Some Great UK (and Ireland) Drives

Photo credit: Mark Hillary

I went for a great drive this morning. Where did you go, I hear you ask. Nowhere.

Let me re-phrase that; nowhere exciting.  For me, getting behind the wheel with a few hours to spare is one of the best feelings in life. To help show this I decided to cast my mind back to some of my best ever UK (and Ireland) driving trips, to see whether they sound as exciting in words as they felt at the time.

Stevenage – Glasgow

After a couple of years away from the UK I went back and started working in Stevenage. With my first wage I hired a car for the weekend and shot up to visit my family and friends in Scotland.  I went up the East coast road and it is a great trip for anyone who wants to see a lot of the UK and enjoy some time on the road. Strangely, the landscape seems to change quite dramatically when you cross the border, which I hadn’t expected.

Bristol – Milton Keynes

This was a work trip which I was foolishly unprepared for. I had a meeting in Bristol so flew down from the office in Edinburgh. Incredibly, I then decided to drive to the next meeting in Milton Keynes without even looking at a map. This act of bravery/stupidity meant that I took several additional hours in getting to the funky Buckinghamshire hotspot. Someone in Bristol had told me to stick to the M4 until Swindon and I would be fine. I skirted Oxford – which I had kind of expected to be honest – but then ended up in Wycombe and other unexpected places. It was a great drive and the bank was paying for it, so why worry?

Belfast – Dublin

I lived in the Belfast area for a while and had to get down to Dublin for a job interview. I had never driven in Ireland before but decided that it would be a good idea to do so on this journey. Just as in Scotland/England, the border marks quite a big change in scenery. The stretch in the Republic was a bit dull if I am being honest but I loved the freedom of driving in a country I had never even set foot in yet.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.