Dublin to Southampton towing

Donie75

Hi, I need to drive from Dublin to Southampton towing a boat. Can anyone recommend if I should go via Holyhead or Pembroke/Fishguard?
I'll be driving over Easter Thursday and back on Good Friday so it might be bad for traffic. Would the South Wales route be better for traffic?
I'm thinking it might be better as I will have less driving on the UK side.

Big Nasty

Would you not just sail over?

Sunnyisland

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Would you not just sail over?

and tow the Car :D:P



Seriously Holyhead, the crossing is MUCH faster and bar the bridge off Anglesey, Its dual carriageway all the way over north Wales on the A55 as opposed to poorer roads to Fishguard and Pembroke.

shooter88

Holyhead is your best shot and stick to the main route,the road is good all the way..if you do get stuck the rac have a good service..oh and make sure everything is in order with trailer lights brakes and stick to the towing speed limit etc the UK cops aren't as relaxed as ours

650Ginge

Has to be Holyhead.

corktina

I think given the day that's in it, Rosslare might be a better bet. The roads are quite good across wales (i prefer Fishguard myself to Pembroke). You then go straight up the M4 to Newbury and down the A34 ( which is practically a Motorway) to S'oton.

Bank Holiday traffic in GB can be appalling...pinch points on this route are to my mind less than coming down through the UK Midlands. If you have plenty of time there are quieter alternatives you could use but avoid the M5 which ever way you go
.

RustyNut

shooter88 wrote: »

oh and make sure everything is in order with trailer lights brakes and stick to the towing speed limit etc the UK cops aren't as relaxed as ours

^^^^
This for sure.

I would be heading for Pembroke. The road is not as good but it is good enough, you will save a lot of miles (€) and miss some of the worst traffic black spots esp on a holliday weekend.

ValerieR

Depending where you are starting from, I would go through Dublin/Holyhead and drive down the A55 as recommended in one of the posts above. My OH did that very route last weekend. They landed in Holyhead at 00:30 and were in Southampton for 7:00am, including a couple of stops for coffee.

Make sure indeed that your trailer is up to standards and that you have a plate reflecting the car's registration number.

Have a good trip.
V

Donie75

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to get the bearings replaced in the trailer and get everything greased up. I'll get a new lightboard just to be sure it works and I have a number plate.
Still undecided about going Holyhead or Rosslare.
Does anyone happen to have a promo code for Irish Ferries or Stena?

Thanks

corktina

ValerieR wrote: »

Depending where you are starting from, I would go through Dublin/Holyhead and drive down the A55 as recommended in one of the posts above. My OH did that very route last weekend. They landed in Holyhead at 00:30 and were in Southampton for 7:00am, including a couple of stops for coffee.

.
V

ya but it wasn't a Bank Holiday then

CiniO

corktina wrote: »

ya but it wasn't a Bank Holiday then

Exactly. You never can tell.
Last December I was going from Holyhead to Folkestone (slightly longer distance than to Southampton but not that much) and it took me 6 hours.
But year before, it was nearly 9 hours, as I encountered 2 accidents and huge jams on the way,.
It's generally very hard to estimate journey time, as UK motorways are very crowded, and many unexpected delays can happen.