driving from Southampton to Edinburgh

Yeah the route seems ok. Just keep on the Motorways and A roads and driving should be a breeze...(just a few things no driving on the hard shoulder, is it like that in the US?).

You just need to factor in the tiredness it will cause (due to roadworks, rain/weather) and perhaps abit more alert than normal (no need to get hyper) as you would be new driving on the left etc. Just relax and enjoy it.

I'd suggest you do use the service stations for the breaks. (I mean dont run on a bottle of Oasis for close to 24 hours like i did yesterday    mine was due to time constraints and work, you can be more relaxed since you dont have to be there by a certain time I suppose. Hotel break of course should be helpful.)

Ok now go enjoy it.

Some A roads are dual-carriageways - like 4 lane highways.

And some are just two-lane country roads (one lane each direction).    A-roads can vary in width and amount of traffic in the same way as U.S. & state highways.   The higher-numbered A-roads (3- and 4-digit numbers) tend to be the smaller ones overall, since in the original number plan they are the roads which branch off of the lower-numbered routes (e.g. A21 is a branch from A2, A215 is a branch from A21, and so on), but there can be considerable variation from one stretch to another.

I just looked quickly at Google Maps, and it suggested the following route: A34 --> M40-->M6-->A74(M)-->A702.

Note that where an A-road number has (M) after it, it means that it is of motorway standard and that motorway rules apply, similar to any M route.  That means it will be a divided highway with a barrier and median strip ("central reservation" in Brit-speak), at least two lanes in each direction, no stop lights or roundabouts, etc. 

I just looked quickly at Google Maps, and it suggested the following route: A34 --> M40-->M6-->A74(M)-->A702.  I'll obviously be spending some more quality time with the atlas to figure out if this is the best route or not, but in the meantime, I'm wondering what an A type of road is like?  If M roads are divided motorways, what is an A road?

The A702 is a single carriageway road which can be a bity windy (although it's really really pretty) it'll take you straight into the south of Edinburgh.  Normally it's really quite a quiet road - I used to drive it at least 2 days per week and I rarely ever saw another car (or a speed camera for that matter, but I'll bet that's changed!).  It's a 60mph road but you'll rarely reach that speed because of the bends....

Good luck with the drive, I'm sure it'll be amazing! 

I don't want to 'put the breeze up you' but we have previously talked on here about the American who is now doing time in jail in the UK because he had a bad accident while driving in the UK. So please, please be careful. That is a long trip.
For some reason I can't drive as far in the UK compared to the US without getting extremely tired. Heathrow to Bristol for example.

I don't want to 'put the breeze up you' but we have previously talked on here about the American who is now doing time in jail in the UK because he had a bad accident while driving in the UK. So please, please be careful. That is a long trip.
For some reason I can't drive as far in the UK compared to the US without getting extremely tired. Heathrow to Bristol for example.

My thoughts exactly. I'm sorry but that kind of trip is going to be a bigger shock to the system on the day than is being anticipated, in my opinion.

My thoughts exactly. I'm sorry but that kind of trip is going to be a bigger shock to the system on the day than is being anticipated, in my opinion.

I appreciate everyone's concern.  Really though, given the distance and amount of stuff we will have with us, driving is the only logical way for us to go.  We're going to do everything we can - and then some - to be as prepared, safe, and rested as possible.   All this talk of US drivers causing horrific accidents and ending up in jail is, honestly, just freaking me out at this point.  We're fairly smart people, and are obviously going to take every precaution we can to ensure that we complete this trip safely. 

Don't stress. You're coming over by boat...it's not like you're going to be doing a cross-Atlantic, overnight flight or something.  Break up the journey into two days and I think you'll be fine. 

Don't stress. You're coming over by boat...it's not like you're going to be doing a cross-Atlantic, overnight flight or something.  Break up the journey into two days and I think you'll be fine. 

Exactly.

I'm with geeta and Bmore - you're gonna be just fine.   Too bad you're heading up the west coast rather than the east - else I'd offer you our spare room to break the journey!

Me three!

What Americans causing horrific accidents?  I do remember reading a post on this forum some time back about an American driving the wrong way and causing an accident, but I can't find it now...and googling it doesn't come up with anything, other than a number of stories about drivers, both British and from the continent, causing accidents because for one reason or another they were driving the wrong direction on the motorway.  It happens, but I can't imagine it's hugely common and in each instance that I read about, these were not people taking a carefully planned out trip and using their heads with it all.

Best of luck, hope the drive goes well and that the weather and the traffic is on...ummm...your side! 

You dont need to go on such a long trip with negatives...eg someone drove the wrong way.bla bla bla...so basically dont freak out. Except i recently saw a few monsters on the road!!! I saw a green coloured one on the motorway, but that ones gone....

ok seriously.......and tiredness can make driving bad and then bad things happen. So to avoid it safety wise, obviously a break would refreshen you. It is pretty damn long journey than perhaps you might think. Just have to excercise abit more caution on the A-roads especially at night. Sharp bends and all...but with caution you should enjoy it. Perhaps you could join a marathon event beginning the next day after you get to Edinburgh!!! Would be fun.

Me three!

What Americans causing horrific accidents?  I do remember reading a post on this forum some time back about an American driving the wrong way and causing an accident, but I can't find it now...and googling it doesn't come up with anything, on...ummm...your side! 

   
Re: 20 months UK jail for American driver

You can't find the post either Jim?  I've done a search on that on the 'net and here at UK Yankee, but I went back well over a year on this site and didn't come up with it, and I know I read about it here.  I personally would like to read it to read about the circumstances...

You can't find the post either Jim?  I've done a search on that on the 'net and here at UK Yankee, but I went back well over a year on this site and didn't come up with it, and I know I read about it here.  I personally would like to read it to read about the circumstances...

I'm not sure on the UK-Y post because I can't get the search function to come up with any relevant results, but I've found some articles about it online:
 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3567515/Californian-engineer-jailed-for-driving-on-wrong-side-of-road.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1092235/American-jailed-killing-men-drove-right-hand-road.html

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/Dec/6/venturan-sentenced-in-fatal-uk-crash/

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/US-driver39s-39wrong-side39-error.4642580.jp

Thank you...you're a far better searcher than I am...and I do remember reading about it here, but like you said, the search facility just doesn't want to bring it up.

To the OP, if you're still planning to drive, make sure you know your road markings, don't drive in the pitch dark and for pete's sake, don't rely on a satnav in a strange country!  I personally wouldn't rely on one in a familiar country, but that's just me!