i think 2/3 hours tops would be well enough to travel for such a short stay

we travelled over 4 hours to Wales the other week..and we travel 4 hours up to Scotland...but that it is about it for a weekend break I think.

Of course, we stop on the way for costa coffee etc...

we travel between 2 and 3 hours to go scuba diving sometimes when we go up to Capernwray on the edge of the lakes..and then we travel home again after a couple of dives..all on the same day. Now that is knackering..

I think I'd go up to 4 - 41/2 hrs. Where you thinking of Helen? Have you found somewhere on the Tesco vouchers? TBH, I need to use mine but I'm finding it hard work trawling through all the websites looking for hotels in the scheme that don't cost the earth.

I travel 6 or 7 hours to Skye. Normally do one stop for lunch then another for a cup of tea. Definately worth it.

i think it depends where your going , we went on a coach trip to blackpool from south wales took 6 hours too much travelling .

From West Wales to Chester. Not Tesco vouchers Shirley, but stay 3 nights pay for 2 - £130 for the both of us for 3 nights Just not sure about the travelling.

Why not, start your journey early and stop half way for a pub lunch as part of the holiday. You can take your time travelling home too!

Is it really that far from West Wales to Chester???
I thought Chester was in North Wales....oops...

Where we live, to get to anywhere really good ( yes there re good places outside of Yorkshire! ) it is always a minimum of 3 hours drive in any direction..and we are usually about an hour, hour and half from the nearest coast at Cleethorpes..not becuase of the distance but more becuase we are going across country rather than up or down where the road system is better.

I love Scotland, so am prepared to go that bit longer..say 5 hours...

Val- it's 5 hours by train, it's probably a little less by car. If there was something I really wanted to do or see there, then I probably wouldn't think twice, but as it's just somewhere hubby fancies I' not quite sure. We did go there on a bus for a day trip when our son was 10 months old We spent more time on the bus than we did in the zoo

Our family believe that one's holiday starts when you leave your front door, so we often travel quite some distance even for a long weekend because we count the journey and en-route stops as part of the fun.

But Helen you wouldn't think twice about travelling 5+ Hours to another country for a weekend break would you?
Even Spain by the time you have travelled to the airport, checked in a couple of hours before, flown even 2 hours and transferred the other end takes longer than 5 hours.
I say go for it, Chester is lovely - lots to do and see there. I love Chester.

Denny

Val- it's 5 hours by train

really????

I never realised it was that far away...I genuinely did think it was in North Wales....shows how cr@p my geography is then!!!

I suppose it is what you are used to travelling...we are used to at leat a or 3 hour travel to go anywhere..and like Alsa pointed out, if thought about the total time to say fly to Spain etc..you wouldnt winge about a 5 hour journey..maybe it is coz it is here rather than abroad.

I dont know as if I would want to travel that long....i guess it would depend on the circumstances..I am sure you will enjoy Chester.

I did an 8hr flight plus travel to airport for a 4 night stay in New York. Will often drive 4 to 5hrs down to Lake Garda in Italy for a 3night break.

Val - Chester is sort of on the border - not far from Manchester really. The roads up to Noth Wales from here are terrible - long & windy. The last time we went there a few yers back I felt sick before I'd even got there! Thanks for your replies. Hubby & I'll have another chat about it.

The most we have done for a few days in this country is probably 4.5 and if I'm honest not too bad . We often go to York which usually takes us about that with a quick Stop at Mcdonalds on the roundabut on the A1 halfway. We have even gone there for just one night before because the journey is pretty easy , stressfree and we know it well..

I think the problem arises for us when it takes an hour to do 10 miles through windy "B" roads or when it's 2 hours sitting in traffic on the M25 just to get out of London and heading in the right direction. Dave is usually fuming by that point which doesnt make a good start to the weekend .

So I think the answer for us would be if the journey was a painless , easy one 4-4.5 hours at a push.

Chester is certainly somewhere I would like to go Helen and it would probably take us around 4 hours. Maybe a bit less.

The roads up to Noth Wales from here are terrible - long & windy.

not to mention mountainous.

I am used to travelling to get somewhere - last year I went to the Hebrides for 3 nights. From here that was 2.5 hours on the train, 3.5hours on a bus and then a ferry trip of almost 2 hours. It was worth it, and the scenery was so beuatiful I didn't mind the journey. Any weekend anyway is 3 hours at least.

Like Judith, we think nothing of a 4 hour drive to the North Italian lakes, but then the Swiss scenery and the St Gotthard pass do make it enjoyable, even if the sudden speed limits - from 120 kph down to 80 kph - do keep the driver on his or her toes and not simply engage mental cruise control!

I think it's impossible to answer as it depends so much on the particular circumstances - as a long term resident in the east of Scotland but from Liverpool originally I'd never see family and old friends apart from the occasional holiday unless I was prepared to travel 5 hrs or more for a weekend stay and I'm glad that they think the same. My record is probably the time I travelled down to Cheshire for one night so that I could go to a friend's 50th birthday party! Work commitments meant that I had to attend a big event on the Friday night and be back up here to teach a class at 9.00am on the Monday morning. So I travelled down by train the Saturday morning - was picked up at Chester at around 4.00pm, had a quick nap at the B&B before getting the glad rags on for the 'do', partied the night away had lunch with friends and family on the Sunday who then dropped me off at Warrington for the train home, collapsed into bed at midnight and took the class as usual on the Monday morning. I spent the rest of the week trying to catch up on my sleep but it was worth it! Doing it for a 3 night stay would have been a doddle!

So, OK, the above example is a bit extreme but it's the only way if I want to be able to go to important family events etc during term-time. The result is that I'm so used to this that I do it for other things too now. I've been known to get the Friday night sleeper train down to London, spend one night in London for a concert or music event, get the Sunday night sleeper back, arrive home on the Monday morning in time to have a shower and still be in work for 9.00am. If you live a long way from anywhere then you just get used to it.

When I think about it the 50th birthday isn't actually the record after all - we decided at work one day that we'd go all go to Amsterdam for lunch just because we could! First EasyJet flight of the day from Edinburgh (itself a 90mins drive from home) a day in Amsterdam and back on the last flight into Edinburgh. When I got home I worked out that I'd been away from the house for exactly 24 hrs, probably spent 8 of those travelling and we were all agreed that it was a great day out! We've since done the same thing to Bruge from Rosyth - overnight ferry out, day in Bruge, overnight ferry back.

West Wales to Chester for a 3 day stay? Go for it - do as my parents used to do in the days when they drove up from Liverpool - make the drive a day out in itself. Make an early start, take the scenic route, choose somewhere nice to stop for lunch where you also have a bit of a wander and stretch your legs and arrive in time for dinner. And then do the reverse on the return journey - by a different route if that's possible. but at the very least with a different lunch stop.

SM