whereisjaney

The fast route Southampton to central London is all on fast but very very boring motorway (inter-state / expressway in the US)

90 miles, 1hr 53 according to googlemaps.

 

The last half of the drive or more is best done on the main roads, it gets pretty built-up the closer you get to London, and local roads crowded & slow.

But there's a stack of alternatives for the first part of the drive, including......

 

- up the Test Valley. The market town of Romsey & villages like King's Somborne, Stockbridge, Hurstbourne Tarrant. And Andover. And past Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey). Total 2hrs 36, 106 miles according to Google.

 

- up the Meon Valley. Thro' Botley, Bishops Waltham or Wickham, West Meon, past Jane Austen's house at Chawton, Alton, Farnham, the Hog's Back, Guildford. 2hrs 13, 85 miles.

 

- Petersfield or Chichester & the South Downs and Surrey Hills. Around 3hrs, 115 miles.

 

Those are just suggestions, but a lot of interesting little towns & villages have fast routes signed past them, rather than what you want - to drive through them.

So it's perhaps best to give the transfer operator a general idea of what you want, and let the driver choose according to how well he/she knows the routes & places.

 

Drivers of all three operators I've mentioned are local, and likely to know the various towns & villages.

Additionally one of those three, west quay cars, has a "touring" arm http://www.discoverthesouth.co.uk/home.php to which they allocate dedicated customer-friendly, experienced & knowledgeable drivers and specialises in tour-transfers. Browse the various pages of their website, and ask them for suggestions. They're likely to be more expensive but worthwhile.

 

Marylizcat has suggested Winchester. It's a busy historic city, with a renown cathedral.

And the same can be said of Salisbury.

Winchester is close to the route, Salisbury a little off-route but can be combined with a visit or freebie drive-by of Stonehenge.

Neither fits the image of quaint "Cotswold-like" towns or villages, but either makes a good alternative.

Ditto Twickenham's suggestion of Windsor

 

Finally, whilst the operators and I can suggest village pubs & restaurants for lunch you're likely to be thrown off the ship by 9.30am at the latest so you'll perhaps be rather too early for lunch en-route. A coffee-stop or a "quick pint" or "swift half" would more likely fit the bill.

 

Hope this helps rather than confuses :rolleyes:

 

JB :)

wow so helpful!! thank you so much!!

thank you! I think I will take your suggestions and hire a driver to our London hotel near Kings train station and then drop our luggage and take the train to our destination at the Ridgeway. What I was hoping to see on our way to London is some quaint towns for lunch. so if there's not much in Andover, any suggestions?

Thanks!

hi thank you for the info!! I was hoping to see some country villages like in cotswolds, but since we are going opposite direction I was hoping on our way to London we could see other areas similar. do you have any suggestions? do you think we should hire a private driver to take us to London? or better to take train? there's 4 of us so whichever is best.

Thank you!! :D

hello

we will be disembarking from Norwegian breakaway in April in southampton. we would like to stop at a place on The Ridgeway in London and then our hotel near Kings rail station in London. on the way there, possibly stop at Andover to see the town and maybe lunch. does anyone recommend a tour car company for this? thank you so much!!

Sela