The saviour of many a long journey, motorway services have gone from a convenient pit stop for a toilet break to, in some cases at least, a genuinely desirable place to stop and have some time out. Used car buying service ChooseMyCar.com has put together a list of the UK’s best as many of us prepare to hit the road during the summer.
Using a criteria of various attractive elements, such as availability of electric vehicle charging points, price of fuel, variety of restaurants and whether dog walking is available, it has ranked the UK’s service stations. Coming out on top was Beaconsfield Motorway Services, located off the M40 in Buckinghamshire.
It said Beaconsfield had "an astonishing array of restaurants and coffee shops, with 16 in total, including all the usual favourites such as Starbucks, McDonald's and Nando's. It also has dog walking, a good amount of EV chargers and two hours of free parking".
Hot on Beaconsfield’s heels is Gordano Service Station, off the M5 near Bristol. Gordano Services has fewer restaurants, but the eco-friendly stop has a 37 electric vehicle charging points.
In third position is Fleet Services, off the M3 in Hampshire. Fleet features "a generous 13 restaurants and coffee shops and an impressive 28 charging points".
The full list was as follows:
Beaconsfield
Fleet
Tebay
Darwen
Donington
Norton Canes
Wetherby
Stafford North
Rugby
Rivington
Gordano
Swansea West
Chieveley
Founder of ChooseMyCar.com, Nick Zapolski, said: “With summer coming up, many of us will be hitting the motorways to get to our holidays across the UK. Motorway services have become a godsend on long road trips, with many now offering far more than the traditional toilets and fuel stations.
"A modern service station will offer electric vehicle charging points, a huge variety of refreshment options - and even somewhere for our pooches to relieve themselves too. It’s reassuring to know we can have a break on long trips - especially if you’re travelling with kids and pets - and even more reassuring to know that so many of our motorway services have just fantastic facilities. Hopefully our list highlights some of the best - so you can plan where to stop when you take your trips this summer.”
