Im planning on driving down to see sigur ros with soem friends in birmingham tonight but im struggling to decide when the best time would be. Should i set off at 4pm(before rush hour), on to the m1, a42, m42.... Or at 6pm (after(ish) rush hour).

Im not too sure when its gets so busy traffic grinds to a hault.

Advice? :(

It's shocking all the time so head off early, then at least if you do get a clear run you can chill out in a bar first.

go earlyand take the a38 - much better run to birmingham!!!!

If you've never drove to Birmingham go early! me and my boyfriend got mega lost!! Have a good time!

you didn't say what time you need to be there, so how can we say whether you'll get there in time.

The traffic will be bad at both 4 and 6, I make that drive regularly (in both directions) and I'd say you'll need at least 2.5hrs at that time.

Stick to the route you said, M1, A42, M42, M6 (Northbound), A38. That's if you're going to the centre anyway. The A38 is a terrible route and will take far longer especially at busy times.
If you are going to the centre, remember to take the M6 in the wrong direction, ie Northbound on your way their, Southbound on your way home, otherwise you'll be going the wrong way (as my other half found out last night).

Originally posted by Cyclone
The A38 is a terrible route and will take far longer especially at busy times.

I travelled down there on a friday after work for over a year and never found it to be busy at all!!!

Thanks for the advice! Hmmmm.... think ill set off at 6pm... I dont need to get there till 8ish and ive been to b'ha before so i know it a bit... Really dont want to go at 4pm and go through all the traffic at the b'ham end... Hopefully at 6 it will be bust and then quieten down towards b'ham. Hopefully.

thoughts? :confused:

ur only leaving urself 2 hours?? that is cutting it fine!!!

Originally posted by scottf
go earlyand take the a38 - much better run to birmingham!!!!

Trust me, you dont want the A38. Can be decent sometimes, but you need to be lucky.

I would say 2 hours would leave you plenty of time. It should take about 1 1/2 hours, but then again, if you havent been before, you should give yourself some extra time to find your way around as it can be pretty awful for newcomers.

Originally posted by scaramanga
Thanks for the advice! Hmmmm.... think ill set off at 6pm... I dont need to get there till 8ish and ive been to b'ha before so i know it a bit... Really dont want to go at 4pm and go through all the traffic at the b'ham end... Hopefully at 6 it will be bust and then quieten down towards b'ham. Hopefully.

thoughts? :confused:

on a friday, you've got to be joking.

I leave the office in Brum on a friday at 13:00, and it still takes >2 hrs to get home.
If I leave at 1600 it takes 3 hrs. If I leave 1800 the traffic is dying off by the time I get to the M1 so it's back down to 2 - 2.5 hrs.
Going the other way, if you leave at 1800 you'll be stationary on the M1 before you've past junc 28. And that's after the 20 min queue down the parkway to get to Junc 33.
Over the past few years I've done about 40,000 miles to birmingham and back from walkley, so i've a good idea what i'm talking about.
I went down on Sat morning and it took 2hrs because of traffic then, 1:20 on Sun afternoon coming back though.