London to Bristol by Chauffeur

Drive it yourself and you get the Reading crawl, then the business of parking in a city split by a river with Clifton perched on the hill above. A chauffeur converts all that into two and a half hours belonging to you, ending at a hotel entrance or an office reception instead of the fourth floor of a multi-storey holding a ticket you are certain to lose.

Familiar ground, this M4 corridor: Heathrow, Reading, Newbury away to the south, then Swindon and the long straight pull down to the M32. Those closing two miles into the centre are the slowest of the whole journey, worst of all at the Cabot Circus end during the afternoon. Heading for Clifton and the suspension bridge, we usually come off the motorway earlier and approach across the Downs.

Two and a half to three hours makes a proper working stretch: enough for a full call schedule, a document read from cover to cover, or a real sleep ahead of an evening event. Guests carrying on into Cornwall or Devon often break overnight in Bristol, and the car simply resumes the next morning, which keeps the entire trip on one thread from start to finish.

Three journeys come up more than any others here: the airport at Lulsgate, the harbourside hotels, and the office parks out at Aztec West, and all three fold comfortably into a single day hire. Return legs frequently stay open, because a Bristol evening has a habit of running well past whatever was planned. Waiting suits us far better than having you rush a dinner.