road graph is built from OpenStreetMap data, with road segment distances calculated using the haversine formula , based on exact GPS coordinates. This approach calculates "air distance," which differs from road distance due to roads having curves and varying directions. The road is modeled as a series of straight segments, for each of which the haversine formula is applied, allowing for accurate road distance calculations between any two points.

Cities are not single points but span large areas. Thus, the calculator selects central points within cities for distance calculations. Routes can be customized away from city centers by entering specific addresses or selecting points on a map, with the option to adjust the route's start and end points directly on the map.

Travel time calculations break the route into segments, assessing the maximum speed allowed on each to estimate the quickest possible journey time.

It is important to remember that route calculations are based on computer models, which are not infallible. Always plan with contingencies in mind .

Alternative Techniques for Measuring Distances

One straightforward method to calculate distances involves using a highway atlas to visually plot a route. By utilising a curvimeter along this plotted route, one can obtain an estimated distance. For time estimation, it's common to consider an average speed of 80 km/h on major intercity roads. Though these estimates may be approximate, their simplicity is a key advantage.

Should a curvimeter be unavailable, a ruler can be a practical alternative. Begin by aligning the ruler's zero mark with the starting point of your route, carefully navigating it along the road's contours. The measured length can then be converted into kilometres or miles, in accordance with the atlas's map scale, which is typically indicated on each page.

For a more streamlined approach, consider utilising pre-calculated distance tables for Great Britain available on various websites, atlases, and guidebooks. This method is especially convenient for planning trips between major cities, though it's worth noting smaller towns might not be covered.

• Widget for Website
• Popular routes
• Suggest idea

• AI Travel Planner
• UK Petrol Prices
• Get the app

UK Fuel Cost Calculator

Maximize Your Travel Budget with Roadtrip: The Ultimate Fuel Cost Calculator for UK Drivers

In today's world, where fuel prices fluctuate unpredictably, UK drivers are constantly seeking ways to make their travel more economical without sacrificing the joy of the journey. Enter Roadtrip – your indispensable travel companion that demystifies the costs of driving across the UK by providing real-time petrol station prices and precise cost estimates tailored to your car's specifications.

Why Roadtrip Stands Out

Unlike generic fuel calculators, Roadtrip goes the extra mile by integrating unique features that cater specifically to the needs of UK motorists. By incorporating real-time data from over 3,800 petrol stations across the country and leveraging number plate lookup technology, Roadtrip offers unparalleled accuracy in fuel cost estimation. Whether you're planning a scenic drive through the Lake District, navigating the bustling streets of London, or exploring the rugged landscapes of Scotland, Roadtrip ensures that you're always informed about the most cost-effective fuel options available.

Features Tailored for UK Drivers

• Real-Time Petrol Station Prices: Access up-to-the-minute fuel prices from an extensive network of petrol stations, allowing you to compare and choose the cheapest option on your route.
• Number Plate Lookup: Simply enter your vehicle's number plate, and Roadtrip will fetch the exact specifications of your car, including fuel efficiency, to provide a personalized cost estimate.
• User-Friendly Interface: Roadtrip's intuitive design makes it easy to plan your trips. Enter your start and end points, and the app does the rest, calculating your travel costs in seconds.
• Cost Sharing Made Simple: Travelling with friends or family? Roadtrip's in-app feature lets you split the fuel costs effortlessly, ensuring everyone knows exactly how much to contribute.
• Eco-Friendly Options: For the environmentally conscious, Roadtrip also provides insights on how to reduce fuel consumption, promoting more sustainable travel practices.

Empowering Your Travel Decisions

With Roadtrip, you're not just saving money; you're also gaining the freedom to make informed travel decisions. The app's detailed breakdown of fuel costs empowers you to budget more effectively, whether you're commuting, planning a holiday, or embarking on a spontaneous road trip. Moreover, by highlighting the most economical fuel stops along your route, Roadtrip can significantly lower your travel expenses, making every journey more enjoyable and less taxing on your wallet.

A Companion for Every Journey

Roadtrip is designed to cater to a wide array of travel needs and preferences. Whether you're a daily commuter looking to minimize your monthly fuel expenses, a family planning your next holiday, or a group of friends organizing a weekend getaway, Roadtrip's versatile features ensure that you have all the information you need to plan your trips efficiently and economically.

Join the Roadtrip Community

By choosing Roadtrip, you're not just using an app; you're joining a community of savvy UK drivers who value efficiency, savings, and adventure. With Roadtrip, you'll discover not only the most cost-effective routes but also tips, tricks, and advice for making every journey more memorable. From scenic byways to hidden gems off the beaten path, Roadtrip encourages exploration with the confidence that comes from knowing you're making the most economical choices.

Getting Started

Embarking on your next adventure with Roadtrip is easy. Download the app, available for both iOS and Android, enter your journey details and vehicle information, and let Roadtrip handle the rest. With instant access to fuel cost calculations, real-time petrol prices, and much more, Roadtrip is your go-to guide for navigating the costs of travel in the UK.

In a world where travel costs can quickly spiral, Roadtrip offers a breath of fresh air, combining technology and convenience to help UK drivers save money and enjoy the journey to its fullest. Whether you're a seasoned traveller or just looking for ways to make your daily commute more affordable, Roadtrip's fuel cost calculator is the tool you need to travel smarter. Join the growing number of UK drivers who have made Roadtrip their essential travel companion, and experience the difference it makes in your travel budget and enjoyment.

Download Roadtrip today and start planning your next journey with confidence, knowing that you're equipped with the best tool for managing your travel expenses efficiently and effectively.

19 Best Road Trips in the UK for Scenic Drives

March 19, 2024

The UK is home to some of the world’s best road trips , with lots of (both official and unofficial) routes zig-zagging across the entirety of the region.

So in this four-wheeled guide, we’ve brought you the 19 best road trips in the UK . I’ve covered routes in all parts of the region, and I’ve included short rides, long rides, coastal journeys, mountainous meanders, and everything in between.

Rev up that engine and come join the fun!

1. The North Coast 500

2. the northumberland coastal route, 3. the north pennines, 4. the arran ring road, 5. the a4069 black mountain pass, 6. the heart 200, 7. the trotternish loop, 8. the snow roads scenic route, 9. the causeway coastal route, 10. the central sperrins route, 11. the cambrian way, 12. the welsh coastal way, 13. the borders historic route, 14. the lake district loop, 15. the atlantic highway, 16. the south west coastal 300, 17. the high mournes scenic loop, 18. the norfolk and suffolk coasts, 19. belleek to teemore, before you go.

I’m starting with my favorite road trip in the whole of the UK.

A 500-mile (800km) loop around the most northern parts of mainland Scotland, the North Coast 500 is iconic and unmissable—and if you’re only going to attempt one ride on this list, you should definitely make it this one. I’ve done this loop twice, and I’ll definitely be doing it again.

People genuinely have no idea how beautiful or remote this part of Scotland is. Along the route, you get fishing villages, charming towns, massive mountains, some of the best beaches you’ve ever seen, and lots of the planet’s best landscapes. Some stretches are unbelievably otherworldly, and totally unlike any other part of the UK.

If you like hiking, you’ll love this ride—it takes you to some of the best, most rugged and most underrated walking spots in the UK, and you could spend years exploring new treks and trails in this area. For walks, I recommend Stac Pollaidh, Torridon, and the shoreside strolls on the west coast (but there are also way more).

For sheer variety and beauty, road trips really don’t get much better than this… and this is one of the best road trips in the UK.

• Location: Scotland
• Distance: 500 miles/800km
• Itinerary: Signposted loop beginning and ending in Inverness (or Applecross), and following the coast for the majority of the way
• Recommended Time: 5-21 days
• Highlights: Ullapool, Torridon, the Bealach na Bà, the tiny villages, the meandering roads, and the beautiful beaches

For me, the Northumberland Coastal Route is the very best road trip in England.

That might be because I’m from the area and I’m very very biased and I absolutely love the place I’m from… but it just might also be because it’s actually true.

If you like remote beaches, isolated shorelines, friendly fishing villages, massive castles, or gigantic portions of heavily-salted fish and chips, you’ll undoubtedly fall in love with this ride.

You start in Tynemouth, just east of the city of Newcastle . From here, you follow the coast all the way to Berwick-upon-Tweed, the last significant settlement before England becomes Scotland.

Along the way, you’ll pass some of my favorite places in the world, including Cresswell, Alnmouth, Amble, Seahouses, Bamburgh, Craster, Bamburgh Castle, Dunstanburgh Castle, and plenty more. If you want history and beaches without countless crowds, it doesn’t get better than this.

Though this is an incredible road trip, it’s actually most famous as the route for the ultra-beautiful Coast and Castles bike ride .

• Location: England
• Distance: Around 75 miles/120km
• Itinerary: Linear route from Tynemouth to Berwick-upon-Tweed, following the coast the entire way
• Recommended Time : 3-5 days
• Highlights: Tynemouth, Cresswell, Alnmouth, Craster, Bamburgh Castle, Dunstanburgh Castle, lots of friendly faces, lots of fish and chips, and a whole load of quiet towns and beaches

If you’re looking for underrated and under-the-radar, this is the best English road trip on our list.

I love the North Pennines. A bleak, barren and boggy range of peaks in northern England, this is the best mountainous area if you’re looking for remote, rural hikes without lots of other people.

It’s a very unique area. While most hilly regions are green and verdant, this place is sort of apocalyptic and empty, but in a strangely attractive way.

It’s also a great choice if you want a short trip—the route I’m recommending measures only 40 miles (65km).

Start in Lambley, a village famous for its massive viaduct. From here, head south to lovely Alston, my favorite town in the area. Keep heading south and you’ll hit Garrigill, Ashgill Force waterfall, and the ever-popular town of pretty Barnard Castle.

If you want to add a detour, I recommend hiking up Cross Fell , the tallest peak in the North Pennines. The highest point in England outside the Lake District, it sits at a lofty 893 meters (2,930 feet).

• Distance: Around 40 miles/65km
• Itinerary: Linear route from Lambley to Barnard Castle
• Recommended Time : 1-3 days
• Highlights: Lambley Viaduct, Alston, Ashgill Force, Barnard Castle, the optional detour to Cross Fell, and exploring a barren-but-beautiful area

Another circular Scottish route, this is one of the best road trips in the UK for completionists who like feeling as if they’ve seen the entirety of one particular place.

Off the west coast of mainland Scotland, you have the Isle of Arran… which is famously known as ‘Scotland in miniature.’

It comes with that reputation because it offers most of the same things as mainland Scotland. You get great beaches , excellent hikes , multi-day walking and cycling trails, fantastic food, friendly faces, varied wildlife , and some of the cutest coastal settlements you’ve probably ever seen.

If you want to see pretty much the entirety of the island, you can drive around its whole perimeter by riding the Arran ring road. It measures in at only 56 miles (90km), but it brings you close to everything you could want to see .

Make sure you hike up Goatfell, walk some stretches of the Arran Coastal Way , and spend some time exploring towns and villages.

• Distance: 56 miles/90km
• Itinerary: Loop beginning and ending in Brodick, following Arran’s entire coast in a big circle
• Recommended Time : 2-7 days
• Highlights: Seeing all of Arran’s highlights, some of the best beaches you’ve ever seen, the Arran Coastal Way, an ascent up Goatfell, and the settlements of Brodick, Lochranza and Blackwaterfoot

The A4069 Black Mountain Pass is only a short journey, but it’s the most famous road trip in Wales by a long way, and it’s absolutely incredible.

Sitting in the western side of the Brecon Beacons (a massive range of mountains in the south of Wales) , rides this short don’t normally have views this good. Famous for appearing on British TV show Top Gear, the route offers jagged peaks, massive passes, and some of the best panoramas that Wales has to offer.

Notorious for its tight bends, hairpin turns, suddenly-there sheep, and stomach-churning scenery, this is an adrenaline junkie’s dream. That said, it’s not as dangerous as some people like to pretend… so as long as you’re a competent driver, you’ll definitely be comfortable.

If you like mountains, or if you’re looking for a short but brilliant ride, this is one of the best road trips in the UK. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to stop for photographs (there are lots of laybys where you can pull in to get your camera out) .

• Location: Wales
• Distance: 20 miles/32km
• Itinerary: Linear route from Llandovery to Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, across the A4069 road in the Brecon Beacons
• Recommended Time : 1 hour
• Highlights: A short ride, an exhilarating adventure, hitting the most famous road in Wales, and some of the most dramatic mountain scenery that the UK has to offer

The Heart 200 is one of the newest official road trips in Scotland. And unlike the North Coast 500, it takes you in a loop through the center of the nation, instead of on a tour around the outskirts.

The idea behind this ride is that it journeys through the heart of the nation, hitting lots of the most popular tourist spots. It runs between two excellent national parks: Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, and the Cairngorms National Park (which is the biggest national park in the UK).

In between those parks, you also hit Perth, Stirling, Pitlochry, Callander, Bridge of Allan, Loch Tay, Loch Earn, Loch Leven, and loads more great stuff. The whole route is signposted… which is useful, because the ride meanders a maze-like route through this part of the nation.

For lots of people, the highlights here are all the cute towns and villages, and there are dozens of tiny places dotted around the route. If you like exploring small settlements, this is one of the best road trips in the UK.

• Distance: 158 miles/320km
• Itinerary: Loop starting and ending in Perth or Stirling, following the official signposts all the way
• Recommended Time : 3-7 days
• Highlights: Perth, Stirling, Pitlochry, Bridge of Allan, Loch Tay, Loch Leven, and exploring the outskirts of two of the UK’s best national parks

Sort of similar to the Arran route I’ve outlined above, the Trotternish Loop takes you around an island. But this time, it’s the much-more-famous Isle of Skye —and you don’t see the entirety of the place.

Instead, you see the whole of the Trotternish Peninsula, where you’ll find lots of Skye’s most famous attractions. The most northern part of the Isle of Skye, the Trotternish Peninsula is a finger-shaped area full of attractions and adventures. The most famous parts of this place include the Quiraing, the Old Man of Storr, Mealt Falls, and the island’s capital of Portree.

But you’ll also see Staffin, Uig, Rubha Hunish, the Fairy Glen, the dinosaur footprints of An Corran Beach, and plenty more.

Even if you don’t make any en-route stops, the drive itself is still phenomenal, offering some of the most dramatic landscapes in all of Scotland. If you’re visiting Skye, you should absolutely drive along the Trotternish Loop.

• Distance: 50 miles/80km
• Itinerary: Loop beginning and ending in Portree, following the coast for pretty much the entire ride
• Recommended Time : 2-4 days
• Highlights: The Quiraing, the Old Man of Storr, Mealt Falls, Rubha Hunish, the Fairy Glen, Portree, the dramatic drive itself, and seeing lots of Skye’s highlights in one big trip

If you want a real adventure, this is one of the best road trips in the UK. It takes you through some of the highest parts of the Cairngorms, the biggest (and arguably most impressive) national park in the UK.

Riding through some of the most mountainous parts of Scotland, the Snow Roads Scenic Route climbs through the highest public road in Britain (and, consequently, typically the first road to be hit by seasonal snowfall, which gives the route its name).

Because it’s so high, this is the best ride on our list for panoramic views—along the way, you’ll see lots of peaks and passes. The highest point is Cairnwell Pass, which sits at a loftily-impressive height of 670 meters (2,200 feet).

Full of tight turns and hair-raising switchbacks, you need to be fairly confident to drive this one. But the roads are well-surfaced, and the infrastructure is great (with lots of designated photo-grabbing opportunities along the way, which are purposely placed in the most scenic spots).

By road, there’s no better way to explore the Cairngorms… and this ride is a mountain-lover’s dream.

• Distance: 90 miles/144km
• Itinerary: Linear route from Blairgowrie to Grantown-On-Spey, following the signposts all the way
• Highlights: Cairnwell Pass, Tomintoul, Corgarff Castle , the photo opportunities, the winding roads, and seeing many Cairngorms highlights without ever needing to leave your car

The most famous road trip in Northern Ireland by a long way, The Causeway Coastal Route runs from Derry to Belfast along the northern and eastern coasts of the nation.

It’s most well-known for passing the Devil’s Causeway (the only UNESCO site in Northern Ireland, and the location that gives the route its name). Make sure you stop to see it—it’s one of the strangest geological oddities in this part of the planet.

But the highlights run way beyond that… you get beaches, coastal walks, some surprisingly good inland hikes, Dunluce Castle , Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge , and super-friendly towns and villages.

If you’re only going to tackle one road trip in Northern Ireland, you should probably make it this one. It’s a particularly good choice if you’re a big fan of detours — there are nine official side-trip loops along the route, and they all make your journey bigger, better, much more scenic, and a lot more adventurous.

You should also give yourself enough time to explore both Derry and Belfast, two excellent cities. Tiny Derry in particular is super charming, and it’s one of my favorite settlements in the UK.

• Location: Northern Ireland
• Distance: 130 miles/212km
• Itinerary: Linear route from Derry to Belfast, running all the way along the coast
• Highlights: The Devil’s Causeway, Derry and Belfast themselves, lots of excellent detours, endless coastal walks, Dunluce Castle, Carrickfergus Castle, seeing a massive chunk of Northern Ireland, and riding around the nation’s most famous road trip

In the northwest of Northern Ireland, you have the Sperrins, a mountainous area that takes up almost a quarter of the nation. They’re not the tallest or most well-known mountains in the area, but they’re brimming with hikes, drives, cycling routes, lakes, valleys, historical sites, and some of Northern Ireland’s most overlooked adventures.

In and around the entirety of the Sperrins, there are four official driving routes , taking you to various parts of the area. Of them all, the Central Sperrins Route is the longest, the most comprehensive, and (arguably) the best.

This particular route takes you very close to the summit of Sawel, the highest peak in the area. It’s not massive (measuring in at only 678 meters/2,224 feet), but it’s a great hike.

Other highlights along the way include Baronscourt Forest, Gortinglen Forest, Glenelly Valley, the climb up Mullaghcarn, the villages of Donemana and Sion Mills, and the medieval Aghascrebagh Ogham Stone.

And of course, if you want to add even more action and adventure to your ride, you can add an extra Sperrin road trip or two to your route (all four are joined to one another).

• Distance: 90 miles/145km
• Itinerary: Loop beginning and ending in various possible places, but the best choice is Strabane
• Highlights: Strabane, Baronscourt Forest, Gortinglen Forest, Glenelly Valley, the ascents up Sawel and Mullaghcarn, exploring an underrated part of Northern Ireland, and the exciting option of adding extra road trips

If you want to see lots of Wales and lots of mountains, The Cambrian Way is one of the best road trips in the UK.

The longest Welsh ride we’ve featured on our list, it’s an official route, and it’s probably the most popular road trip in the nation. It runs from the Welsh capital of Cardiff (right in the south of the nation) through to Conwy, a castled resort town on the nation’s northern coast.

But though it begins and ends in coastal territory, the route mainly passes over mountains. It runs through the Brecon Beacons, Elan Valley, the Cambrian Mountains, and parts of Snowdonia National Park.

If you want to take some hilly hiking detours, you have endless options. Snowdon is of course the most popular choice, but there are also lots of wanders in and around nearby Beddgelert. But don’t overlook the southern mountain ranges, which are quieter and arguably more interesting.

Non-hiking highlights include the narrow-gauge Brecon Mountain Railway , Gwydir Castle , and Adventure Parc Snowdonia , but there’s plenty more fun.

• Distance: 240 miles/386km
• Itinerary: Linear route from Cardiff to Conwy via the Brecon Beacons, Elan Valley, the Cambrian Mountains, and parts of Snowdonia National Park
• Recommended Time : 2-10 days
• Highlights: Endless hiking side-trips, Snowdonia National Park, Elan Valley, Conwy, Cardiff, and tackling the longest Welsh road trip on our list

Another official Welsh road trip, the Coastal Way is another south-to-north odyssey through Wales.

But instead of cutting inland through peaks and passes, it instead runs along the coast, taking riders along some of the nation’s best beaches and coastal settlements. The route meanders from St Davids to Aberdaron, following the coast pretty much all the way.

If you like seas, sands and shores, this is one of the best road trips in the UK. Some of the best beaches along the route include Whitesands Bay, Tywyn Beach, and Llangrannog Beach, but there are many more. Make sure you also stop off at the lovely seaside settlements of Abersoch, Cardigan, Aberaeron, and Llangrannog.

All of that said, this ride isn’t all beaches and bays—you also get some good inland hiking opportunities. The northern part of the ride runs west of Snowdonia National Park, while the southern Preseli Hills are great for low-level wanders.

Last of all, make sure you also spend some time in both St Davids and Aberdaron. While St Davids is the pilgrimage-famed smallest city in Britain, Aberdaron is a quaint former fishing village.

• Distance: 180 miles/290km
• Itinerary: Linear route from St Davids to Aberdaron, following the coast all the way
• Recommended Time : 3-10 days
• Highlights: Whitesands Bay, Tywyn Beach, Llangrannog Beach, Abersoch, Cardigan, Aberaeron, St Davids, the Preseli Hills, and seeing countless hidden highlights of the beautiful Welsh coast

The Borders Historic Route is the most underrated Scottish road trip we’ve featured on this list.

Starting from just inside England, the ride then runs all the way to Edinburgh, passing through some of the most history-stuffed parts of southern Scotland.

If you’re interested in history and heritage, make sure you check out Gilnockie Tower , Abbotsford House , and the National Mining Museum of Scotland . And of course, when you reach Scotland’s capital of Edinburgh , there’s plenty of historic stuff to explore there too.

Along the route, you’ll also pass some serene towns and villages, including Langholm, Hawick, Selkirk and Galashiels.

Broadly speaking, this route is very rural and quiet, with lots of rarely-visited settlements and attractions. If you’re interested in Scottish history, lowland Scotland, or being surrounded by few other tourists, you’ll definitely love this ride. It’s not the most dramatic or scenic route in Scotland, but it’s endlessly charming.

• Location: Scotland (and a tiny bit of England)
• Distance: 89 miles/143 km
• Itinerary: Linear waymarked route from Scots Dyke to Edinburgh
• Recommended Time : 3-4 days
• Highlights: Exploring an underrated part of Scotland, the settlements of Hawick, Selkirk and Galashiels, the borderland lowlands, the history and heritage, and an excellent finale in Edinburgh

For seeing very-famous places, this is definitely one of the best road trips in the UK.

The Lake District National Park is the most well-known hiking hub in the entirety of England, and masses of locals travel here for hiking, cycling, swimming, and various other outdoor adventures.

There are endless beautiful drives in and around the region, but for seeing lots of the highlights, here’s what I recommend…

Start in Ambleside, right in the middle of the park. Head east (via the shores of Ullswater) to Pooley Bridge, then cut west to Keswick and Cockermouth. From Cockermouth, head south to Broughton-in-Furness, then back to Ambleside to complete your route.

If you take no detours (though you probably will!), this ride clocks in at 110 miles (177km).

It’s impossible to squeeze all of the Lake District highlights into one drive, but this route does a pretty good job of doing exactly that. It offers Helvellyn, Coniston Water, Keswick, Windermere, Ullswater, all the places we’ve already mentioned, and some of the best panoramas of the park’s various areas.

If you have time, I recommend hiking up Helvellyn, and walking along the entire southern shore of Ullswater.

• Distance: 110 miles/177km
• Itinerary: Loop beginning and ending in Ambleside, via Ullswater, Pooley Bridge, Keswick, Cockermouth, and Broughton-in-Furness
• Highlights: Ambleside, Coniston Water, Keswick, Windermere, seeing the most famous national park in the UK, hiking up Helvellyn, and walking along the shores of Ullswater

Probably the most well-known driving route in England, The Atlantic Highway runs across some of the most famous beaches in the UK.

The ‘Atlantic Highway’, in truth, is just a better-sounding name for the A39 road, a beautiful drive that runs through a western part of southern England.

Though most people only drive from Bridgwater to Bude (which is around 100 miles/160km), I think it’s best to take the route a little further, traveling all the way from Bath to Newquay. If you take the longer route, it measures in at around 210 miles (338km).

Along the way, you’ll pass some of the best parts of the Devon and Cornwall coasts, which many people think are the best shorelines in the whole of the UK. And as another big perk, this is one of the warmest parts of the region, perfect if you’re trying to dodge shoddy weather.

One of the best road trips in the UK for seas and sands, it’s phenomenal. But be warned: it gets outrageously busy in summer… so you should expect lots of crowds and traffic, and you should try to tackle it outside of peak season.

• Distance: Around 210 miles/338km
• Itinerary: Linear route from Bath to Newquay, following the coastline all the way
• Recommended Time : 5-10 days
• Highlights: Bath, Bude, Porlock, Ilfracombe, Woolacombe, lots of beaches, cliffs and sands, and enjoying the warm climes of the hottest part of the UK

The South West Coastal 300 takes you to some of the most overlooked parts of Scotland’s brilliant coastline.

Most people have heard about the northern and northwestern coastlines of Scotland… but way fewer know about all the treats and treasures on Scotland’s southwestern coast.

Some of the highlights include Ayr, Stranraer, Newton Stewart, the Mull of Galloway lighthouse, Girvan, Portpatrick, Moffat and Whithorn. Portpatrick in particular is a big local hotspot, and it’s one of my favorite seaside villages in Scotland.

You also get great seafood, rolling hills, mini lochs, and some underrated hiking opportunities. The entire route circles around Galloway Forest Park , which I think is the best walking region in southern Scotland. Best of all, because this area isn’t yet overrun by tourists, locals are super friendly and welcoming, and love chatting with visitors.

If you want beaches, hikes and villages without crowds, this is one of the best road trips in the UK.

• Distance: 300 miles/482km
• Itinerary: Signposted loop starting and ending in many potential places (but Dumfries is best)
• Recommended Time : 7-14 days
• Highlights: Newton Stewart, Girvan, Portpatrick, the stretch of coast between Ayr and Stranraer, Galloway Forest Park, great seafood, and enjoying coasts without crowds

The High Mournes Scenic Loop takes you through the most impressive part of the Mournes mountains, in the southern part of Northern Ireland.

If you’re looking for short but impressive, this is one of the best road trips in the UK, and it’s crammed with peaks, panoramas and passes at every twist, turn, and hairpin bend.

In and around the area, there are mountains, lakes, seaside views, and forests—so although the route only clocks in at 32 miles (51km), there’s a huge amount of variety. Best of all, the route skirts around Slieve Donard, the highest mountain in Northern Ireland (with a highest point of 850 meters/2790 feet).

Start in the beautiful seaside town of Newcastle, then follow the B180 and the B27 roads, which will lead you to the village of Attica. From Attica, head east, and you’ll hit Annalong, a tiny marina-fronted village where most people end their trip. But I recommend not stopping here—instead, you should turn this trip into a loop by riding along the coast back to Newcastle.

It’s almost unbelievable how much beauty, variety and awe you can cram into a trip this small. If you’re short on time, I 100% recommend it.

• Distance: 32 miles/51km
• Itinerary: Loop beginning and ending in Newcastle
• Recommended Time : 1-3 hours
• Highlights: Newcastle, Annalong, climbing up Slieve Donard, pretty coastal views, the tucked-away lakes, and seeing what might just be the most dramatic mountains in Northern Ireland

Though they’re famous, the Norfolk and Suffolk Coasts (in the southeast of England) are often overlooked in favor of the coastlines in the southwest of England (where you find the Atlantic Highway, which we’ve already outlined).

But this region is absolutely beautiful, and it’s definitely worth exploring.

Because it’s such a big area, there are of course lots of routes you can attempt in the region. But I’m going to recommend driving from Felixstowe to Huntstanton, which is a pretty lengthy drive of around 180 miles (290km).

If you ride the whole route, you’ll hit the three best parts of the region: the Norfolk Coast Area of Natural Beauty, The Norfolk Broads, and The Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Natural Beauty.

The coastlines are the most famous part of this ride, but this part of the nation also has some pretty good low-level hills and hiking… if you want a compromise between shorelines and mountains, you won’t find any better than this.

If you’re interested in birds, this is one of the best road trips in the UK—there are many RSPB reserves in this part of the region.

• Distance: Around 180 miles/290km
• Itinerary: Linear route from Felixstowe to Huntstanton, following the coast all the way
• Recommended Time : 5-8 days
• Highlights: Hunstanton, Blakeney Point (where you’ll find the largest seal colony in England), Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft, and the three officially-designated areas of natural beauty

Another great option for a short ride, the route from Belleek to Teemore is in an underrated part of Northern Ireland, and it’s brimming with endless lakeside views.

It’s not an official drive, but it’s one of my favorites… and it’s absolutely beautiful. But here’s the important part: when you tackle it, don’t take the direct route. Instead, follow the A46 out of Belleek, which will bring you along the southwestern shores of Lower Lough Erne.

One of the prettiest lakes in Northern Ireland, it’s full of great views, excellent picnic spots, and lots of tiny islands. Other highlights along this part of the route include the Cliffs of Magho , Blackslee Waterfall , and Tully Castle .

Eventually, you’ll hit the town of Enniskillen, which is great for an overnight stay. From here, pass both Lisnaskea and Teemore on a pretty ride which takes you over the shores of Upper Lough Erne.

During this part of the ride, make sure you check out the oddly-situated Hare Krishna Temple, which sits on a small island inside the lake.

When you get to Teemore, you’re super close to the Republic of Ireland border. I recommend crossing the border for even more adventures!

• Distance: 38 miles/61km
• Itinerary: Linear route from Belleek to Teemore, via Enniskillen
• Recommended Time : 1-2 days
• Highlights: The Cliffs of Magho, Blackslee Waterfall, Teemore, Enniskillen, the strange Hare Kirishna temple, lots of tiny islands, and endless lakeside views

And that brings us to the end of our guide to the 19 best road trips in the UK . Thanks for reading!

We compiled this list from our collections of the best road trips in England , the best road trips in Scotland , the best road trips in Wales and the best road trips in Northern Ireland . So for even more detail, rev on over to those.

And if you’re curious, here’s the answer to the popular question: How Long Does it Take To Travel Across Great Britain?

About the author

Senior Travel Reporter

Paul is a handsome and hilarious travel writer and travel journalist from the UK. He's hiked, hitchhiked and laughed his way through more than fifty countries, and he's always looking for a new place to call home. Originally from Newcastle, he's lived all over the UK, spent more than three years in Asia, and most recently lived in Vietnam and then in Georgia.

Latest Posts

Arizona , Outdoors

Which Side of the Grand Canyon is best to Visit?

Read more →

Scotland , Outdoors

15 Best North Coast 500 Campsites

What is a Scottish Bothy? Full Beginner Guide

Travel Guides You Can Trust

About Travelness

Brand Assets

Recent Posts

Tours & Activities

Tours in Europe

Digital Security

© 2024 Travelness. All Rights Reserved.

Terms of use - Privacy policy

I'm Just A Girl

Affordable Luxury Travel

The Ultimate South Coast England Road Trip – 2-Week Itinerary

This post about the ultimate South Coast England Road Trip contains affiliate links.

Planning an epic road trip to the South Coast of England but not sure where to start when it comes to creating an itinerary? I’ve got you covered with my ultimate South England road trip itinerary!

The lead-up to two-week our trip along England’s magnificent South Coast was pretty hectic in itself as we headed up to Durham/ Darlington for one night , then down to London for a work party and then to the Harry Potter Studio Tour in Watford the following day, before spending the night in St Albans and eventually heading off on an epic South England road trip.

Our trip door-to-door from our house in York was 18 days in total, but the below itinerary for a South Coast England road trip is 14 days as I haven’t included all the bits on either side of the trip that we did as they won’t be relevant to you!

How long it takes you to tick off all the amazing things on this epic England road trip itinerary will depend on where you start your road trip and all the other bits you want to see/do in between, but to get you started, here’s my ultimate South Coast England road trip itinerary for 2 weeks!

Planning your South England road trip last minute?

Check out some of the top tours and attractions to experience on a road trip along South Coast England below!

• Canterbury Guided Walking Tour
• White Cliffs of Dover and Canterbury Day Trip From London
• Brighton i360 Ticket Entry
• Portsmouth Spinnaker Tower Entry Ticket
• Lulworth Cove & Durdle Door Day Trip From Bournemouth
• Seven Sisters & South Downs Tour From London
• Stonehenge Admission Ticket
• Introduction To Surfing Lesson In Newquay
• 1 Hour Scenic Harbour Cruise In Plymouth
• Poole Harbour & Islands Cruise

I’m so excited to share my South England road trip itinerary in today’s post, so if you’re looking for some epic UK road trip inspiration, you’ve come to the right place!

Here is a rough map route that you can follow (our route varied quite a lot with all the little places in between, but if you follow the rough route below, you should have an awesome time on your Southern England road trip!).

How many days do you need for a south England road trip?

I think 2 weeks is the perfect amount of time for a road trip in south England ! Two weeks will give you plenty of time to travel all the way from Margate in Kent, along the South England coast towards Devon and Cornwall!

South Coast England Road Trip Map

Unfortunately, Google Maps only lets you put a certain number of stops when planning a route, so there are a few places that it’s missed as part of our Southern England trip, but you should hopefully get a good idea!

South Coast England Road Trip itinerary summary

• Canterbury, Margate, Ramsgate
• Dover & Hastings
• Eastbourne, Seven Sisters & Brighton
• Southampton, Salisbury & Stonehenge
• Bournemouth, Old Harry Rocks
• Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door & Exeter
• Torquay, Dartmouth, Plymouth, Looe
• Polperro, Lantic Bay, Eden Project
• Truro, Lizard Point, Kynance Cove
• St Michael’s Mount, Penzance, Porthcurno Beach
• Minack Theatre, Land’s End, Sennen Cove
• St Ives, Gwithian Beach, Perranporth, Newquay
• Fistral Beach, Port Isaac, Tintagel Castle
• Woolacombe & Ilfracombe

Day 1 – Canterbury, Margate & Ramsgate – south England road trip

As I mentioned above, our Southern England trip officially started in London/Watford the day before we visited Canterbury when we went to the Warner Bros. Studios Harry Potter Tour , but I suppose it officially began in Canterbury.

The beautiful cathedral city of Canterbury was a great place to start our road trip as it had a truly quintessentially British feel to it. With the spectacular cathedral, awesome pop-up food market (be sure to try the souvlaki, it was so delicious!) and gorgeous streets to explore, Canterbury is a great stop on any England road trip itinerary for a few hours.

Best things to do in Canterbury – 2-week South Coast England Road Trip

• Canterbury Cathedral
• Eat at City Feast
• Visit the Catching Lives bookshop

Next up, we drove the relatively short 45-minute journey to Margate ; a place that I’ve wanted to visit for years ! I was so happy to discover that it didn’t disappoint and while I don’t think you really need to spend longer than a day or two there (although I’m sure you easily could!), it’s a fab place to tuck into some fish and chips (get a £5 portion from Peter’s Fish Factory – they’re honestly the best fish and chips I’ve had in a long time) and mooch around the cool streets and along the seafront.

Of course, no trip to Margate is complete without a brief visit to Dreamland Margate, so be sure to factor in some time for a quick whizz around on the rides while you’re there!

We were originally planning to spend the night at a free campsite just outside of Margate but it didn’t feel suitable, so we drove to a little pub in Ramsgate instead where we parked in their car park for the night.

I’ve written a detailed list of all the places where we stayed on our road trip as we found so many great free sites that I want to share with you to keep your South Coast England road trip costs as budget-friendly as possible!

Best things to do in Margate

• Go on the rides and attractions at Dreamland
• Eat fish and chips from Peter’s Fish Factory
• Enjoy a pint at Margate Harbour Arms

Read more: 17 Epic Things To Do In Margate, Kent This Year

Day 2 – Dover – South Coast England itinerary

The next morning we drove to Dover and we were originally going to spend the day exploring Dover itself and of course, the famous White Cliffs of Dover , but the weather was so terrible that we decided to have a “day off” (remember at this point we’d already been on the road for five days!) and so we parked up at Little Satmar Campsite & Holiday Park for the day/night where we got a bit of work done, as well as some laundry and we had our first shower in three days.

When you’re on a road trip for an indefinite period of time, it can be easy to think that you’ll spend every single day doing something epic and exploring everything you possibly can, but it’s also important to schedule some rest days and downtime as well, otherwise, you’ll inevitably end up with road trip burnout!

Best things to do in Dover

• See the White Cliffs of Dover
• Visit Dover Castle
• Walk to St Margaret’s Bay

Day 3 – Dover & Hastings

While the weather still wasn’t glorious sunshine the next day, it was just about as good as we could hope for given the ridiculously temperamental British summertime, so we had resolved to go out and explore the White Cliffs of Dover regardless of whether it was raining or sunny.

Thankfully, we were blessed with no rain and the occasional glimmer of blue sky and I was delighted to finally see the infamous White Cliffs. I was somewhat slightly underwhelmed by them, especially when I reflect on the trip in hindsight as we saw so many other cooler things, but I do think they’re worth a visit as part of your South Coast road trip in England.

You can park at the National Trust car park for the White Cliffs of Dover (at a flat rate of £5 per car and I think £7 for motorhomes but we got away with paying for a car as our camper is pretty small!) and then enjoy a leisurely walk from the visitor centre to various viewpoints along the coast.

Read more: An Ultimate Guide To The White Cliffs Of Dover – What You Need To Know

In the afternoon we headed to Hastings which is a cool little seaside town that I’d never even considered visiting until we were in the area.

There are plenty of fun activities for families and kids to enjoy in Hastings, including a crazy golf course, plus plenty of funfair rides and even a mini rollercoaster! You can also take the funicular up the hill to get an awesome view of the beach, pier and sea below.

Top things to do in Hastings – South Coast England Road Trip

• Stroll through Hastings Old Town
• Play mini/crazy golf near the beach
• Ride the East Hill Cliff Railway

Day 4 – Eastbourne, Seven Sisters & Brighton

The next day we drove through Eastbourne and we were planning on parking up and spending an hour or two there, but it didn’t strike us with a desperate need to visit, so we continued driving right through it and made our way to the Seven Sisters Country Park instead.

The Seven Sisters were much more impressive to me than the White Cliffs of Dover and when I saw how cloudy and grey it was outside, I was really gutted at first as I thought it would make the cliffs look rubbish, but the moody weather actually made them look even cooler, so I don’t think it matters too much if you don’t get “perfect” weather as they’re definitely one of the best spots to visit on a south coast itinerary!

To see the Seven Sisters cliffs from the beach, park at the National Trust car park (we paid £3 for two hours which is more than enough time to have a mooch about on the beach and take plenty of pictures of the cliffs) and then walk down the steps to the beach.

After the Seven Sisters, we drove to Brighton which is a place that’s been on my UK bucket list for as long as I can remember. I recall watching Zoella move there when I was around 13/14 years old and ever since then, I’ve wanted to spend some time there!

Brighton certainly is as lively and hectic as they say it is and it had that big city energy that I absolutely love (it’s why I adore New York so much!). The sounds, sights, smells and people are so eclectic that it can be a bit of a culture shock at first, but there’s so much to see and do and while we only spent one day there, I’m sure you could spend a good few days soaking everything up!

Best things to do in Brighton

• Go up the British Airways 1360 Viewing Tower
• Walk along Brighton Palace Pier
• Visit the Royal Pavilion

Read more: The Best Things To Do In Brighton – Ultimate Travel Guide

Day 5 – Portsmouth – South Coast road trip

The following day was more of an “admin” day as we’d not had a shower in a good few days at this point, so we stopped in a little town called Havant where we spent an hour or so at the local leisure centre and we also popped into the local Wetherspoon’s where we got 99p coffee and tea refills while we charged our laptops and phones for an hour! See, life on the road really isn’t all that glamorous!

Once we were all freshened up and fully charged, we made our way to Portsmouth where we had a little mooch around before setting up camp for the night on a quiet little road overlooking the harbour in Port Solent. It was an absolutely gorgeous freedom camping spot, and we were treated to the best sunset of the whole trip while we were there!

Top things to do in Portsmouth – 2-week South Coast England road trip

• Wander around Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
• Go up the Spinnaker Tower
• Visit the Mary Rose Museum

Day 6 – Southampton, Salisbury & Stonehenge

The next day we drove to Southampton which I wasn’t particularly struck on. We only spent around an hour or so there before moving on to Salisbury, although we did eat a yummy gyro while we were there!

Salisbury is a pretty small cathedral city with plenty of cute cafes, shops and little market stalls. It’s probably most famed for its spectacular cathedral that dates back to the 13th century and is home to an original copy of the Magna Carter.

After Salisbury, we drove the very short 9 miles (20-minute drive) to the world-famous Stonehenge ; a site that I’d never been to before but always wanted to visit. However, tickets for Stonehenge are pretty pricey for my liking and only the night before, we’d been talking to a fellow camper who said that there was a huge country road where dozens of campers stay the night completely for free with an incredible view of Stonehenge right from where you park up.

As we’re typically British tight-arses when it comes to spending lots of money on things we don’t have to, we found an epic spot to park up for the night for free with an epic view of Stonehenge all day/night!

Book tickets to visit Stonehenge here!

Day 7 – Christchurch

The following day we drove to a paid campsite near Christchurch, Bournemouth where we spent the day doing general admin and chores in and around the van, before chilling out for the evening as we knew we had a very busy week or so ahead of us as we gradually approached Dorset, Devon and Cornwall.

Day 8 – Snowtrax Alpine Activity Centre

The next day we spent a couple of hours in a nearby laundrette as the campsite we stayed at didn’t have any laundry facilities and then we headed to Snowtrax Alpine Activity Centre which was just over the road from where we were staying at Longfield Caravan Park.

Unfortunately, they only had availability for one person to take part in snowboarding lessons, so Matt went ahead and snowboarded for the first time while I got some work done in the restaurant area. We then went for dinner at a local Toby Carvery (which is very overrated!) and then drove to a little layby just outside of Bournemouth where we parked up for the night.

Day 9 – Bournemouth, Old Harry Rocks, Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door & Exeter

Day 9 of our South Coast England road trip was our busiest and best day so far as we did and saw so much! Firstly, we drove into Bournemouth for an hour at around 9 am as we were awake early and we knew we had a busy day ahead of us so we wanted to get in before the crowds hit and the whole town was virtually empty when we arrived!

After that, we went headed for the South West Coast into Dorset National Park and our first stop was the Old Harry Rocks walk from Studland. This was probably one of my favourite things we did on the entire trip and the rock formations are crazy impressive, I’d recommend heading there if you’re a fan of the White Cliffs and Seven Sisters.

We only paid for two hours at the car park (£4) which was plenty of time for us to walk to the rocks and back. You can walk to South Beach as well, but we weren’t too bothered about doing this.

Our day just kept getting better and better after that as we headed to Lulworth Cove car park where we paid for 4 hours of parking for £5. We didn’t realise at first that you could park at Lulworth Cove and then walk to Durdle Door (we were originally going to drive and park at Durdle Door car park), but it’s well worth the walk, even if it is insanely exhausting!

Lulworth Cove itself is so beautiful and there are plenty of ice cream shops and fish and chip eateries to sate your appetite and a walk down to the cove, as well as up to the little viewing point can’t be missed either!

Durdle Door is arguably one of the most famous natural landmarks in the whole of England so you can imagine that my expectations were pretty bloody high and I was so relieved when they were not only met but vastly exceeded too; Durdle Door is so awesome and definitely worth adding to your south England road trip itinerary.

Read more: The Best Things To Do In The Jurassic Coast – Ultimate Dorset Guide.

After our incredibly busy day of exploring epic sights on the South Coast of England, we then drove to Exeter for the sole purpose of ticking the letter ‘X’ off our AtoZ UK road trip bucket list . OK, so Exeter doesn’t quite begin with the letter ‘X’, but it was as close to it as we could find, so we made do! We didn’t spend very long in Exeter as we arrived after 7.30 PM so there wasn’t really an awful lot we could see or do, so we drove to the Ten Tors Inn; a lovely pub about halfway between Exeter and Newquay where we had a few drinks and then stayed in the pub car park for free overnight.

Day 10 – Torquay, Dartmouth, Plymouth, Looe

After the incredibly busy antics of the day before, day 10 was slightly more chilled but we still did a fair bit of driving; first of all through Torquay. Torquay was positively jam-packed with tourists as it was a pretty nice day after we’d been having a fair few cloudy days, so we didn’t spend too long there, but it seemed like a nice enough place and I’d probably recommend spending a little longer there than we did if you get the chance.

It’s a great place to stop on your way to Cornwall to break up the journey a bit.

Top things to do in Torquay

• Kents Cavern Prehistoric Caves
• Visit the Babbacombe Model Village
• Spend some time at Meadfoot Beach

We then drove over the Dartmouth Crossing; you can drive around so you don’t have to go over the crossing (a 3-minute drive-on ferry that saves you about 25 minutes and costs £6.70 one way), but I think it was worth doing as we wanted to see Dartmouth which is a beautiful, albeit pretty tiny town and it just seemed much easier and more convenient.

Once we’d had a little mosey around Dartmouth, we made our way towards Plymouth which we pretty much drove straight through as neither of us was particularly bothered about seeing or doing anything there. I have heard a few good things about it though, so it might be somewhere that you allow a little more time for as part of your road trip in south England.

By this point, we’d officially arrived in Cornwall and that evening, we’d had a bit of a faff trying to find a free place to stay for the night and the first few places we tried were terrible, so after consulting my trusty park4night app for the millionth time, I came across a campsite that was only £5 each per night with an additional fee of £3 for electric hook-up. We headed there, got some chips from the on-site fish and chip van and had an earlyish night ready for the following day’s antics.

Day 11 – Polperro, Lantic Bay, Eden Project, Truro, Lizard Point, Kynance Cove

This day turned out to be our busiest in terms of distance and steps walked (we did over 30,000 steps and covered more than 20km of walking!). We woke up and made pancakes (check out my ultimate guide to the best campervan meals that aren’t boring !) and then headed off to Polperro; a beautifully quaint seaside town.

There’s not a tonne of things to do in Polperro, but it is a very sweet little village with plenty of yummy places to eat and of course, myriad places to try a famous Cornish pasty! We parked at Polperro Car Park and paid £5 for 3 hours which I believe was the minimum amount of hours you could get. I definitely don’t think you need to spend 3 hours in Polperro, but I’m sure you could find plenty of ways to kill the time and it’s a very cute spot to add to your coastal road trip in the UK.

Our next stop was Lantic Bay which was another one of my very favourite spots on our South England road trip as the views of the bay on the walk down to the beach are absolutely phenomenal. You can park in the National Trust car park which costs £2 for 1 hour or £4 for up to 4 hours. We were only going to put £2 in and spend an hour there as it said that’s how long it took to walk the circular route but the ticket machine gave us a ticket that lasted until midnight which was awesome!

We didn’t originally have The Eden Project on our list of things to do in Cornwall as part of our road trip and even though I’ve always said that I wanted to go, I completely forgot about it until we drove past and decided to pop in for a nosy.

I will say now that it is massively over-hyped. I don’t know if it’s because we’ve been to Gardens by the Bay in Singapore which truly blew my mind and then The Eden Project paled into insignificance compared to that, or if it’s just not our thing but I don’t think it’s worth the money at all. If flowers, plants and trees are your kinds of thing, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, but we just found that a ticket price of £32.50 was pretty hefty for what it actually is.

Once we’d driven through Truro, we made our way to Lizard Point which positively blew me away and I think I preferred it to Land’s End! 😱

The scenery at Lizard Point is truly magical and even though we weren’t blessed with great weather during our visit, I think the storminess of the sea and the sky made it look even more impressive. You can pay to park at the National Trust car park for Lizard Point, but you can park for free (with a recommended voluntary donation of £3) just in Lizard itself on the grassy area in the main square. We didn’t arrive there until after 7.30 PM and there was virtually no one else around which made the whole experience even more remarkable.

As it was getting dark, we knew we were pretty pushed for time but we wanted to see Kynance Cove that evening as the following morning was forecast to rain for the entire day, so after Lizard Point, we drove the short 10-minute journey to the Kynance Cove car park where we quickly paid £2 for 1 hour and hurried down to the beach.

Kynance Cove is a place that I’ve seen looks truly magical in glorious sunshine and blue sky weather and unfortunately, it was pretty stormy and getting quite dark while we were there so my pictures don’t quite do it justice, but I still thought it looked incredible regardless. I’d love to revisit it on another Cornwall road trip to see it in all its fabulous glory.

We stayed in the Mullion village car park that night but we didn’t get there until after 9 PM so it was pretty much pitch black by the time we got there.

Read more: The Best Things To Do In Cornwall – Ultimate Travel Guide.

Day 12 – St Michael’s Mount, Penzance, Porthcurno Beach, Minack Theatre, Land’s End, Sennen Cove

The weather the following day was absolutely dreadful and we both had a lot of work that we needed to finish before the end of the week so we spent about 4 hours in a Wetherspoon’s in a little town called Helston while we waited for the rain to stop and the cloud/fog to clear so that we could go and see St Michael’s Mount.

Unfortunately, as we visited so late in the day, we couldn’t walk across to see St Michael’s Mount up close as the tide was in, so we just saw it from Marazion Beach instead. If you can, I’d recommend trying to time your visit here when the tide is out so that you can walk across to the island. The causeway is only open for a few hours each day, depending on the tide times, so check the website before you visit.

Afterwards, we drove briefly through Penzance where the weather was still pretty shocking so we didn’t hang around too long and instead continued all the way to Porthcurno where we parked up and walked to the viewing point for Porthcurno Beach, right next to the Minack Theatre. The water at Porthcurno Beach was absolutely stunning and so blue and clear, despite the weather not being too great earlier in the day.

We were going to go inside the Minack Theatre as we thought you could just have a look around it, but you have to buy tickets to a performance to go inside so we didn’t bother and instead just enjoyed the view of the coastline from the nearby clifftop.

Once we’d had our fill of the beautiful beach views, we headed to arguably one of the most famous places in Cornwall and indeed, in the UK; Land’s End. We didn’t realise beforehand but we’d managed to coincidentally time our visit to Land’s End with one of their fireworks shows and as you don’t have to pay anything extra (just the £7 car entrance fee), we decided to stay all evening to watch the show!

Of course, Land’s End certainly is incredibly cool and well worth a visit, but I think that places like Lizard Point, Kynance Cove and Lantic Bay look cooler…

While we were at Land’s End, we also walked on one of the walking trails so that we could see Sennen Cove from the Mayon Cliff Old Coastguard lookout point.

Day 13 – St Ives, Gwithian Beach, Perranporth, Newquay, Fistral Beach, Port Isaac, Tintagel Castle

The following morning we drove through St Ives and genuinely spent about 40 minutes driving around the entire town to every single car park but there was not a single place to park in the whole place! I’ve heard great things about St Ives so I’d definitely be interested in heading back there again (properly) one day. If you do manage to add St Ives to your South Coast England road trip travel itinerary and you find a car park space, please let me know how it is 😉.

Gwithian Beach was our next stop and we parked at a little free car park just a couple of minutes’ walk from an awesome walking trail that took you right on top of a (small) cliff that overlooked the beach. I’m gonna be bold and say that Gwithian Beach is probably the best and most beautiful sandy beach we saw on our whole trip and it was surprisingly empty, especially considering how pristine and lush it was!

Read more: the best beaches in Cornwall.

Next up was Perranporth which is a place that I’d been to on holiday with my family when I was really young but I didn’t remember it at all. The beach here is also beautiful but it was absolutely heaving when we visited; it was our fault that we timed our South England road trip with the summer holidays 😂.

We did eat some delicious cheesy chips in Perranporth though and I have to say, I’m a much bigger fan of Southern chips from the chippy; they’re much crispier and generally yummier than the ones we have up North! No one tell my fellow Northerners though 😜

A drive through Newquay and a stop at Fistral Beach were next on our two-week Southern England road trip itinerary and I was pretty excited to see the hotel from The Witches film that I loved as a kid.

We didn’t go inside the hotel, but it was cool to see it from the outside and remember all the scenes that were filmed there. Fistral Beach itself is also lovely, although again, it was positively teeming with people!

Port Isaac was another lovely little fishing village that we spent an hour or two in on this day of our road trip and while there aren’t tonnes of things to do there, it is very quaint and cute and worth popping by if you have time.

Our final “official” stop on our epic 2-week Southern England road trip itinerary was incidentally (probably) my favourite place on the entire trip. As soon as we approached Tintagel Castle from the short walk from the King’s Arms pub car park that we were spending the night in, I was truly blown away by how spectacular and captivating it was.

We didn’t get to Tintagel Castle until after 8 PM as it was pouring rain just a few hours before and we wanted to be able to see it clearly.

Unfortunately, this meant that the bridge to access parts of the castle was closed (which was actually kind of a blessing as we didn’t have to pay to go to the viewpoint!), but we could walk right down to the beach below and also admire the breathtaking views from several viewpoints above.

Tintagel Castle truly is like a scene from Game of Thrones and the landscape here rivals almost every spot we’d seen on our trip so far; if you get the chance to visit Tintagel Castle and the village of Tintagel itself, DO IT!

Read more: The Best Beaches In Cornwall You Need To Visit – Top Cornwall Beaches

Day 14 – Woolacombe & Ilfracombe – Cornwall road trip itinerary

On the final day of our 2-week Southern England coastal road trip, we ventured to Woolacombe and Ilfracombe where we mosied on the beach for a while and then headed across to Castle Cary to spend the afternoon/night with our friend who we met while travelling which was truly the perfect way to end our South Coast England road trip.

I’ve always been one to seek adventure in far and distant lands, but our recent road trip around Southern England has truly taught me that there is beauty everywhere; you only need to look for it.

I’ll be sharing so many more pictures and top tips for every place we went to in upcoming posts over the next few weeks in the form of dedicated travel guides, so if you’re looking for more in-depth guides to places like Canterbury, Margate , Brighton , the Jurassic Coast , Cornwall and more, be sure to keep checking back on my blog over the next few weeks as I have so much content planned!

Related posts:

• The Best Things To Do In Cornwall – Ultimate Travel Guide
• 17 Epic Things To Do In Margate, Kent This Year
• The Best Things To Do In Brighton – Ultimate Travel Guide
• The Best Things To Do In The Jurassic Coast – Ultimate Dorset Guide
• The 40 Best Campervan Meals To Make That Aren’t Boring

Pin for later – South Coast England road trip

Which spots would you most like to visit on a two-week South Coast England road trip? Let me know in the comments or on Instagram at @imjustagirl_16 .

Karen’s Diner Sheffield Review – What You Need To Know

Purezza Pizza Brighton Review – Best Vegan Restaurant

AtoZ UK Road Trip Challenge – The Perfect Itinerary

Is The British Airways i360 Brighton Worth It?

Leave a comment cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

A helpful breakdown of what a US road trip actually costs

How much does a US road trip cost? If you’re dreaming of a road trip in America, you’ll probably be wondering just that.

We recently completed a five week (36 day) road trip around the US. Our journey took in the US East Coast and some of the popular spots in the South East of the US. It was actually our fifth American road trip after trips to California, the Grand Canyon, and Washington.

Some of my Instagram followers have asked for a breakdown of our itinerary and our budget, so here goes! If you ever wondered how much does a US road trip cost, you might find our experience useful.

US Road Trip Itinerary: 

For this trip, we travelled down the East Coast of America, starting at New York in the North. The reason for this was partly to visit friends in the city, but also because it’s usually cheaper to fly to New York than other Eastern or Southern cities.

Our plan was to travel down the coast as far as Savannah, then turn inland and head towards Nashville, then head back North through Tennessee, Virginia and to Washington DC. Here’s our itinerary for a 36 day trip:

• Day 1-3 : New York City (staying with friends)
• Day 4-18 : Wrightsville Beach, NC (staying in a home exchange)
• Day 19-21 : Savannah, GA (staying in a home exchange)
• Day 22-28 : Nashville, TN (staying in a home exchange)
• Day 29-30 : Pigeon Forge, TN (staying at Dollywood Dream More)
• Day 31-32: Boones Mill, VA (staying at a home exchange)
• Day 34-36: New York City (staying with friends)

Planning Tips for a US Road Trip

Having a good plan makes it easier to budget for a US road trip. We knew ahead of time which major sights and cities we wanted to visit, how many nights’ accommodation we needed, and also the mileage of our route. This was important because we used mileage to understand the probable petrol costs for our hire car, before we booked.

• I used Google Maps to plan our route ensuring that the distances were doable, and we’d hit the key spots I definitely wanted to visit. Then it told me how many miles I was likely to drive (2,500!)
• Once I had an itinerary that I was happy with, I booked and paid for flights, car hire, airport parking and accommodation in advance. It helps to spread the cost. Booking accommodation and car hire through Avios meant I could earn points for future travels.
• I used a Google spreadsheet to map our itinerary to accommodation for each day of the trip. Alongside this, I listed 1 or 2 must-see activities for each place we visited, and I’d book/pay for these in advance if I could.

How much does an East Coast Road Trip cost?  

We didn’t have a budget in mind for our entire trip, but I did want to make the trip as affordable as I could because times are TOUGH and who wants to spend more than they need?

The budget could be split into three main categories: travel, accommodation, food and entertainment.

I knew I wanted to get flights for as little as possible, and we relied on home exchanges to cut the cost of accommodation. When it came to food/entertainment, I allowed around £100 a day for our budget.

Flights/Accommodation

When working out how much to spend on a road trip, you’d expect flights and accommodation to be the lion’s share of the budget. Actually, we did really well here. I spent a solid 8 months saving Avios points and we used home exchanges to get free accommodation.

Check out this post for tips on saving Avios points

Check out this post to find out how to use home exchanges 

Our flights from Manchester to New York cost £150 plus 66,000 Avios, and we spent £620 on 2 nights’ accommodation at Dollywood. Finally, the airport parking for 36 nights using Manchester Airports’ official parking was £200.

Total cost for flights and accommodation: £970

Car Expenses

When you start to add up the cost of a US road trip, car hire is going to be the BIG budget item. In the last year or two, car hire costs have doubled in America, so whereas we used to hire an SUV in California for £33 a day in 2020, that same car cost more than £100 a day today in New York.

That’s why this trip we hired a compact car! It didn’t have a huge boot, but would have handled a family of four without too many problems. We paid £51 a day or around £1,600 for the entire trip. If you are budgeting on a US road trip my top tip is DON’T collect your hire car at the airport where you get all sorts of surcharges. Instead we took a cab to a mall in Jersey where we collected our car and saved around £600 on the overall cost.

I also paid for an insurance policy with Reduce my Excess for £50, which covers the excess if you damage a hire car, and also covers things the car hire cover won’t – like lost keys and damage to the windscreen. Want to know the cost of petrol for a road trip? Well, the good news is petrol in the US is far cheaper than the UK, so I spent around 6 cents per mile for travel – lucky when you’re doing more than 3,000 miles!

• 31 days car hire at £51 a day – £1610
• Petrol – £300
• Excess insurance – £50
• Total cost for car expenses: £1,950

It’s easy to overlook the cost of food when you’re working out how much your US road trip will cost. But it could be a costly mistake.

In fact, the cost of food in the US has increased by around 25% in the last four years and we definitely noticed that prices are often 50% or more higher than we are used to in the UK. With this in mind we did take some supplies with us from home (we packed toiletries, a first aid kit and a squashy cool bag to help us keep food fresh on the road).

At the start of our road trip we used Costco to stock up on bulk packs of essentials at the start of our trip, especially things like:

• Frozen berries and granola, and cereal so we could eat breakfast at home most days
• Enormous packs of bread rolls and packs of ham and cheese that we split and froze to use in sandwiches
• Giant boxes of snacks, mostly crisps and popcorn, that we took from place to place with us
• A massive bag of fresh apples (they lasted our entire trip, kept in the fridge)
• Bulk boxes of diet coke, beer and fruit juice

Fun fact – your Costco card is valid worldwide! This meant that although we spent $250 on groceries upfront, as we travelled we didn’t need to buy as much from regular supermarkets – we just stocked up on fresh fruit and salad. At supermarkets in the US it pays to shop around – we found Aldi much cheaper than other supermarkets.

Flea does tend to drink a couple of beers each evening on holiday – the food bill would have been lower if it was just me! So your US road trip budget needs to factor in alcohol!

Total cost of groceries: £523

A more obvious expense when you’re planning a US road trip is eating out.

Most days on our trip, we had one meal out, either lunch or dinner. The cost of eating out in the US is not cheap, but we mixed it up a little. On days we spent less we might go for a Taco Bell, buy fresh sandwiches from the supermarket, or get a couple of slices of pizza – which means we could both eat for under $20.

Other nights we’d eat out!

I’d say in this part of America, it’s typical to spend $15-20 on a main course, so expect to pay $30 a head if you’re going to get drinks and a side. We had a couple of nights at ‘nicer’ restaurants where we paid $50-60 a head, but generally it’s not hard to find mid-price places. We didn’t eat out for desserts. Instead it was a perfect chance to stop at an ice cream stand on the way home, or buy ice cream sandwiches from the grocery store!

Don’t forget in the US it’s standard to tip 20% on top of the bill, and you’ll pay sales tax of around 6% on most bills.

We also included take-out food in this category, which we used once or twice a week. I confess to also ordering breakfast on Uber Eats a few times when I couldn’t quite face another bowl of granola.

Total cost of eating out: £945

Entertainment

Lastly, when it comes to working out the cost of a road trip, you’ll need to consider entertainment.

Obviously this is really personal and your budget depends on where you are and what you like to do. Want to do lots of shopping or theme parks? It’s going to cost you!

A really big part of our trip was live music but we didn’t spend fortunes. Some events – like the Carolina Beach Boardwalk weekly concert – are completely free, while tickets to places like the Bluebird Cafe and Listening Room in Nashville were under $20 (although both places ask you to spend $30 on food and drink). Going to the Grand Ole Opry was a big spend – tickets range from £80 to more than £300 although I managed to get ours for around £120 a head.

Alongside concerts, we attended two Broadway shows. I’m lucky that my friend is a reporter in New York and was able to access a special site that gives her discount show tickets, so we spent around £175 for us both to see two shows.

Our other big entertainment expense was water sports – hiring kayaks and paddleboards is relatively inexpensive, costing around $30 for 2 hours, but jet ski rental is around $150, and you’ll also need to put down a hefty security deposit.

Luckily lots of things on a road trip were free – we didn’t spend a penny on beach days, fireworks and walks in state parks! We also were offered free tickets at Dollywood as members of the media.

• Cinema tickets – £100
• Music events – £290
• State park admissions – £40
• Broadway shows (2) – £174
• Theme park tickets – £0
• Grand Ole Opry – £190
• Watersports – £170

Total cost of entertainment: £964

How much to spend on a US Road Trip:

So that’s our spending! If you want to know the typical cost of an American road trip, hopefully this post has been helpful. Overall, our budget looked like this:

• Our total budget for the 36 day trip was £5,350 for two adults
• This came out as £2,000 plus a daily budget of £100/day on the road

Not all of this was spent in one go.

We paid around £2,000 on flights, car hire etc in advance, which meant this cost was spread out over eight months before our trip. Once we arrived in America, we spent another £3,000 in 36 days, on food, entertainment and travel.

We didn’t monitor the daily budget THAT closely, but I tended to try and balance things out. If we had a big expensive day at a theme park, we’d spend the next day on the beach with a picnic. If we spent a lot at dinner, the next day we might have a Netflix day.

Our US road trip budget does not include extra shopping for things like souvenirs, gifts and so on.

Being honest, I was travelling with a 17 year old who was extremely keen on getting a new wardrobe, so we did spend extra money from her allowance and my wages on clothes, accessories, books, gifts and the entire contents of Bath and Body Works.

Budgeting Tips for Road Trips

I’d say £100 a day for the two of us felt like a generous budget. We definitely didn’t feel deprived or that there was anything we wanted to do that we didn’t.

We could have cut the eating out bill considerably by cooking at home. We were spending around £50 a day on food, and I think we could have cut that in half by having more home-made meals. But there’s something lovely about sitting down to barbecue on the beach, or enjoying a fresh salad on a hot day, so I’m not sad we spent that money.

Buying tickets to the Opry and Broadway shows was a REAL indulgence. It added almost £400 to our spend. On top of that, two rounds of jet ski hire at $100 a time was a big spend, but something Flea absolutely loved. So if you wanted to make this road trip more affordable, I think you could do the same trip for £3,500-£4,000 by cooking more, and not having some of those big ticket days out.

I was really pleased to bring in our US road trip budget for not much more than our one week all-inclusive holiday in Greece in 2019 and our 2 week trip to Mexico . This trip was infinitely more fun and exciting than two weeks in a single beach resort! It’s good to know that a US road trip can cost less than a shorter, conventional holiday!

How much should you spend on an American road trip?

The answer – of course – is what feels right to you.

Our trip would certainly have been way more expensive if we had paid full price for flights and accommodation. On previous road trips in California we’ve spent £3,000 on accommodation alone over a four week trip.

Using Home Exchange to access free accommodation allowed us to make this road trip longer, and splash out on more expensive accommodation in the middle of the road trip.

I can’t think of any other trip where I’d feel justified spending over £300 a night on a hotel room! All we spent on accommodation aside from this hotel stay was our annual $150 membership fee for HomeExchange.com

Second, by using Avios, we were able to get free flights and pay £150 for some extra Avios that allowed us to upgrade our flights back to the UK.

I should stress that we didn’t do ANYTHING complicated to save on flights and accommodation. If you’re new to these things then check out my guide to earning Avios and my guide to home exchanging for tips on how to cut the cost of your next holiday.

Sharing our Beautiful American South Road Trip Itinerary

You’ll love the 6 best things to do in Nashville, Music City

Weird and Wonderful things you’ll love at Dollywood: Complete Review

A single parent’s guide to planning a road trip you’ll love!

2 thoughts on “a helpful breakdown of what a us road trip actually costs”.

Thanks for this! We “followed you” to Boston and Cape Cod 5 years ago and it was our best holiday yet so always interested to hear about your experiences! If we can stretch to it I am hoping to take my daughter to New York next year so this is an interesting read!

The whole trip looks and sounds amazing, I’ve loved seeing all your photos. This post is fantastic, I bet it’s a great help to anyone planning such a trip, budget is so important. I tend to work out a budget for every trip I take even though I’ve never done anything as exciting as a US road trip. You did really well, especially when I think of some of the things I’ve paid for in the UK alone!

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• Australia edition
• International edition
• Europe edition

Tell us about a great road trip in Europe – you could win a holiday voucher

Tell us about your favourite trip – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays break

Few things beat the sense of freedom of the open road. Whether it’s an epic motorcycle ride along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way or a leisurely pootle around the Italian lakes by car, a road trip is a brilliant way to explore a country at your own pace, enjoying varied scenery and discovering less-known spots en route. We’d love to hear about your favourite journeys in Europe – where did you go and what made it so special? The best tip will win a holiday voucher.

If you have a relevant photo, do send it in – but it’s your words that will be judged for the competition .

Keep your tip to about 100 words

The best tip of the week, chosen by Tom Hall of Lonely Planet , will win a £200 voucher to stay at a Coolstays property – the company has more than 3,000 worldwide. The best tips will appear in the Guardian Travel section and website.

We’re sorry, but for legal reasons you must be a UK resident to enter this competition.

The competition closes on 15 April at 9am

Have a look at our past winners and other tips

Read the terms and conditions here

• Readers' travel tips
• competitions

Most viewed

Politics latest: Crunch week for Rwanda bill after MPs reject Lords' amendments

The Rwanda bill cameback to the Commons as a new daily record is set for small boat crossings. Earlier, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appears in front of MPs on their return from the Easter break to discuss the UK's involvement after the drone and missile attack by Iran.

Monday 15 April 2024 23:07, UK

• Commons rejects all Lords amendments to Rwanda bill in government victory
• Record set today for daily small boat crossings
• Sunak urges all sides to 'show restraint' as he condemns actions of Iran in Israel
• Labour offers support as Starmer says attack 'left world a more dangerous place
• 'We are not prepared for war,' says former UK military chief
• Serena Barker-Singh: Growing calls from Tory backbenchers to proscribe Iran's Revolutionary Guard  
• Live reporting by Ben Bloch  and (earlier)  Guy Birchall and   Faith Ridler

A series of votes has taken place in the House of Commons on amendments to the legislation to rescue the embattled Rwanda scheme.

The bill passed the House of Commons earlier this year, but the House of Lords passed a series of amendments, which MPs voted this evening to approve or reject.

All the Lords amendments were rejected, and the bill now returns to them, where they could accept the bill without them, or insist on more amendments.

The amendments voted on by MPs this evening were:

• An amendment to make sure the legislation has "due regard" for international law (rejected);
• An amendment that states it is only safe in Rwanda while the provision in the treaty with the UK is in place (rejected);
• An amendment to check whether Rwanda complies with its treaty obligations (rejected);
• An amendment allowing individual appeals based on safety in Rwanda (rejected);
• An amendment requiring age assessments for those being deported to be carried out by the local authority (rejected);
• An amendment preventing those who say they are victims of modern slavery from being deported (rejected);
• An amendment to prevent the deportation of those who have served with or for the UK's armed forces (rejected).

Thank you for joining us on the Politics Hub for a busy day as MPs returned to Westminster after the Easter recess.

Here's what happened:

• Rishi Sunak gave a statement to the Commons after Iran's attack on Israel, saying: "All sides must show restraint";
• But he rebuffed calls from MPs across the House to proscribe Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is responsible for much of the terrorism and instability in the Middle East;
• Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron told Sky News that he urges Israel "not to escalate" in the Middle East, agreeing with US president Joe Biden's assertion that they should "take the win" of having prevented Saturday's attack;
• The Commons rejected seven Lords amendments to the government's flagship Rwanda bill, meaning the parliamentary ping-pong continues;
• That came on the day that a total of 534 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Sunday, the highest number on a single day so far this year;
• The Lib Dems demanded that ex-PM Liz Truss be stripped of the Tory whip over "conspiracy theories";
• In a series of interviews promoting her new book, she refused to rule out standing again for the Tory leadership, saying she has "unfinished business".

Join us again from 6am for the very latest political news.

Former home secretary Suella Braverman has penned an op-ed in which she attempts to dismantle arguments against designating Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist group.

She says in a Telegraph article that the IRGC is "the world's chief sponsor of terrorism" that is "responsible for plotting terrorist attacks, hostage-taking and indoctrination around the world, including in the UK".

She writes that 70 MPs and peers from all parties are demanding proscription, which she argues would "cut the head off the snake here in the UK and [render] it much more difficult for these terrorist sponsors to operate on our streets, and in our communities".

"I’ve heard the argument that the UK would lose access to Tehran by banning the IRGC, but this is weak.

"What good did this so-called 'access' do to stop or mitigate October 7? What good did it do to deter the drones and missiles fired on Israel this weekend? Or the attacks on people in the UK?"

That argument, Mrs Braverman says, is "Foreign Office-speak for: 'We support the status quo and don’t see the need to change things, thank you very much'."

She goes on: "Equally delusional is the claim that our sanctions regime is sufficient to deter the IRGC. This is naive when we know the IRGC circumvent sanctions."

She says Rishi Sunak's government "risks being left on the wrong side of history if it continues to stall on this important step", adding: "It's time we grew a backbone."

Despite Rishi Sunak's woes and battles with his pesky party and peers, the government still wins important votes in the Commons with hefty majorities of around 70.

In six votes on government moves to throw out Lords amendments to the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, the majorities were 65, 71, 70, 70, 74 and 59.

So the bill now goes back to the House of Lords for another bout of ping pong - round 3, where the outcome of votes on further amendments is less predictable.

The word from the Lords while MPs were trooping through the lobbies in the Commons was that peers will vote another three or four times on Tuesday, setting up another round of ping pong on Wednesday.

One Lords insider told Sky News: "Some will fall into line tomorrow, clothes peg on the nose and all that, but if the crossbenchers hold firm it's unlikely to be enough to defeat anything pressed to a vote.

"Round 3 on Wednesday is likely to be different, though, as the crossbenchers might then fade a bit and more Tories might be ready to start voting with the government. We'll see."

We will indeed. Opening the two-hour debate in the Commons, illegal migration minister Michael Tomlinson was uncompromising - "The entire passage of the bill should prevail."

"We simply cannot allow amendments that provide for loopholes which would perpetuate the current cycle of delays and late legal challenges to removal."

Veteran Tory MP Sir Bill Cash, a serial rebel on Europe for more than 30 years, said the Lords amendments were "ridiculous" and pleaded: "Let's get the House of Lords to calm down a bit."

Good luck, as they say, with that.

So what happens after the bill, as we expect, finally receives Royal Assent and limps on to the statute book later this week?

The parliamentary battle over the bill will be over. But Mr Sunak's battle to get planes in the air and illegal migrants deported to Rwanda almost certainly won't be.

Cabinet minister Victoria Atkins more or less admitted on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News that the government still doesn't appear to have found an airline to take the migrants to Africa.

In other words, the government may win votes in the Commons with hefty majorities, but many of the details of the Rwanda policy are still unclear and opponents are unlikely to give up their fight to keep the deportation flights grounded.

By  Faye Brown , political reporter

Liz Truss has refused to rule out running to be Tory leader again, saying she has "unfinished business" with the Conservative party.

The country's shortest serving prime minister also said the governor of the Bank of England should resign over his response to her catastrophic 2022 mini budget, and that opponents were attempting to "smear" her by blaming the event on the UK's subsequent economic woes.

The Lib Dems branded her a "national embarrassment" following the comments, while Labour said the prospect of her returning to office "will send shivers down the spine of working people".

Ms Truss's tenure in Downing Street lasted just 49 days after her £45bn package of unfunded tax cuts triggered mass market turmoil.

The former prime minister has since doubled down on what she was trying to achieve , and is touring the media ahead of the publication of her book: Ten Years to Save the West.

Read the full story here:

The government has won the final vote of the evening and rejected a seventh Lords amendment.

This one would have prevented the deportation to Rwanda of those who have served with or for the UK's armed forces.

The result is:

• Reject: 312
• Approve: 253

The government has won another vote in the Commons over Rwanda bill amendments.

This one is slightly more complex.

The House of Lords passed an amendment to the bill aiming to stop suspected victims of modern slavery, trafficked to the UK, from being deported to Rwanda.

The Commons rejected that last month - but the Lords insisted on the amendment and sent it back to the Commons.

If the Commons rejected it directly a second time, the entire bill would have failed, which obviously the government does not want.

Therefore, Home Secretary James Cleverly proposed another amendment mandating that he or the person in his job produce a report each year on how the bill is operating in relation to modern slavery laws.

MPs voted, and rejected the Lords amendment and therefore accepted the home secretary's modification.

• Reject: 320
• Approve: 246

A total of 534 people were detected crossing the English Chanel on Sunday - the highest number in a single day so far this year, according to Home Office figures.

The cumulative number of arrivals by small boats in 2024 now stands at a provisional total of 6,265.

This is 28% higher than the total at the equivalent point last year and 7% higher than the total at this stage in 2022.

Some 10 boats were detected on Sunday, which suggests an average of around 53 people per boat.

Downing Street said the numbers were "unacceptable" and demonstrated the need for the Rwanda deportation scheme to get off the ground.

Read more from our political reporter Faye Brown here:

Another vote, another government win.

MPs have rejected a Lords amendment to the Rwanda bill that would require local authorities to conduct age assessments for those being deported to Rwanda.

The result:

• Reject: 319
• Approve: 249

The government has just defeated another amendment passed by the House of Lords.

This amendment would have allowed individuals to appeal to the courts to stop their deportation to Rwanda on the basis of safety - something the government does not want to be possible.

And in good news for the PM, it has been rejected by the House of Commons.

MPs have just voted on two amendments to the Rwanda legislation, proposed by the House of Lords.

The two being voted on are:

• To mandate that Rwanda is deemed only a safe country once the provisions in the treaty have been fully implemented;
• A mechanism to check Rwanda is complying fully with the treaty - and suspend the treaty if the Independent Monitoring Committee deems it is not.

The government won the vote comfortably, and both amendments have been rejected.

The result of the vote is:

• Reject: 317

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free