Purchase preparation
Ten kilometres that take an hour: why distance is measured in time
The map says ten kilometres, the drive takes an hour: coastal roads, ferries and the season stretch kilometres their own way. Before deciding on a location, measure the distance the way it will actually be crossed.
Why kilometres deceive
The automobile club's traffic information shows the same stretch drives completely differently in summer and winter, and coastal roads with one lane per direction have nowhere to absorb seasonal traffic.1
Where the sea sits between house and town, the ferry enters the calculation: the sailing schedule and the wait to board are part of every distance.2
How to measure honestly
Drive the route to work, school or the airport in real conditions: once in season and once out of it, because double the time can stand between those two measurements.1
For island addresses count with the schedule, not the map: the distance to town equals the time to the next departure plus the crossing.2