Author Topic: How far would you travel?  (Read 3002 times)

Mel

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How far would you travel?
« on: 19:31:11, 15/07/19 »

For those of you that are not lucky enough to live in an excellent walking area how far are you comfortable with travelling for a day walk?


As in, travel there.  Do your walk.  Travel home again.  All in the same day?


What's your cut-off point where you think "I'll have to stay overnight if I want to do that walk"?


For me, it's about 2 to 2.5 hours driving nowadays.  It's not so much the driving there that's the problem (looking forward to the walk ahead and all that) but more the driving home when I'm happily exhausted, hot and sticky after a day in the hills - I just want to be home, showered and fed and nodding off in my bed rather than behind the wheel.




Bigfoot_Mike

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Re: How far would you travel?
« Reply #1 on: 19:51:00, 15/07/19 »
Is that 2- 2.5 hours each way or round trip? In the past I have driven 2.5 hours plus for a day in the hills, followed by the same drive after the walk. That makes for a long day and I don’t think I would want to do that nowadays.

fernman

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Re: How far would you travel?
« Reply #2 on: 20:19:30, 15/07/19 »
How far is 2 to 2.5 hours driving for you, Mel?

For me 35 miles distance is about my limit but I don't time it. I would most certainly draw the line at 40 miles. I am guessing the longest time I would drive is a hour.

I reach most of my starting points via the A40/M40 which is a couple of miles from my home, and as I walk on weekdays I can't avoid the 15:30 to 19:00 evening peak when I return. It always means a half-mile queue along the inside lane of the A40 for my junction, and this is followed by a stop-start crawl for the remaining two miles. I just have to grin and bear it.

Edit: With such excellent walking country as the Chilterns AONB within reach as I've outlined above, I see little point in driving anywhere else. Mel's 2 to 2.5 hours would make Essex or Kent or the Surrey Hills, even the South Downs possible for me, but they would mean using the M25, ugh!

2nd Edit: I've since thought of another comparison. Two weeks ago I drove 100 miles and back on good roads (M25 and A12) which took 2.25 hours each way and used half a tankful of fuel in my little car. A fiddly, time-consuming bit was getting from home to the northern section of the M25, and back. At the end I was stressed and tired. Would I do that to go for a day walk? Absolutely definitely not!
« Last Edit: 22:12:57, 15/07/19 by fernman »

fit old bird

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Re: How far would you travel?
« Reply #3 on: 20:19:48, 15/07/19 »

I don't want to drive more than about 1hr 15 mins each way, for a day walk. I'm going to an Art event in Thirsk at the weekend, could do that in a day, but I'm going to stretch it to 3 days with a couple of days walking. Booking a B & B at Kilburn.


I'm also going to meet a friend next week for a walk. She lives at Flamborough so looking for a walk half way between us. Out and back in a day.


ilona

harland

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Re: How far would you travel?
« Reply #4 on: 20:26:00, 15/07/19 »
For me, but living in North Yorkshire there are lots of walks fairly local, it would normally be about 1.5 hours each way but then I guess it would then only be about a 5 hour walk rather than "all day".  If there was a really good walk that I wanted to do and I didn't want to stay overnight (and it wasn't due to rain!) then 2 or maybe 2.5 hours each way during the lighter summer months.  Not keen on one night away, I would prefer a few nights away incorporating a few more walks if I was going to drive a long way.

Owen

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Re: How far would you travel?
« Reply #5 on: 20:31:25, 15/07/19 »
The Cairngorm's or Glencoe are about 2 and a bit hours drive away. That's about as far as I'll drive for a day walk but I'd still rather make a weekend of it and get two days walking for the same amount of petrol. But then I'm single and can please myself.

Bigfoot_Mike

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Re: How far would you travel?
« Reply #6 on: 20:40:14, 15/07/19 »
I can get to one of the Bennachie car parks in 20 to 30 minutes, Loch Muick in 45, Linn of Dee in 75 minutes and Aviemore in about 90. I can also get to the east coast and some fantastic beaches for walking in around an hour. The west coast of Scotland is 3.5 hours or so, which is too much for a day walk for me.

Ridge

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Re: How far would you travel?
« Reply #7 on: 20:50:26, 15/07/19 »
Because I am so far from any decent walking for a day walk the longest I will go is about an hour.
But how early will you get up for a walk? This morning I was setting off at 9.00am...






... in Coniston.

April

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Re: How far would you travel?
« Reply #8 on: 20:57:08, 15/07/19 »
This morning I was setting off at 9.00am...

... in Coniston.

You have had pretty good weather if you have been up since the weekend  :) I hope it continues for you  O0

It takes from 7.10am until 9.20 to get from my house to Keswick on public transport. Add over an hour on top of that to get to Buttermere or add an hour and a half more to get to Great Langdale or Coniston. That is why we wild camp. We need a car  :(
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Ridge

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Re: How far would you travel?
« Reply #9 on: 21:09:51, 15/07/19 »
You have had pretty good weather if you have been up since the weekend .
No, we drove up from London this morning.

April

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Re: How far would you travel?
« Reply #10 on: 21:21:43, 15/07/19 »
No, we drove up from London this morning.

The forecast isn't too bad over the next few days, I hope you get good views from all the summits you do  :)
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tom83

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Re: How far would you travel?
« Reply #11 on: 21:23:18, 15/07/19 »
I'm quite fortunate to live roughly 2.5 hours drive to the Lake District and 2.5 hours to Snowdonia, less to the Peak District and Yorkshire Moors.


I usually do all my walking in a day, although I did do a lot of camping when I was younger.

BuzyG

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Re: How far would you travel?
« Reply #12 on: 22:34:37, 15/07/19 »
 The only real limit, on a day walk, for me, is the length of the day.  That limits me to the Brekon Beacons from here in Cornwall. That's 7-8 hours driving plus the days walk.  Well worth it now and again, as we just don't get enough snow down here in the SW. ;)


That said there are thousand of miles of coast path and 100s of 1000s of acres of open moorland, within an hour or so of my front door.  O0
« Last Edit: 22:44:27, 15/07/19 by BuzyG »

WhitstableDave

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Re: How far would you travel?
« Reply #13 on: 22:38:07, 15/07/19 »
For those of you that are not lucky enough to live in an excellent walking area how far are you comfortable with travelling for a day walk?

As in, travel there.  Do your walk.  Travel home again.  All in the same day?...
I'm well into my third year of aiming to explore on foot every part of my home county of Kent. I average five walks a week, with three being from home and two that are further afield and require a drive. As time goes on, I'm finding that I often need to drive for an hour or more each way to explore a new area. With a typical walk being 16-20 miles (4-5 hours), lunch tends be rather late!

I must emphasise though that I'm lucky to live in an excellent walking area (Whitstable on the North Kent coast) - I just love exploring paths and places I've not seen before!
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Dovegirl

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Re: How far would you travel?
« Reply #14 on: 22:44:46, 15/07/19 »
I don't mind travelling for about 3 hours each way occasionally to do day walks.  For me the journey is part of the enjoyment as I'm interested in seeing the landscapes and places en route.  I prefer direct routes rather than having to get connections though.


But how early will you get up for a walk?
I don't mind setting off from home around 6.30am and would do so earlier if need be, but I like to be back by about 7pm.

 

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