MAMMOTH FARES: Taxi drivers reveal their LONGEST journeys behind the wheel
- Perry Richardson
- 9 hours ago
- 2 min read
Taxi drivers across the UK have been sharing stories of their longest and most challenging journeys, showing just how far they are willing to go for their passengers. From trips lasting over 20 hours to cross-continental journeys, the industry is full of drivers with tales of determination and endurance.
John Morrant spoke about a mammoth run from Heathrow to Prestwick and Inverness, then straight back to Heathrow. That journey totalled 1,326 miles over 28 hours. Barely 20 hours later, he was back on the road again, covering another 880 miles in 19 hours.
Some jobs took drivers out of the country entirely. Mariusz Mario Matuszewski described a round trip from Evesham in Worcestershire to Barcelona, totalling 2,150 miles. Krystian Brzana remembered driving from London to Bari in southern Italy, while Rob Taylor recalled his longest stint—2,600 miles from Edinburgh to Dover, ferry to Calais, then on through France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Romania, finishing in Bulgaria. That journey took 29 hours with only fuel and toilet breaks.
Others took on epic domestic trips. Lesley Davis once drove from Hull to Gatwick, back up to Ferrybridge, then on to Glasgow and back to Hull. Her father, returning from the USA, had been diverted to Glasgow. Running out of heart medication, he needed to get home urgently. That journey, through snow, took 27 hours.
Jonathan Robertson-Wray recalled a run from Market Weighton in East Yorkshire to Cambourne in Cornwall, some 387 miles, only for the customer to ring the next day asking for a pick-up back home.
There were plenty of other marathon drives: Dumitrescu Marius Mihai drove 1,270 miles from Leicester to Romania. Craig Hatton remembered Hull to Spain with a sleepover in France on the way out but driving straight through for 22 hours on the return.
Some drivers racked up miles over several days. Stanley Roth covered 900 miles within Great Britain, travelling up the east coast to Edinburgh and down the west coast in Wales over seven days. He also added 700 miles through France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany on another job.
Not every journey was measured by distance. Graham Gray’s trip from Galashiels to Plymouth stands out for the trouble it caused. After dropping the customer, Gray discovered an oil leak on the way home. The RAC took him back to Galashiels, and repairs ended up costing him
almost the entire fare.
Other drivers shared journeys of hundreds of miles: Edinburgh to Portsmouth in snow, Berlin on a charity run for veterans, Southampton to Barnard Castle and back overnight, and countless runs from London to Scotland.
These stories show the lengths drivers will go to serve customers. Whether battling snow, crossing borders, or clocking up thousands of miles, taxi drivers are on hand, day and night, taking passengers wherever they need to go—no matter how far that might be.
