6 days to fill after London, before Cornwall
Sep 17th, 2015, 12:42 AM
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6 days to fill after London, before Cornwall
Hi there, 2 couples in our early 60's have an apartment booked in Fowey, Cornwall for a week starting July 9. We will be in London prior so want to head out on Sunday July 3.
Our rough idea at present is to train to Salisbury, stay overnight then pick up a hire car. Our working list at present has in no particular order as yet, Lacock, Devizes, Bradford-on-Avon, Stourhead and Bowood, drive by Stonehenge then head to Cerne Abbas for two nights.
Continue onto Torquay for two nights, want to visit Greenway and explore the area then possibly into Plymouth for one night then arrive via a detour through Dartmoor to Fowey. Would like to visit some NT properties and gardens.
My BIL has come up with this itinerary, does it need tweaking? Like to stay in B&B's, Inns or pubs so we can walk to dinner. I would like to stay in at least one pretty village if possible. We have been to the Cotswalds before so don't need to head into that area.
I would appreciate your ideas, thoughts. When we get that sorted then we have 3 days after to fill before heading to Heathrow ........ But that will be another post!
Our rough idea at present is to train to Salisbury, stay overnight then pick up a hire car. Our working list at present has in no particular order as yet, Lacock, Devizes, Bradford-on-Avon, Stourhead and Bowood, drive by Stonehenge then head to Cerne Abbas for two nights.
Continue onto Torquay for two nights, want to visit Greenway and explore the area then possibly into Plymouth for one night then arrive via a detour through Dartmoor to Fowey. Would like to visit some NT properties and gardens.
My BIL has come up with this itinerary, does it need tweaking? Like to stay in B&B's, Inns or pubs so we can walk to dinner. I would like to stay in at least one pretty village if possible. We have been to the Cotswalds before so don't need to head into that area.
I would appreciate your ideas, thoughts. When we get that sorted then we have 3 days after to fill before heading to Heathrow ........ But that will be another post!
Sep 17th, 2015, 06:40 AM
#5
Trouble is, Maudie, that there is no sensible way to see places like Bradford on Avon and Stourhead, [to which I would add Wells] which are really to the north of your route, and Cerne Abbas which is to the south. it really is out of your way and unless you have an overwhelming desire to see it, might best be jettisoned.
Then you have a nice route - Salisbury, Stonehenge, Stourhead, and then Wells, where I would base myself for at least one night, preferably two; you could do Lacock and Bradford upon Avon easily in a day from there.
The next day, you could go from Wells to Torquay via Lytes Cary and/or Tintinhull [both NT] and spend your two nights there or in a village on the moor - or what about Totnes?
finally a night in Plymouth [if you must] though my preference would be for Tavistock, or even a stay at the lovely Two Bridges hotel in the middle of the moor, where the food is excellent.
if it has to be Cerne Abbas, I would add an extra night to Salisbury and use it as a base to tour that area, and lose the last night before Fowey. of course you could do Dorset as your three nights on the way back to Heathrow, and instead of heading to Salisbury from London, get the train to Bath and stay there a couple of nights before proceeding as above.
Just a thought!
Then you have a nice route - Salisbury, Stonehenge, Stourhead, and then Wells, where I would base myself for at least one night, preferably two; you could do Lacock and Bradford upon Avon easily in a day from there.
The next day, you could go from Wells to Torquay via Lytes Cary and/or Tintinhull [both NT] and spend your two nights there or in a village on the moor - or what about Totnes?
finally a night in Plymouth [if you must] though my preference would be for Tavistock, or even a stay at the lovely Two Bridges hotel in the middle of the moor, where the food is excellent.
if it has to be Cerne Abbas, I would add an extra night to Salisbury and use it as a base to tour that area, and lose the last night before Fowey. of course you could do Dorset as your three nights on the way back to Heathrow, and instead of heading to Salisbury from London, get the train to Bath and stay there a couple of nights before proceeding as above.
Just a thought!
Sep 18th, 2015, 01:25 AM
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Lacock is not negotiable, it stays in. We have stayed in Bath as well as Bisley previously so don't feel the need to return there at this point.
Ann, I was hoping you would reply, I always appreciate your sensible advice. I think you have come up with a brilliant plan. Not sure where my BIL got Cerne Abbas or Plymouth from, I think he saw a gin tour in Plymouth!!! One has to be diplomatic when traveling with other people, I can't always get my own way!!!
Salisbury on Sunday night is set in concrete as I don't like our chances of getting a hire car that day and it gives us time to visit the sites. Love your idea of 2 nights in Wells and 2 in Totnes (would never have thought of that one), brilliant.
Funnily enough I have the Two Bridges bookmarked so that must be a sign, love the idea of staying in Dartmoor then onto Fowey.
Just have to run this updated and far better version by my BIL - fingers crossed.
I may as well throw this in to complete the big picture - we do have 3 nights after Fowey but as our flight leaves at 11.30am we really want to spend our final night in striking distance to Heathrow. So we come down to 2 nights and about 2 1/2 days. I had thought of driving on the A39 up to Exmoor, Lynmouth or there abouts for the two nights. My daughter really wants us to see Dunster (her DH is from Bristol and she loved the village), maybe we could stay there. Then I thought we could drive down to Taunton or even into Salisbury to return the car. We don't really want to head back into London, I have been looking at staying in either Slough or Windsor. Your thoughts on all this?
Ann, I was hoping you would reply, I always appreciate your sensible advice. I think you have come up with a brilliant plan. Not sure where my BIL got Cerne Abbas or Plymouth from, I think he saw a gin tour in Plymouth!!! One has to be diplomatic when traveling with other people, I can't always get my own way!!!
Salisbury on Sunday night is set in concrete as I don't like our chances of getting a hire car that day and it gives us time to visit the sites. Love your idea of 2 nights in Wells and 2 in Totnes (would never have thought of that one), brilliant.
Funnily enough I have the Two Bridges bookmarked so that must be a sign, love the idea of staying in Dartmoor then onto Fowey.
Just have to run this updated and far better version by my BIL - fingers crossed.
I may as well throw this in to complete the big picture - we do have 3 nights after Fowey but as our flight leaves at 11.30am we really want to spend our final night in striking distance to Heathrow. So we come down to 2 nights and about 2 1/2 days. I had thought of driving on the A39 up to Exmoor, Lynmouth or there abouts for the two nights. My daughter really wants us to see Dunster (her DH is from Bristol and she loved the village), maybe we could stay there. Then I thought we could drive down to Taunton or even into Salisbury to return the car. We don't really want to head back into London, I have been looking at staying in either Slough or Windsor. Your thoughts on all this?
Sep 18th, 2015, 02:38 AM
#7
Maudie - my first thoughts are that Fowey to Exmoor is a lot of driving. I've checked with google maps and it says less than 3 hours but I would say twice that, especially as there are a lot of nice things to see en route - Port Isaac, [doc Martin country] Tintagel, the wonderful Morwenstow, Hartland point, delightful Appledore and Bideford to name but a few.
if you didn't mind a couple of one night stands, you could break the journey somewhere in North Devon, [I would suggest the Commodore Hotel at Instow, as from there you get the best view of Appledore across the estuary and it has good food - http://www.commodore-instow.co.uk/localealt.htm ] and then Lynton/Lymouth the next day, which would give you plenty of time to explore Exmoor.
On your last day, you could go to Dunster for the morning, [there really isn't a great deal to see save the Castle [and hour or so] and the village which takes about 30 mins], have lunch, then drop down into Taunton, return the car and get the train to Windsor. Each leg of that journey is only 45 mins or so so the driving won't be a problem.
I agree that you don't have to return the car to Salisbury - IMO Taunton would be better which would cutdown on driving time and give you a quick train ride into Windsor or wherever for the night before you fly home. [and with an 11.30 flight, I'd want to be in striking distance of the airport the night before too].
if you didn't mind a couple of one night stands, you could break the journey somewhere in North Devon, [I would suggest the Commodore Hotel at Instow, as from there you get the best view of Appledore across the estuary and it has good food - http://www.commodore-instow.co.uk/localealt.htm ] and then Lynton/Lymouth the next day, which would give you plenty of time to explore Exmoor.
On your last day, you could go to Dunster for the morning, [there really isn't a great deal to see save the Castle [and hour or so] and the village which takes about 30 mins], have lunch, then drop down into Taunton, return the car and get the train to Windsor. Each leg of that journey is only 45 mins or so so the driving won't be a problem.
I agree that you don't have to return the car to Salisbury - IMO Taunton would be better which would cutdown on driving time and give you a quick train ride into Windsor or wherever for the night before you fly home. [and with an 11.30 flight, I'd want to be in striking distance of the airport the night before too].
Sep 18th, 2015, 03:10 AM
#8
PS - I've checked the train times - there are hourly trains from Taunton which would get you to Windsor in about 2 hours, with 2 changes at Reading and Slough. you might decide that it would be nicer to spend longer in Devon and get a later train just to Reading and stay there the night rather than struggle with your luggage. you could then get the bus from Reading to LHR in the morning - it takes about an hour.
Sep 20th, 2015, 04:47 AM
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Ann, I'm back! Sorry, didn't desert you. Ok, I wasn't sure know long it would take to do justice to the A39 drive so that's good to know. I think we would probably see Port Isaac from Fowey as a day trip. No problem with having a couple of one nighters as that makes sense rather than rushing and having a super long day. The Commodore looks great, thanks for that.
Dunster sounds perfect to see on our last day as it won't take too long and seems stress free to return the car to Taunton for the onward train journey.
You are a sweetie for looking up the train times, I think we might travel onto Windsor. I'd feel happier to be closer to the airport and get a car service to drop us right outside the terminal. I like our flight days to be as simple as possible when you are facing 21 hours of flying. We travel pretty lightly so luggage hauling isn't a problem and we transferred at Reading a few times earlier this year and the timings give us 10 minutes roughly at each change.
I can't tell you how grateful I am for the info you have provided, it really is much appreciated. Thank you for taking the time. Now I just have to lay this all out for my BIL......... Fingers crossed!!
Dunster sounds perfect to see on our last day as it won't take too long and seems stress free to return the car to Taunton for the onward train journey.
You are a sweetie for looking up the train times, I think we might travel onto Windsor. I'd feel happier to be closer to the airport and get a car service to drop us right outside the terminal. I like our flight days to be as simple as possible when you are facing 21 hours of flying. We travel pretty lightly so luggage hauling isn't a problem and we transferred at Reading a few times earlier this year and the timings give us 10 minutes roughly at each change.
I can't tell you how grateful I am for the info you have provided, it really is much appreciated. Thank you for taking the time. Now I just have to lay this all out for my BIL......... Fingers crossed!!
Sep 20th, 2015, 07:40 AM
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I think we would probably see Port Isaac from Fowey as a day trip.>>
mmm - looking at google maps they are saying that's less than an hour which is less than I would have expected, but bearing in mind you will have plenty of daylight, after Port Isaac you could go up the coast to Tintagel and then come back across Bodmin Moor via the Minions, which are Cornwall's answer to Stonehenge.
i understand you wanting to be close to the airport on your last night and if you travel light, changing trains shouldn't be too much of a problem.
hope your BIL approves.
mmm - looking at google maps they are saying that's less than an hour which is less than I would have expected, but bearing in mind you will have plenty of daylight, after Port Isaac you could go up the coast to Tintagel and then come back across Bodmin Moor via the Minions, which are Cornwall's answer to Stonehenge.
i understand you wanting to be close to the airport on your last night and if you travel light, changing trains shouldn't be too much of a problem.
hope your BIL approves.
Sep 22nd, 2015, 04:21 AM
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And the good news is ...........BIL didn't blink an eye lid.
One night in Salisbury
Two nights in Wells
Two nights in Totnes
One at the Two Bridges in the moor
Seven in Fowey
One night in Instow
One in Lynton/Lynmouth somewhere
One in Windsor
Itinerary locked in with many thanks to Annhig and the kind folks on this forum, it's much appreciated.
One night in Salisbury
Two nights in Wells
Two nights in Totnes
One at the Two Bridges in the moor
Seven in Fowey
One night in Instow
One in Lynton/Lynmouth somewhere
One in Windsor
Itinerary locked in with many thanks to Annhig and the kind folks on this forum, it's much appreciated.
Sep 22nd, 2015, 10:53 AM
#13
looks like a great trip.
Please come back if you want some ideas for Fowey [or anywhere else!] - we holidayed there a couple of times before we moved to Cornwall and make a trip over there roughly once a year so we might have a few useful tips!
Please come back if you want some ideas for Fowey [or anywhere else!] - we holidayed there a couple of times before we moved to Cornwall and make a trip over there roughly once a year so we might have a few useful tips!
Sep 24th, 2015, 12:21 AM
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I'm back and yes we would love some ideas for Fowey. One day will be Port Isaac and Tintagel, not sure what the roads and crowds will be like - we are there for a week from July 9. I know it's a busy time of year but it's just the way it worked out.
Would like to do a nice walk one day along the coastal path.
Would like to do a nice walk one day along the coastal path.
Sep 24th, 2015, 01:04 AM
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I have another question too, is there anywhere you can recommend to stay in Totnes? Nothing is leaping out at me, or maybe another town/village? Looking at B&B's or Inns, we really aren't too fussy but I'm not feeling the love for what I am seeing.
Thanks
Thanks
Sep 24th, 2015, 08:53 AM
#16
Hi Maudie,
Fowey first - there is a famous walk called the "Hall Walk" which takes you across the river by the Bodinnck ferry, along the edge of the estuary on the other bank, and ends up at Polruan hopefully in time for a late lunch at the pub there, or if it's taken you a bit longer, for a cream tea in one of the tea shops.
you might also enjoy a trip up the river to Lerryn [again, a nice pub and river walk] or the walk via Readymoney cove to Polkerris [again, good pub] on the coast path and back across the fields; this takes you past Menabilly which is supposed to have been the inspiration for Daphne Du Maurier's Mandalay, but is a private house and apart for the odd concert, is not open to the public.
as for Totnes, I've never stayed there as we have rellies that we stay with if we go over that way. What sort of thing are you looking for? for slightly upmarket lodgings, Alistair Sawdays has some good ideas;
[I tried to send you some links but the system doesn't like them at present!]
There is a very nice hotel somewhere in that area but I can't remember its name! I'll have a think.
Fowey first - there is a famous walk called the "Hall Walk" which takes you across the river by the Bodinnck ferry, along the edge of the estuary on the other bank, and ends up at Polruan hopefully in time for a late lunch at the pub there, or if it's taken you a bit longer, for a cream tea in one of the tea shops.
you might also enjoy a trip up the river to Lerryn [again, a nice pub and river walk] or the walk via Readymoney cove to Polkerris [again, good pub] on the coast path and back across the fields; this takes you past Menabilly which is supposed to have been the inspiration for Daphne Du Maurier's Mandalay, but is a private house and apart for the odd concert, is not open to the public.
as for Totnes, I've never stayed there as we have rellies that we stay with if we go over that way. What sort of thing are you looking for? for slightly upmarket lodgings, Alistair Sawdays has some good ideas;
[I tried to send you some links but the system doesn't like them at present!]
There is a very nice hotel somewhere in that area but I can't remember its name! I'll have a think.
Sep 24th, 2015, 12:35 PM
#18
http://www.sawdays.co.uk/britain/eng...&search_text=&
Maudie - this is the place I was thinking about.
I haven't stayed there but a friend/colleague did and loved it.
Great for a night of indulgence, I think.
Margo - I'm sure that I could say the same about Oz!
Maudie - this is the place I was thinking about.
I haven't stayed there but a friend/colleague did and loved it.
Great for a night of indulgence, I think.
Margo - I'm sure that I could say the same about Oz!
Sep 25th, 2015, 10:49 PM
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Hi again,
Thanks for the walks, they look great. Just the sort of thing we enjoy doing and pubs as well to help us along.
That accommodation looks wonderful but with the Aussie dollars heading south we would have to sell our first born into slavery to pay for it! Nice idea though.
BIL found this place: http://www.sampsonsfarm.com near Newton Abbott and I found this one: http://foalesleigh.co.uk so it's up to me to decide. I feel the foalesleigh one might be easier to walk to the local village and back after a meal. The other seems a bit more remote but they do say they are providing a free taxi service to local eating places. Oh this is too hard!
Thanks for the walks, they look great. Just the sort of thing we enjoy doing and pubs as well to help us along.
That accommodation looks wonderful but with the Aussie dollars heading south we would have to sell our first born into slavery to pay for it! Nice idea though.
BIL found this place: http://www.sampsonsfarm.com near Newton Abbott and I found this one: http://foalesleigh.co.uk so it's up to me to decide. I feel the foalesleigh one might be easier to walk to the local village and back after a meal. The other seems a bit more remote but they do say they are providing a free taxi service to local eating places. Oh this is too hard!
Sep 26th, 2015, 01:21 PM
#20
both look very nice - hard to choose.
did you look at any other Sawday's choices? there are lots of B&Bs in that area, some in Totnes and Dartmouth which would make walking to restaurants easier.
did you look at any other Sawday's choices? there are lots of B&Bs in that area, some in Totnes and Dartmouth which would make walking to restaurants easier.
