>>we'll try the google map.<<

Just a very quick comment . . . Noooooo! :)

Not google map. Or at least don't rely on the drive times it gives you. You will typically need to add between 25% and nearly 100% to the time calculations - depending on traffic, construction, day of the week and how rural the area is.

Agreed JJ.

for example, when i used to have to go to work in PZ it would normally take me 30 mins to get there but in July/August I could add 15 minutes to that going, and probably 30 mins coming back. And as for St Ives, I just wouldn't drive there in the summer.

As for Exeter, the traffic there is almost always a nightmare so any time estimate is bound to be inaccurate.

Janisj consider us warned �� yes I've been adding about 40% more to the travel time mentioned.

Ann I figured out the route from penzance to Boscastle (with stops along the way). And it's really nice and easy if we take the car (parking around tourist spots might be hell though,isn't it?). Initially we were planning to book a guided tour from Exeter since we weren't sure of the car option or of staying in PZ for that matter .
I'll check out the hotels/B&Bs you mentioned.
We wanted to stay in Chagford because we heard it was a pretty village and thought maybe we could do some walks from there.
Do you guys think it's possible to spend a couple of hours in Cambridge on our way to London from pickering? Or some other smaller town like Stamford is a better idea?
Thanks a bunch.

Pickering is north of York, I'd not try for Cambridge on that trip. Stamford is a great idea, it used to be where Oxford students went when the plague was in town. Nice little place. The Crown (just before the bridge as you come in from the south) in case they changed the name but get rooms out the back not on the main drag. Not much to do in town but walk about, eat, drink and look at the ducks.

Pickering, are you going on the steam railway.

Stamford - yes. Cambridge - no.

Clovelly don't get much love here it seems but it is a very famous tourist place for Brits- we hit it on way to Tintagel- a unique place whose single cobbled main 'street' literally tumbles down to the sea, where there is (or was) a noted life boat saving center and neat coast line.

donkeys traditionally took visitors from top to bottom and back but animal rightists, rightfully IMO, put an end to that.

But Clovelly for a few hours for something different:

https://www.google.com/search?q=clov...HeHDB3AQsAQIGQ

(It's been generations since I was there but this type place rarely changes! Loved it as plastic as it is.)

<<Ann I figured out the route from penzance to Boscastle (with stops along the way). And it's really nice and easy if we take the car (parking around tourist spots might be hell though,isn't it?). Initially we were planning to book a guided tour from Exeter since we weren't sure of the car option or of staying in PZ for that matter.>>

Subarna - it's a nice easy run from PZ to Boscastle with plenty to see en route and in June the parking and traffic shouldn't be too much of a problem, even in St Ives and Padstow. [though you might want to devote most or even all of a day to St Ives and the surrounding area]. If you timed it well, you might even manage to fit in a visit to one of the Eden Project's late night openings:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?clie...JKT38AeYwp3QCg

<<I'll check out the hotels/B&Bs you mentioned.>>

As I say I've never stayed at any of them, but I'll do what I can re location etc.

<<We wanted to stay in Chagford because we heard it was a pretty village and thought maybe we could do some walks from there.>>

Definitely a god place to walk from - the countryside is lovely and there are some nice pubs in the village.

<<Clovelly don't get much love here it seems but it is a very famous tourist place for Brits- we hit it on way to Tintagel- a unique place whose single cobbled main 'street' literally tumbles down to the sea, where there is (or was) a noted life boat saving center and neat coast line.>>

Clovelly Pal? It's a bit out of the way for the OP I think, but I wouldn't "diss" it otherwise, save that you now have to pay to go in! It could make a good day trip from Chagford combined with Hartland Point [fantastic cliffs and coastal scenery] and the lovely Morwestow further down the coast, where its eccentric vicar the Rev Hawker used to spend his hours in hut on the cliffs hoping to assist sailors and passengers from the boats that his parishioners had been wrecking the night before. This is still a corner of the south west peninsular that is relatively little visited but none the worse for that.

Coming back to your itinerary, Subarna, I think that you would need at least 4 nights in PZ to accomplish all that you have mentioned - one day for the Lizard, another for Land's End [including stopping off at Porthcurno to see the Minack Theatre], Sennen Cove, St Just, and Botallack] and a third for the longer excursion to Boscastle, though that could also be accomplished on the day you travel onto Chagford, as it's about equip-distant from them both. But you would still find plenty to fill 3 days in PZ if you can fit that into your planning.

bilbo yes we are doing the steam railway, specially for Goathland. my daughter is a Harry potter fan!

ok so Stamford it is. clovelly looks fabulous but won't be on our route from pickering to london, palen :(

ann the trip reviews/reports were very interesting. also will try to convince DH that the 4th night in PZ is crucial for this trip ;D or else will have to be less ambitious about the itinerary!

is a trip to forbidden corner worth the drive (from Pickering)?

any suggestion for the Cardiff and Llandudno leg of the journey?

thanks

If you decide to go to the Forbidden Corner please remember that you have to book tickets in advance. You can't just turn up. It's a great place for adventurous children.

also will try to convince DH that the 4th night in PZ is crucial for this trip ;D or else will have to be less ambitious about the itinerary!>>

well, it's a long way to PZ so it's worth making the most of your stay there, And we've already "found" a couple of days by getting the train and cutting out Exeter!
So the beginning of your trip would look like this: [remembering that you had 10 nights spread over Exeter, Chagford and St. Ives/Falmouth]

Land in London – overnight
Penzance – 4 nights
Chagford or Widecombe-in-the-Moor– 3 nights
? Exeter - 2 nights

Cardiff – 3nights
Llandudno - 2 nights
York – 5 nights
Pickering or Hutton-le-hole – 2nights
London – 5 nights

Rather than Exeter I might put in Bristol - a city little visited by tourists but vibrant and full of history with great things to see and do:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?clie...Ma_38Aew7o-gBQ

it also puts you closer to Cardiff for your next stop.

as for the journey between Cardiff and Llandudno, I might spare a night or two for a stop en route - there are lots of lovely places to stop off and see -

Hereford for the Cathedral and the Mappa Mundi exhibition,

Ludlow which is a beautiful Georgian town with some great restaurants, [good for an overnight]

Church Stretton where you can walk up above the town to the Long Mind,

Shrewsbury with the nearby roman city at Wroxeter

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/v...0roman%20city]

Telford and Ironbridge [just off the route] where the industrial revolution started

Chester - mediaeval city.

really you are spoilt for choice!

steam railway, study the site carefully to ensure you actually get steam. Day time is fine but supper time with added dinning is especially pleasant.

Shrewsbury with the nearby roman city at Wroxeter>

I based in Shrewsbury once and did Iron Bridge Gorge- Ludlow -really nice castle and town and Stoke-on-Trent for Wedgwood tours.

Loved Shrewsbury!

UK is great but if you're going all the way to the UK, why not spend some of the time in more sunnier locales like Paris?

Just a relatively short train ride away.

Though not many or as good Indian restaurants there.

Not sure why you think Paris is any sunnier than the UK. Can be, or not.

http://www.holiday-weather.com/paris/averages/june/

http://www.holiday-weather.com/london/averages/june/

See for yourself - London has an avg of 7 hours of sun in June-Paris but 6 hrs

But London gets more rain- Paris is slightly warmer -all in all about the same- northern France has much the same climate as SE England though it does get warmer as summer goes on I think.

Like janis says a crap shoot -could be- may not be for any certain period.

but I agree with scrb11 on not overlooking the fact that Paris is just a few hours away by Eurostar trains so could easily be included.

If the choice is between some smaller UK city and Paris, or for that matter Amsterdam or Spain or Italy ...

scrb, welcome to Fodors

the OP wants to go to the UK, our role here is to help them do what they want to do and advise when what they are trying to do has problems. There is a world of choice out there but working with the team helps :-)

Not sure why you think Paris is any sunnier than the UK. Can be, or not.>>

the coldest spring I can remember is the one that I spent going backwards and forwards to Paris when DH was working there. Every time I came back home to Kent it felt 5 degrees warmer.

There is already too much in the OP's itinerary. Adding in Paris ain't going to help.

No I suggest going to Paris instead of those smaller UK cities in foggy England.

foggy? I have sudden images of a stalker with werewolf features going down gas jet lit alleys, while in the distance the natives call out through fog seared lungs :-)