by Mark Hopkins

Created on: August 01, 2010

Devon is one of England's most scenic and desirable counties and the small nation of Wales is a land of immense variety and beauty, so a journey between the two offers the traveller a visual delight  for much of the journey. There are numerous possible routes to take, depending precisely where one begins and ends and whether journey time is of critical importance, so a good map might be more useful than relying on satnav when planning ahead.

The main road exiting Devon northwards towards Wales is the M5 motorway, running from the county town of Exeter through Tiverton and on across into the neighboring county of Somerset. The M5  can be accessed at several points within Devon and gathers traffic from south Devon via the A38 from Plymouth, from the A30 serving west Devon and Okehampton, the A377 serving mid Devon and the A361 'North Devon Link' road crossing north Devon from Bideford and Barnstaple. The A38 and A30 are dual carriageways,( ie two lanes of traffic in each direction)  the A377 single carriageway. The A361 is three lanes, alternating between one and two in each direction according to terrain, a cause of numerous accidents, so caution is advised and look out for the speed camera just west of Tiverton!

Once on the M5, whether at Exeter or Tiverton, the traveller leaving Devon usually encounters light traffic by UK motorway standards and a swift ride northwards into Somerset through beautiful countryside. Crossing from Somerset into Avon, the motorway bypasses the ancient port city of Bristol and runs past the docklands of Avonmouth, which are less than scenic. Around here, traffic can be expected to be considerably heavier as goods vehicles coming off the M4 join the flow and head into Avonmouth Docks or turn north for Wales.

 Beyond this point, the wise traveller should have already decided whether to cross into south Wales by the Severn Bridge or proceed north and enter Wales by one of the less frequented but equally useful routes. The junction for the Severn Bridge is very well sign posted and takes traffic from the M5 onto the westbound M4. Those taking this route will pass high over the wide expanse of the estuary and mud flats of the river Severn, which rises in Wales and is the UK's longest at 220 miles. There is a toll charge of  five pounds and fifty pence for cars currently, July 2010, ( more for larger vehicles) payable on the English side of the bridge. There is no toll

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