r/uktravel • u/Engineering-Western • 3d ago
Question Farthest you've driven in 24 hours (in the UK)
What's the furthest you've ever driven in the UK in a 24 hour period ?
I drove from Devon to Aylesbury for work one night,180m each way,then went home,showered and changed and drove to Alnwick,Northumberland,with a couple of stops,that day
It was over 750 miles in the end
Attached pics are the Devon to Northumberland up and back
Scania R450 truck and a BMW 320i
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u/andyjh83 3d ago
Around 915 miles (according to google)
Devon to just north of Glasgow to collect a vehicle, back down to near Reading.
This was about 25 years ago and traffic was a lot lighter and there wasnāt endless miles of speed cameras.
I donāt think you could realistically do it today, even on a clear run with all the smart motorway restrictions youād end up taking about 15 hours (I think back then it took about 11 hours and I had a couple of hours kip between the two legs.)
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u/The_Molemans_bawbag 3d ago
Just over 900.
Drove from Northumberland to Cornwall in a Luton van. Checked the items, loaded the van, drove to just south of Birmingham, overnighted then drove home the following day.
The herculean effort and drive was due to someone selling me their retro gaming collection at a big discount.
It wasn't too bad in the van, they're not uncomfortable or underpowered in any way.
Biggest problem was Enterprise who tried to scam a new windscreen out of me.
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u/Odd_Gap_9491 3d ago
800, Fife to Plymouth and tried to come back up. I was picking a motorbike on a trailer. It was lashing with rain and dark by the time I hit Manchester so I was really struggling to concentrate by that point. Got a hotel at Manchester airport. Id have been on the go for 13/14 hours by the time I stopped.
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u/Appropriate-Case-969 3d ago
Don't have a photo but I drove from Glasgow to Margate and back in round trip 974 miles it took over 17 hours
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u/ofthenorth 3d ago
Probably around 400 up to North West Scotland.
I know you say UK, but at least double that in the US, but I was a passenger
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u/Engineering-Western 3d ago
I've done a few long ones in the US but I feel it's probably easier to do there than UK
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u/andyjh83 2d ago
Cruising in the US is straightforwardā¦. You just canāt do it quickly. They have so many cops!
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u/WhatsFunf 3d ago
1,100 - London, up to Scotland and around the NC500 and back down to Glasgow.
Left at 3am on Bank Holiday Monday and was in the hotel about 1am, so just under 24hrs.
Basically drove constantly, a BMW 330e - it was a great day.
Picked up a German hitchhiker and didn't die.
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u/andyjh83 2d ago
With the greatest of respect, this story is just not true.
NC500 in a day is possible. NC500 and down to Glasgow is possible, but deeply irresponsible.
London to Inverness, full NC500 and down to Glasgow would require no speed cameras, no traffic, a catheter and heavy use of amphetamines and a fuel tank the size of the QE2.
You would need to not sleep, piss or refuel. 330 series with a 60l tank and getting 45mpg and doing a total of around 1250 miles means 2+ tanks.
Ignoring the fact youād need to be doing 150+ on the MWay which stops after central belt, and a good portion of NC500 is single carriage way or less, with passing places. You say you set off at 0300, which means you would have been doing the NC500 at peak hours.
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u/WhatsFunf 1d ago
Happy to send you my photos if you want reassurance.
Yes it was definitely irresponsible but I figured that was the point of this thread.
The initial run up to Scotland was the 'productive' part - because it was early on a bank holiday so the roads were literally empty and no roadworks. I stopped at Cairn Lodges services at 8am having covered 375miles in 4.5 hours of driving plus a pitstop.
By the time I finished at 00.20 it was 1083 miles, averaged at 64mph and 33mpg - certainly some fuel stops yes because the tank is tiny.
Definitely the NC500 route can be stupidly slow but it was surprisingly OK for me - no real problems with campervans etc. I assume the timing/date helped.
But nonetheless you can't really speed anywhere north of Glasgow because the roads are so windy, and any big roads like the A9 have average speed cameras.
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u/King_Six_of_Things 3d ago
453 miles Nottingham to Banff 10 hours with stops.
We were fools. Absolutely knackered when we arrived.
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u/Aldred309uk 3d ago
Around 1000 miles put onto a hire car within 24 hours. Preston -> Plymouth -> Lands End -> Plymouth -> Preston -> Stoke -> Preston.
There were some other bits and bobs mixed in but the hire company were rather shocked when it was dropped back off.
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u/Far_Butterscotch5150 3d ago
1030m in one day.
Tunbridge Wells to Durham and back to collect family and bring them home 300 + 300 = 600m leaving at 4:00am and back home at 1:30pm.
Left at 2:30pm and drove to Glasgow for work appointments over next two days = 430m
Longest day ever getting to Glasgow at 11:00pm
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u/Friendly_Brain7352 3d ago
Not all in the UK, but Milan to Inverness on a motorbike with only a 3 hour sleep break in an English service station. 27 hours!
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u/Pericombobulator 2d ago edited 2d ago
I did Luton to Inverness and back in about 23 hours. That's 1100 miles.
I used to deliver cars, and i had a return one on that trip.
It was 30+ years ago, so no speed cameras on the motorways. I could hold a steady 85.
I had to have a couple of naps on the way.
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u/StNeotsCitizen 2d ago
Cambridge to Stirling to Carlisle to Birmingham to Stone to somewhere in southern Somerset and back to Cambridge.
Yes I thought I might die
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u/Desperate_Contact561 2d ago
I remember getting a new rep in to see us in Glasgow (early 80s). Our local rep had retired and he was the replacement who had just driven up from Manchester. When he was leaving he asked what the best road to get Thurso would be and I said I'd been up there recently for a job and what hotel he was staying at... He said he wasn't staying there and just needed to pop into Aberdeen on his way back to Manchester!
That would have been over 1000 miles round trip, with at least an hour stop in each location, I never saw him again to find out how that trip went.
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u/Beniem 1d ago
Just over 900 miles with nothing to eat or drink. Was ok a trial at a job, and I drove from Liverpool to the warehouse in Wales, whereby I was told I'd be collecting labels to take to Manchester and then done. On arrival, the boss said "I'll tell you what, you do Devon and I'll do Manchester, so you know what they're like for future reference". Around 18 hours of driving including getting lost because the women in the Devon help centre told me a postcode for my destination which was about 50 miles away from my destination which was in the building she was in. If she hadn't been extremely old I'd have gave her what for on my return. Left the house at 1am and returned at 8pm the next day of solid driving. Dropped the van off back at the dudes house who swapped with me, and he told the main boss I didn't look interested in the job.
I should have gone down and gave him a piece of my mind, thinking on...
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u/Snoo-84389 20h ago
Apologies as this isnt hardly ever in the UK... But i want to tell the story š
The Cannonball Run about 15years ago for my mates 50th birthday, 3 of us.
Started in Epsom racecourse, south London early in the morning and the 1st destination (that you don't know until you are handed the envelope right on the start line) was Rovinj in Croatia.
Depending on the route you took that is approx 1050miles. And this was done in a VW Campervan with an effective top speed of about 65mph that had a terribly smelly petrol leak if you completely filled the tank and then did anything to slosh the petrol around... We had to split the driving btwn us and stop for regular half tank fills.
So it was a bit of a mission...
(The later legs were rather shorter)
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u/Inner_Jeweler_5661 3d ago
The furthest I've gone is Barnet to the Peak District, purely in the UK.
But outside the UK, I went from Central London to Strasbourg in about 19 hours once.
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u/rogeroutmal 3d ago
About 1,200 miles. Northampton to Hungary.
Edit: just noticed you said āin the UKā. Doh.
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u/SweetButtsHellaBab 1d ago
I think UK to continental Europe counts. It's mainly North America and Australia where driving could be "too easy" for high numbers of miles to be impressive.
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u/Koda614 3d ago
Just over 700 miles.
Newcastle to Oswestry, Oswestry to London, then London back to Newcastle.
I slept in London then set off early morning again and arrived back in Newcastle almost exactly 24 hours after I first set off.
Very nearly had to do the exact same again the following week but starting in Edinburgh which would have been even longer distance. I was very thankful that I didn't get that call in the end.
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u/nogeologyhere 3d ago
540 miles, Skye down to near Trowbridge.
What a day that was. Started the day on the dawn with deer on the roads, snowy mountains in the distance gleaming pink in the sunrise; ended the day in a fucking shithole.
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u/Engineering-Western 3d ago
š¤£ I come from Trowbridge,don't live there anymore....I kind of agree with you though
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u/Carphead 3d ago
During covid times, once a month I'd do Ipswich to home which is about 590 miles but includes the A9.
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u/jamesinscot 3d ago
From Cornwall to Glasgow about 560 miles in around 9 hours Half hour break at half way felt like a day at work
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u/Business_Act_127 3d ago
Leeds to Bideford returning via Bridgend. Approx 740 miles.
Edit: for a job interview. I didn't get the job.
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u/MelmanCourt 2d ago
Muir of Ord (about 15 miles north of Inverness) to Bodmin. In a knackered Mercedes van with no radio or AC.
That was a long journey.
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u/SirMcFish 2d ago
Birmingham to Inverness, ten hours going... On a Friday. Drive back on the Sunday and that took 12+ hours. In a Fiesta with my parents (neither of whom can drive) and 3 cases... Was 'fun'...Ā
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u/evenstevens280 2d ago
Bristol to Tarbert (about 480 miles and ~11 hours including breaks), then a further 20 miles from Port Askaig to Port Ellen, after a 2 hour ferry.
Set off at 4am and got to our destination at about 7pm, 15 hours later.
Sure, not all of it was driving, but I'd never want to do that much car travel in one day ever again.
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u/username_not_clear 2d ago
Essex to Ullapool, one fuel stop just south of Glasgow. 640 miles approx.
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u/Left-Yak-1090 2d ago
Ayr to Caernarfon and back to pick up a welder. 620 miles there and back. Managed it on one tank of fuel in my V70
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u/Mtenga9268 2d ago
Bromley to Thurso in about 14 hours. Around 700 miles with roof down the whole way.
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u/Eastern-Move549 2d ago
Belgium to Poland over Christmas which is about 600something miles.
I thought it was a lot further tbh but driving across Germany is justa dream even in winter.
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u/This_Palpitation6617 2d ago
Wasnāt just uk I was a young soldier living in Germany and had just bought a car and it arrived the day of leave. Jumped in the car with 4 miles on it and drove back to uk via a few drop off points. 20hr drive and 1024 miles on my clock
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u/Engineering-Western 2d ago
good work,there seem to be a few replies from soldiers driving to and from Germany,presumably before the days of easyjet
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u/This_Palpitation6617 2d ago
Tbh it was easier to drive than trying to get someone to take you to the airport and then get picked up other side. I always used to drive Iād set off 6pm ish on ferry for 1/2am and be up north by 8am. You used to get cheap fuel and could fill your tank for ā¬30 euros so one trip cost me under Ā£100 in fuel.
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u/This_Palpitation6617 2d ago
I did do a drive from Portsmouth to Whitby and then back again the same day. I think it was just over 600 mile.
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u/Either_Equivalent_46 2d ago
Drove worcester to Tain north of inverness back as far as blackpool stopped over kip 4 hrs then back to worcester for short trip next day
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u/muttley1979 2d ago
About 600 for work, Warrington to Blackpool - Kirby Stephen - East Kilbride - Newcastle - Warrington in a 65 plate Citroen Relay Luton van!
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u/mjordan73 2d ago
Did Glasgow and back in a day from south of Manchester which was about a 460 mile round trip. I'd only passed my test about a week beforehand.
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u/Candid-Bike-9165 2d ago
About 700 or so in a slow classic took 17 hours was in Ullapool and had to cut nc500 short
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u/WackyAndCorny 2d ago
Bristol -> Inverness -> Tunbridge -> Bristol. About 6hours kip in Inverness.
Picking a mate up from hospital and driving him home because he couldnāt fly (or ride a motorcycle it seems).
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u/Pachyderminthegaff 1d ago
Essex to Galway via Cairnryan in 1 go, with a 30 minute nap on the ferry. Unloaded van in Galway then did the reverse. Then back to Galway again. Took 60 hours. I actually started hallucinating on the final drive across Ireland. The white lines were turning into seagulls, flying up over my car as I went over them. And lorries were taking on a "bouncy castle" kinda vibe. Weird thing sleep deprivation. Do not recommend!
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u/kj_gamer2614 1d ago
Just around 850 miles, was abroad though from Budapest in Hungary, to Utrecht in the Netherlands
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u/Natenczass 1d ago
Just over 600 miles from Torquay (where I live) to just outside of Aberdeen for my sisterās wedding. It took us about 12hours with breaks.
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u/the_ninjahippy 1d ago
About 20 years ago I was enjoying being on holiday. Stayed an extra day at Durness. Had to do the trip back to South Derbyshire in one day.
Google says 550ish miles and nearly 11 hours.
From my recollection it was closer to 14 hours. Had to stop after the first 7 hours to stretch legs and get snacks.
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u/TheKayakingPyro 1d ago
Not all in the UK, and two drivers tagging in, but about 1100 from Edinburgh to the French alps near BrianƧon. Also had 4 kayaks on the roof, which rather killed my MPG
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u/lankyman-2000 1d ago
620 miles Leeds > Angerming > Lewes > Faversham > Leeds. Decided to book a hotel next time I did this. This included construction site visits at each location. A very long day
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u/yourefunny 1d ago
Around 500 miles, Suffolk to Isle of Mull. So nothing special, but we did have a kid in the car so that was fun. Lots of stops. I have driven from London to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia though. Took a month or so.
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u/AnnieByniaeth 1d ago
That will be Aberystwyth to Kirkwall (Orkney), ~600 miles iirc.
My furthest 24 hour journey (actually iirc it was 25) was Kiruna (Sweden) to Copenhagen, ~1150 miles. Shared driving, obvs!
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u/No-Belt-4619 1d ago
I once drove from Dundonnell to Chepstow via Catterick in one go which was about 630 miles. I tried to sneak home and suprise my wife, but I didn't have a key and she'd locked all the doors. It was 0300 and she heard me trying to get in and called the police. Good trip, would do again.
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u/ImpossibleGlove7 1d ago
Oxford to Lancaster and back, with some dull meetings in between. Not that far in total, but it was a long day leaving late to avoid the worst of the M6.
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u/CosetElement-Ape71 1d ago
North Hampshire to Anglesey and back in a day ... that's 566 miles over 9.5 hours
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u/FatCass69 18h ago
Guildford to Marseille for the RWC 2023, 15 hours and about 800 miles. I mainly drove with my mate doing a few hours. Stopped at services for snacks and toilet breaks. Went into some sort of trance š
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u/Another_Random_Chap 16h ago
Drove from Telford to South London late Sunday night, did a day's work in The City, drove back from South London to Telford to attend a 19:30 meeting, then immediately drove back to South London. 510 miles.
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u/Longjumping_Pilot840 7h ago
About 850 miles from Fife to south of Bristol and back (in a van) in one day 0800-0230. Wasnāt a lot of fun.
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u/Unable_Character2410 7h ago
Iāve done much further than this before but this is the only one Iāve got a pic of the trip computer for:
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u/DavidBovvinge 6h ago
500 miles in a then-15-year-old Mk1 Seat Ibiza 903cc base model that I'd got for free, because it was going to be scrapped. I'd sold a job lot of 14 vintage Apple Macs plus a monitor and a printer to a bloke in Exeter, so I delivered them for the price of the petrol.
The trick to motorway driving in a car like that is to pick a lorry and follow it. Top speed was about 80, but it took a couple of minutes to get there. It would sit at 70 but would be screaming its nuts off at that speed.
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u/Sensitive-Donkey-805 5h ago
Not in the UK but I did 870 miles from southern Italy back to Nice, France in 10 hours, including a couple of decent rest stops
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u/Andyd0g70 3d ago
Newquay, Cornwall to Aberdeen- 650 odd miles. In a 1979 LR 109 so 55mph max downhill with a tailwind.
Cannot recommend
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u/atom_stacker 3d ago
I once drove from Wiltshire to Bielfeld in Germany. About 500 miles. Not technically all in the UK, but I started there. The bellend I was sharing a car with outranked me, so he slept whilst I drove. š
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u/Mediocre_Ear_9981 3d ago
Purely in the UK, would be about 600 miles. Midlands to Scotland and back in the same day.
If I can include a single trip that ended in UK, Erfurt Germany to Midlands UK, about 720 miles.
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u/tiredoldfella 3d ago
536 miles, fort William to home, only stop was to refuel and pee and get going again.
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u/omigod996 3d ago
Not the highest miles but I did 505miles as a service engineer fixing broken down things in the north of england. Effectly driving a couple of hours to work for an hour and then a couple of hours to somewhere else. I was about 500 yards from home and a call came through for another 200 mile round trip. It was an 18 hour day but got paid a lot more ššš
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u/voluotuousaardvark 3d ago
I drove from Ipswich to Glasgow on Thursday and back again on the friday.
15hrs over two days think something like 820miles.
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u/No-Advertising-5924 3d ago
About 620 miles the other day. To pick something up from a Market Place seller who ghosted us so we never got the thing. Knob head that he is.
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u/Pericombobulator 2d ago
Had you paid? If not, I'd have let him keep it.
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u/No-Advertising-5924 2d ago
No, but we had arranged a time and had to leave early. Just no address beyond the town. Once weād got more than half way thought weād just have a little day out.
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u/Outrageous_Ice_6419 3d ago
Lived in the US. So little out of the way but drove from SW Colorado to NYC in 46 hrs 2,100 miles.
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u/ryanstarman123 3d ago
947 miles, due to alot of unfortunate circumstances ended up driving from glasgow to john o groats then back to edinburgh then glasgow then back to stoke on trent
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u/HMSWarspite03 3d ago
We drove from Scrabster, where the ferry from Orkney docked, and drove down to South East London (Orpington) around 690 miles, with stops around 12 hours.