hello from Cornwall, ancestralvoices,

let's see if i can help.

first of all, you could cut out a whole load of driving if you flew from Paris into Exeter - at the moment Flybe.com are showing flights in July for about €55 pp.

then to see the places you list, i would suggest basing yourselves in 2 places - south Cornwall for Polperro, Looe and Mevagissey, and Penzance or somewhere on the north Cornwall coast for St. Ives and the rest. [probably doesn't make a lot of difference; in july i would pick Penzance because the traffic in St. Ives can be appalling that time of year].

you could then head up the coast along the wonderfully named but sadly not very picturesque Atlantic highway to Lynmouth, taking in the lovely Morwenstow, Hartland Point, Clovelly and Appledore en route.

then on your way to Bristol to pick up the motorway, you could take in Exmoor and Dunster which we discovered last year and liked vey much.

I'll be happy to come up with some more ideas once you've had time to consider that lot!

PS - i should have said that you can hire a car at Exeter airport - most of the car hire companies have facilities there.

Thank you annhig, for the quick response. I've got a lot of planning to do(haven't even gotten plane tickets yet). Flying from Paris to Exeter sounds like a terrific time saving idea! Thanks for that suggestion.

Did you end up going to The Netherlands for the Floriade.? We were in both Delft and Maastricht last July before heading over to Suffolk(via Chunnel). I was just wondering if you opted for either of those itineraries I had suggested( and if not, it's certainly fine, of course).

Ok I will do some research and come back with more questions. The Cornish fishing villages are what appeal to me most!
Thanks again!

Oh, and we met up with some wonderful English trip advisor members last Summer in East Sussex near Alfriston! Terrific time. Would love to do the same while visiting Cornwall!

AV - glad to oblige; i think that the Paris- Exeter route would work for you. you could also do Geneva - Exeter, but from Strasbourg Paris and Geneva are more or less equidistant i think and i suspect, though don't know, that Paris would have more frequent and cheaper flights.

as for fishing villages, Looe, Polperro and Mevagissey are the best known and are of course lovely, though they can be very crowded. a good base for seeing all of them and IMO a nicer place is Fowey - and it's certainly a lovely place to visit if you stay elsewhere.

further west the fishing is concentrated in Penzance [IMO a town with terrific character] and Newlyn, which is quite a gritty place. a little further west is the wonderfully named and very picturesque Mousehole [pronounced Mousel].

We did go to the Floriade last year - how did you remember that? I confess that i was so swamped with information that i lost track of who had suggested what, but we still had a good time, though travelling with my mother was a little fraught. We liked the Keukenhof gardens best [which she had never seen before] and were not so impressed with the Floriade. Both Delft and Maastricht were great and i'd like to spend more time in both, especially Maastricht, where we only had 2 nights.

keep the questions coming!

When visiting relatives in Penzance, my husband and I stay at the Old Coast Guard in Mousehole, which has recently been renovated. The food is exceptional, the rooms comfortable. The lounge for reading or just looking out at the sea is wonderful and there's an outdoor lawn on the cliff, too. I think it's a must.
You can walk into Penzance if you like. As you walk along the cliff, there's a pool that fills up at high tide. Must have a name but I don't know it.
Anyway, I think it's lovely along that coast.

just stopping in to bookmark this as we are going through this area later in the year

Thank you Marvina for that great tip!

marvina - the Old Coastguard http://www.oldcoastguardhotel.co.uk/

has just been bought by the people who run the excellent Gurnard's Head on the north coast - http://www.gurnardshead.co.uk/

so i have great hopes for it, as IMO it had gone downhill in its last incarnation. [I've eaten there, but never stayed, so it's interesting to have your assessment of it.]

i agree that the coast there is lovely [we've seen the odd seal and there are always oystercatchers and other seabirds]. it is however quite a hike into PZ, though the walk from/to Newlyn is nice, and there are buses if you wanted to leave your car in the car park.

it would make an excellent base if you didn't want to stay in Penzance.

Hi Ann,
We've stayed at the Old Coastguard in both incarnations. Our last time there was September, 2011, when it was just newly reopened.
I just love the location. Truth is it was really bad just before it closed, but we loved the location so much we stayed there anyway. Wasn't the greatest idea.
Funny about the walking distance, I suppose we were just not into driving or something at the time. The weather and our mood made the walk/hike fantastic. But, now that I think of it, we got a ride back from my brother-in-law .

Ann / Marvina

We walked in to book a special birthday meal around 3 years ago.

The location is absolutely stunning.

The welcome was not. I actually asked the manager whether he expected me to a book a meal for 8 in view of is attitude. I just walked out.

I would love to stay there in future if they sorted out their act. The views are amazing.

The welcome was not. I actually asked the manager whether he expected me to a book a meal for 8 in view of is attitude. I just walked out. >>

Dickie G - that would have been before it was taken over by the latest lot. there was a time when every time we went there [once every 6 months or so] it seemed to be under new management/have a new chef/a make-over. I used to go quite a lot as it was a good place to go for a nice lunch if court in Penzance finished early [I know, it's a hard life] but they closed the court about 2 years ago so i haven't been as much recently. We actually heard about the take-over when we were having lunch at the Gurnard's Head and saw their flyer about it.

where did you end up booking, as a matter of interest?

There was a lovely little place on the hill, going up through Mousehole on the right.........but it was full.

I just gave in and went to The Porthminster Beach Terrace.

Pompous staff. ( every time I put my cutlery down they tried to take my plate away)

Pompous customers. (One too many presenters from day time TV)

Pompous menu (I did actually have fish and chips on the front an hour later to fill my tummy)

But still one of the best views in the world.


Ps

What do you make of this

http://www.homeaway.co.uk/p547992#map

Siciliy and Mull sound good this year.

Sorry for hijack ancestral.

I just gave in and went to The Porthminster Beach Terrace.>>

i know what you mean - a victim of its own success. We went once and they stuck us out on the terrace behind the plastic to keep out the howling gale. when we asked to come indoors for our dessert [the dining proper being pretty well deserted by this stage, it seemed appropriate somehow!] they were pretty grudging about it.

we much prefer here:http://www.thecovemaenporth.co.uk/

love the villa near Noto - can i come?

Already turned MIL down but taking her to Mull.
Any additions to the Noto party would be political suicide !
Looking at Leeds : Rome (Rome for 4 days) then Rome : Catania ...Noto for a week.
Trying to remortgage the house to afford any hotel in Rome. Silly prices.

Mrs Dickie wants to go to Malta. I said it looks like it smells but not sure about the intellectual basis for that argument.

MIL in Mull - sounds like..fun?

for 3 nights in Rome you might find an apartment - we stayed here:

http://lacasadiclelia.webs.com/

not luxurious, but in a great position and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

We went to Malta over 20 years ago, but I don't suppose it's changed that much. Valetta was lovely and very interesting, the rest of the main island not so much.

i wouldn't want to cause you to commit suicide, political or otherwise.

Cove looks beautiful. Never been to Maenporth.

Rented in Port Navas and love The Helford.

Thanks Ann

Really good idea, hadn't thought of apartments and that is really good value, will investigate.

Time for bed, sorry again for hijack.

Ha the hijack was entertaining! May I ask, if any of you were to choose between staying in Polperro or Megavissey--- based only in the villages themselves and not on convenience or proximity to other sights--which would you choose? I think for the other side of Cornwall I will probably choose Penzance(thanks Annhig). Went to the picturesofengland.com site and frankly they all look charming.

Oh I forgot--- since we will be in clotted cream territory--- please let me know of your favorite spots for tea(this has become an addiction for us when we are traipsing through your land, and last Summer we were told about some sort of controversy concerning Cornish vs Devon clotted cream-- had to do with Olympics--- but I don't remember the details. Regardless, we are excited to try it in its "home" territory!

Last March we rented a cottage for a week in Penzance and have since decided that we want to do so in future, when possible. The cost of £475 for the week was the equivalent of a B&B, with the luxury of spreading ourselves out. It was called The Chocolate House, was 300 years old and oozed charm.

Cornwall is my favourite place in the world, my own personal heaven. I definitely left my heart in Cornwall.

We've also stayed at the Glenleigh Hotel in Marazion. Inexpensive, clean and helpful owner (umm, I mean the hotel is inexpensive & clean - I wasn't referring to the owner, although he certainly appeared nice & clean). Marazion a good base if you plan on driving. Marazion is a lovely little town - we spent 4 days there at the Glenleigh.

Joanne - is this the place you mean?

http://www.chocolatehouse-penzance.co.uk/

it seems to be in an excellent position at the bottom of lovely Chapel Street, very close to the centre of town, nice restaurants etc. but easy to get in and out. in fact, I think that I remember when it WAS a chocolate shop!

I think for your needs Polperro would be better than Mevagissey as it gives better access to the east of Cornwall - Anthony, Mount Edgecumbe, Cawsands as well as Looe, thought it is of course further from the lost Gardens of Heligan and the Eden Project; if you are interested in them, Mevagissey might be better, and it is nearer to the lovely Roseland, of course.

There is of course rivalry between Devon and Cornwall about which makes the best clotted cream, but there is also controversy about how to eat it - does the jam go on the scone first, or the cream? In Cornwall it was traditionally eaten with splits [a sweet yeast bun] and golden syrup - "thunder and lightening" it was called.