The Plan Day 1: South Coast Saunter

Over the next few weeks I plan to describe the route that I am going to take, and the major highlights along the way. Did I mention I'm not going to be using a sat nav?

Plan for Day 1: Worthing to Torquay.
(206 miles, approx. 6.5 hours driving)

The journey all starts at the Shaftesbury Avenue traffic lights on the A259, which is the part of the route nearest my home. I'm going to see a lot of the A259, in fact almost all of it. There's a lot of it on day 1, and even more on day 13. The only bits of the A259 I'm not driving will be the bit through Chichester (where the A27 is closer to the coast) and a short section on day 13 through Bexhill, where the A269 for some inexplicable reason pops into the town and out again. Hey ho.

The River Arun. The first river of many that I will be crossing...
  © Copyright Chris Shaw and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

My first chance to get lost happens when I get to Portsmouth, where I will travel down one side of the city, and up the other. This will also be the first time I actually get to see the sea as the A288 makes it to the coast. There's then a lot of trundling along the A27 through Fareham, where the M27 is the more sane route to take, before heading towards the Itchen Bridge, and the first of many, many tolls. Having by this point spent most the time either in or on the edge of urban areas, I will then head into the New Forest and down to Lymington. Then it's through Christchurch, Bournemouth and Poole before heading to Dorchester via the A351, A352, A353 and A354! Sadly due to the recent re-classification of roads when the Weymouth relief road was built, I won't be visiting Weymouth.

Hills to admire.
© Copyright Martin Bodman and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

From Dorchester I'll be back on a road I've driven before, until reaching Lyme Regis. The road from there to Exeter looks like it might have lots of nice hills to admire. From Exeter I'll head south down through Dawlish to Torquay.

The directions I have written for myself go as follows:

• 1. A259 to Chichester
• 2. A27 Chichester Bypass
• 3. A259 to Emsworth
• 4. A27 to A2030 (Portsmouth)
• 5. A2030 to A288
• 6. A288 Milton Road to A3
• 7. A3 via Hope Street to A27
• 8. A27 to A3025 near J8 M27
• 9. A3025 to Itchen Bridge to A33
• 10. A33 becomes A35 to Lyndhurst
• 11. One-Way system to A337
• 12. A337 to Christchurch A35
• 13. A35 to A350 Poole Harbour
• 14. A350 back to A35
• 15. A35 to A351
• 16. A351 to Wareham
• 17. A352 to A353
• 18. A353 to A354
• 19. A354 to Donchester
• 20. A35 to Charmouth
• 21. A3052 to A376
• 22. M5 J30 - A379 towards Dawlish
• 23. A379 to Torquay.

The route can be viewed on a map if you wish:

Day 1 - Worthing to Lymington

Day 1 - Lymington to Torquay

Note for the pedantic: Bing's routing doesn't recognise the Weymouth Relief Road, though it is there. When viewed using Bing's standard road map, if any route looks like it isn't on an A-road this is due to Bing's mapping not matching the OS mapping.