I’m currently living in Cardiff but starting a new job in Bristol shortly, as is my GF. We rent and have no immediate plans to buy so are flexible with accomodation and plan to move to Bristol.

A couple of friends are also looking to rent out their house which would be pretty cheap but that wouldn’t be until later in the year. So if we went with this option we may need to commute for a short while.

Is the commute between the two as bad as it seems? I’ve been trying to work out rough costs of driving v’s public transport of a mixture of the two and the costs seem quite steep. Does anyone have any real world figures?

Depends where. I used to work in Almondsbury (ie just off the motorway) and that was ok, 35 mins when leaving late.

Train options aren’t bad, depending on where you live.

Need more info – where do you live and where’s the job?

Pretty busy stretch of motorway, Friday evening in the summer going back to Cardiff ? Queuing for the toll.

In your situation I’d definitely move.

Actually, yes.. the Newport section is pretty bad nowadays, worse than it was when I used to do it daily.

Having a TAG and going round the A48 instead of the M4 would help a fair bit mind.

Bristol is a big place. It might take you 40 minutes, it might take you 1.5 hours. Where is your new office?

I currently live in Canton/Riverside so either through town down Newport Rd and join the A48/M4 or go via Western Avenue to join the A48.

I’ll be working in central Bristol(ish) around the main university precint so not too far from Clifton. Don’t need my car for the job either. The GF will be working in Pill so quite a bit outside Bristol and no where near where I’m working.

I can walk to Cardiff Central in about 15 mins so had though about bike on the train, but its the Swansea to London Train so a big commuter so I image v busy in the morning with a bike.

Bridge is also a fixed cost so I calculate that per month, but petrol is a bit more tricky to calculate. Our car is a 1.6 petrol though so not hugely economical.

We’ll definitely be moving to Bristol at some point. Just trying to weigh up whether to commute for a few months before moving into our friends house which would be cheap rent but ££ in commuting I imagine, or to make the move immediately and try to find somewhere within cycling distance of Clifton and easy transport to Pill.

but its the Swansea to London Train

That train goes to Parkway, you dont’ want to be in Parkway if you’re going to Clifton. You want the Temple Meads train which is (or was) quite busy in the mornings. A folder (or travelling late) would be essential, they let bikes on but not if it’s packed.

In complete opposite to what you think, the London train is actually fine for bikes, there being a separate bike van.

No way I’d drive to Clifton from Cardiff. No chance. Bike + train.

You could drive very easily to Pill and cycle into town from there – 3 or 4 miles along flat towpath then up the gorge onto the Clifton suspension bridge then over to the Uni. Or there is a cycle path along pretty much most of the A369 direct from Pill to the suspension bridge.

I used to get the train. I started off cycling to/from the station, but it was rubbish. Numerous times I was refused access to the train for having a bike so I had to drive to/from station. Winter was really crap with line problems to the point it tested my employers patience. Driving was a no-no due to bridge tolls making it horrendously expensive.
No way on earth would I do that again.

There will be pretty much no free parking by the Uni, by the way.

Having lived and worked in both cities I’ve known quite a few that do it one way or the other so it is possible. No way I’d do it for any length of time, though. If you are planning to move then I suppose it wouldn’t be too bad for a short while. Re getting the train, you could get a cheap hack and leave it at the station in Bristol. For driving timing will be a big factor you’ll need to be getting to Bristol early. You could come in on the Portway and drop the mrs off. She can walk or cycle over the motorway bridge to Pill, or she drops you off to cycle or get the park and ride bus. (assuming you mean Pill just outside Bristol, rather than in Newport)

Yep, Pill in Bristol.

Seeing as we’d both be travelling over I thought we could drive and she could drop me off at Shirehampton or Avonmouth Station and continue to Pill, and I could get the train (or bike on train to Clifton Down).

Agree with the above, no free parking and no way would I want to commute into Clifton. I’ve seen there is a park & ride operating fron Portway on the A4 and also one at Long Ashton. Not sure if the Portway one goes anywhere near the uni though as the route map on their site is pretty poor.

Would £100 on petrol costs between the two 5 x days a week be a fair assumption?

motorbike?

Would £100 on petrol costs between the two 5 x days a week be a fair assumption?

Simple maths:

40mpg, 90 ish miles/day let’s say 9 litres of petrol per day to keep it easy. That’s very roughly £60/week. Add on £32 for the bridge so £100 is not far off.

Portway park and ride could be a good shout. Takes you straight to college green area and easy to get over to Pill from there.

Whole of bristol is separate parking zones now so parking anywhere from blackboy hill (top of whitladies) down to Ashton Gate is now pretty much impossible if you dont want to spend a fortune on parking and dont have a permit.

I’ll be selling a nice, just refurbished, big 1 bed flat in October. Plenty of underground outbuildings for bikes and 10 minute stole to Uni and easy to get out to Pill, in a good parking zone and on some very useful bus routes. 😉

Useful info there cheers all. I’ll check out the P&R from Portway too, maybe we could lift share & the missus drops me off there & could carry on to Pill.

Flat sounds great andyl but as we’re getting married in Nov buying a flat is a whole other world away at the moment. What’s the area though out of interest?