Travelling throughout the UK by road provides many delights of what Great Britain has to offer. Occasionally you may come across a river or other body of water in which you need to cross. Luckily, with a number of impressive car bridges around the country, you’ll have no problem overcoming these obstacles. Whenever you are holidaying in the UK, be sure to check out these road bridges on your travels this summer.
Severn Bridge
Measuring in at 5,240ft the Severn Bridge straddles the River Severn between south Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire. As one of the most notable bridges in the UK it opened in 1966 [1] and is still busy to this day. For a category 1 vehicle (a car), the current toll is 5.50, but if this seems slightly steep, remember, you are getting the privilege of travelling over one of the UK’s more remarkable suspension bridges. So if you fancy a trip from Wales to England, or England to Wales, you’ll find yourself cruising over this majestic bridge with views of the River Severn on all sides.
Britannia Bridge
The Britannia Bridge was solely used for rail travel but was opened to cars following a fire (and a problem with congestion) on another local bridge. This called for a change in design [2]. Yet despite being well known in the past for its bridge lions, you may have trouble spotting these nowadays as they are well hidden below the road. As a means of bridging the island of Anglesey to mainland Wales, it is located over the Menai Strait and now has a single rail line on one level, with cars on the other.
Clifton Suspension Bridge
As the “symbol of Bristol”, the Clifton Suspension Bridge is located across the Avon Gorge. At 1,352ft long, the bridge was a result of a design competition in which, much to everyone’s shock, was won by the judge himself. However, the results were questions and Brunel was eventually declared the winner [3]. Unfortunately the bridge opened after Brunel’s death, which meant that he only saw the pillars being built in his lifetime. For a mere 50 pence you can travel over this piece of English heritage which opened in 1864.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of course; there are many other road and pedestrian bridges in the UK to explore too. If you want to have a really unique holiday this summer, why not go bridge spotting? Create a list and cross them off on your way. Just remember to have some change for the toll booths.
Hannah Warder writes frequently about car related topics, a subject that she is passionate about. These include car trips, cars and car insurance quotes.
Tags: auto insurance, car bridges, car insurace, cars, UK road trips