AnnAussie: Many thanks. I will look into Cockington and the other places you mentioned.

annhig: Once again, thanks for your help. I don't intend stopping in Ilfracombe. It just happens to be on the road that I am using :) A town has to be pretty special for me to spend time in it. I am usually more about the countryside between the towns than I am about the towns themselves. Of course, picturesque little villages are a different story. Those I definitely stop and wander through. For example, I will be passing through Plymouth but I will stick to the highway and drive straight on through without stopping.
Thanks for the tip on The Lizard. I will look into Cape Cornwall, Cadgewith and Coverack.

Yelpir - It's been a few years, but I don't remember Porlock Weir being anything special. The toll - if I remember - is for a private lane from Porlock Weir up to the main road (- thus avoiding Porlock Hill).

If you're looking for picturesque, the area around Noss Mayo/ Newton Ferrers is pretty. Also Bolt Head above Salcombe has one of the best coastal views in England.

Ann - I'm in Somerset (- near Bath). En suite donkeys? Lovely thought ...

Steve

Hi All :)

Sorry, Ann and Steve, I just noticed that my last post got lost somehow. I mentioned there that I was going to skip Lizard peninsular and that I would be checking out Noss Mayo/Newton Ferrers and Bolt Head. Thanks.

Now I have another question: Do I need a full day in the Isles of Scilly or can I come back early to Penzance and do St Michael's Mount the same day? If I do the helicopter trip to Scilly, I can be back in Penzance by 4:00pm. Does that give me enough time to climb St Michael's Mount before nightfall ((11 May)? Do I need to find out about tides in case I get cut off?

hi yelpir,

here's a link to a website which will give you times of hig or low tide up to 28 days ni advance - so too early for 11th May as yet!

http://www.pol.ac.uk/ntslf/tides/?port=0001

you do need to know about tides, but you won't usually be able to climb St. Michaels mount at night - it's usually closed. here's the link:

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main...michaelsmount/

you would be able to walk over to the island if it's low tide - there's a window of about 5 hours when the causeway is clear but there's not a whole load to see. but the mount itself is well worth looking at - you can get some lovely views of it from Penzance and from Marzion. there would be enough time to go and see it [though probably not go round it] if you get back from the Scillies by 4pm. But you could always go and have a look at it the next morning - I wouldn't cut short a trip to the scillies in order to see St. Michael's mount. anyway - you'll see it from the helicopter!

regards, ann

Hi again,

the programme for the festival has now been announced - here's the link.

http://www.dumaurierfestival.co.uk/

booking starts Monday 9th March.

regards, ann

Coises! I lost my post again. That will teach me to start typing when there is a Fodors back-up coming up. Let's try again.

Thanks Ann :)
I intend trying to get sunrise and sunset photos of St Michael's Mount from various vantage points. I just thought it might be fun to walk out to the island via the causeway if I could catch a low tide. I also thought that I would climb the mount up to the castle without actually going into the castle, just for the experience. I guess a lot would depend on how early it gets dark and how soon the tide comes in.

If I don't actually go out to St Michael's Mount, it would give me more time on Tresco, as I could take a later helicopter back to the mainland. I was surprised to read that they expect you to check in for the helicopter flights 45 minutes before take-off. If one only has cabin luggage, this seems excessive and could put a serious crimp in the amount of time available for exploring Tresco.
Do you have any idea how much of St Michael's Mount one can visit without going into the castle gardens?

hi yelpir,

sadly very little of the Mount is accessible unless the Nat Trust part is open as we discovered about 2 weeks ago when we attempted to show a friend round it, and found it securely SHUT.

so you'd be better off staying on terra firma and taking your pics from there, unless it's open.

I agree that the check-in time for the Tresco flights seems ludicrously long. perhaps they get a lot of no shows and they try to maximise the load by taking others who've turned up early? anyway it's a very small airport - even smaller than the one we took off from for the Westerman islands on Iceland. It is literally just one hut. you could probably cut it to 30 mins, but do you want to run the risk?

as your main interest is in taking sunrise and sunset pics of the Mount, and it'll be May, I'd opt for longer on Tresco [you won't be going there again, will you] and take my chances with the Mount. as well as the gardens [a good 2 hours' worth especially if you like photography] you can walk round the island to the island hotel which has fabulous views over the sea, then round to the "New Inn" and harbour area. to explore properly would take most of a day and longer if you want to go across to St. Agnes and back.

hope this helps,

regards, ann

I think that you should leave out the Isles of Scilly - you won't have time to explore them properly (you need a week for that) and they can get very busy, especially if a rare bird is spotted.

Here are some villages around the Lizard Peninsula that I love visiting: Helford, Mawgan, Cadgwith, The Lizard (Church Cove and along the coast path to Cadgwith, also Kynance Cove) Mullion (including Church Cove and Poldhu beach) St Anthony, Poltesco Beach, Loe Bar (near Helston). I agree that as you arrive at the new part of The Lizard, it looks rather like a frontier town. However, this is where real Cornish people now live. Try a walk down to Church Cove or along the coast to Kynance.

Dartmouth is quite an expensive place to stay and it attracts rather wealthy people. Totnes is cheaper, less touristy and more accessible, while still having plenty of interest (although some of it is rather alternative). Another place to stay is the Tower Inn at Slapton

Thank you for your responses and helpful info :)

annhig: Ok, I will rush around on the mainland trying to find the best angles for St Michael's Mount at both sunrise and sunset and forget about going out there :)
Studying the helicopter website, it seems they show a safety video before take off, so I guess that takes up some of the time. I have managed to find a B&B within walking distance of the heliport and arranged early breakfast and parking, so I should be able to arrive at the heliport 45 minutes before the first flight of the day. I will also take the last helicopter back to Penzance, so that should increase my time on Tresco to about 6 hours. I don't think the boats to St Agnes run often enough for me to do both Tresco and St Agnes in one day. If I run out of things to see on Tresco before my time is up, I will look for a boat ride that enables me to at least see some of the other islands from the water. I still need to look into sunrise/sunset times for Cornwall in May.

Londonres: I hear what you are saying. I think it is unlikely that I will ever get another opportunity to visit the Isles of Scilly (I live in South Africa) so, if I'm ever going to do it, I need to do it now. I realise how hopelessly inadequate one day is, but it's all the time that I can spare. If I don't go there now I will probably regret it afterwards.
Thanks for the info on the Lizard Peninsular. I will do some timings to see if I can fit it in.
I am definitely discovering how expensive Dartmouth is. Most of the B&Bs I've looked at are out of my price range. Thanks for the tip on Totnes. I am researching accommodation there at the moment and finding it a bit cheaper than Dartmouth. I will add the Tower Inn to my list of possibles. I have been thinking that a farm stay might be nice so I'll also look for one in the area.

It took me awhile to find a B&B in Fowey but I managed, so that one is now in the bag. Once I find something in the Dartmouth area I am all set :)

hi yelpir,

I like the Tresco plan and had forgotten about the safety film. there has only been one accident in 40 years if that's a help!

here's a link to a website that gives you sunrise and sunset times -

http://www.britishinformation.com/su...-sunset-times/

you need to add I hour as they are in GMT.

therefore, on 11th May, sunrise will be at about 05.25 and sunset at 20.47.

regards, ann

BTW, well done on getting your Fowey B&B.

as well as the daily offerings at the festival [Roger McGough and Marcus Brigstock on Tues 12th May i think] there are concerts, river trips and guided walks.

booking opens on Monday and for the most popular offerings, you have to get in quick!

regards, ann

Thanks ann :)

Wow! Lovely long evenings but I'll have to get up with the sparrows to catch that sunrise ;)

Those offerings at the festival look interesting. I will have to look into them. Thanks.

you may need to allow a few minutes extra for the fact that we are further west than London. so add 5 mins onto each time, I think. A

Thanks Ann.

Well, I now have a choice between a nice B&B in Dartmouth and another nice B&B in Totnes and I have to decide which one to book.

My main consideration at the moment is my journey to Taunton on the final day (Saturday May 16th). I have to reach Taunton by about 11:30am in order to turn in my rental car before they close at midday and allow time for them to drop me off at the bus station to catch my coach back to Heathrow at 1:00pm.

The AA route planner, when programmed for Dartmouth to Taunton, keeps telling me that I should cross the Dart by vehicle ferry and go up the A380 to the M5. It tells me that my total journey time is 1h 23m. I am nervous that it is not taking into account the time spent waiting for the ferry, embarking and then disembarking. My experience of ferries is that they can be very time consuming.

My personal preference was to stay west of the Dart and head for the A38 via Totnes in order to avoid the ferry.

If I leave Dartmouth at 9:30am, that would give me 2 hours to get to Taunton. That looks tight, but doable if nothing goes wrong. If I spend the night at Totnes, I get a headstart in the morning by shaving some time off the journey to Taunton.

I guess my question is: Can I do Dartmouth to Taunton in 2 hours if I take the ferry across the Dart and go the way the AA route planner suggests?

A secondary question would be: Would 2 nights in Dartmouth be nicer than 2 nights in Totnes?

hi yelpir,

i tried to look up the travel time from Dartmouth to Taunton on www.viamichelin.com but it wouldn't co-operate. perhaps you'll have more success. I opted for "quickest" route.

I reckon it should take you about 2 hours, give or take, from dartmouth, and 1 1/2 from totnes. if you left Dartmouth at 9am you'd be pretty safe; leave any earlier, and you'll just hit the rush-hour traffic which around Torquay [the AA route, I think] can be horrendous.

personally I'd much prefer 2 nights in Dartmouth than 2 in Totnes; you could I suppose spend one in Dartmouth and the 2nd in Exeter - it's a nice old town and the cathedral is beautiful, but getting out of it in th emroning might not be fun due to the traffic again. somewhere in northern Dartmoor would get you closer to Taunton too and if it was close to the motorway, cut down on traffic problems.

here's my favourite place on the moor, just 5 mins drive off the M5 - www.thetors.co.uk - not uch to look at but the position is great and the beer and cider [both on draght] are good too.

regards, ann

regards, ann

Hi Ann
You win my AHP (Amazingly Helpful Person) Award :)

I have tried the AA Route Planner, the viamichelin site and the RAC Route Planner. They ALL seem to think there's a bridge across the Dart at Dartmouth. Even the Google maps show bridges rather than ferries, so I reckon the satnav systems would get it wrong as well. I'm sure it's all a plot to make me miss my coach in Taunton ;)

Researching on the web, I have discovered that the High Ferry is currently closed because they are introducing a new boat and need to widen the quay. It was originally scheduled to come back into service this week but now they are simply saying "in the summer". The Low Ferry takes you into the middle of Kingswear and you then have to find your way out to the north.

I imagine that, with the High Ferry out of commission, the queues for the Low Ferry must be long, so that whole route is fraught with peril. All the Route Planners allow only a couple of minutes to get out of Dartmouth to the north (assuming a bridge). I suspect that it would take a LOT longer relying on the Low Ferry. I think I will play it safe and head for Totnes and the A38.

I think if I can get from Dartmouth to Totnes in 30 mins and from Totnes to Taunton in 90 minutes, it should be safe for me to spend my two nights in Dartmouth and leave at 9:00am on the 16th to drive from there to Taunton.

I looked up The Tors website, but they don't publish their tariff. I think I will take up the offer from The Maitland in Dartmouth for the 2 nights.

Thanks so much for all your help. You're a star :)

hi yelpir,

oooh, an award. I'd like to than everyone who helped me, my parents, my teachers, my children...I'm so happy. I practised in front of the mirror with the soap...will you be mailing my award to me?

Trying to keep up the good work, I didn't remember this bridge either [albeit we last went to Dartmouth some time ago!] so I got out my copy of "Devon town centre maps" [not the most recent, if I'm honest] and my ordnance survey [pink] map of the area and, guess what? - no bridge.

I don't know what route all these "experts" take you on, but I would be inclined to take the A3122 out of town, then right onto the A381 and then the A385/A384 towards the A38. and I might also be inclined to leave Dartmouth at 8.30, contrary to what I said above. It's mostly lanes and little roads and you only need to get stuck behind a load of cows to get behind! [so to speak].

sorry the Tors don't give any tariff on their web-site. I don't like places that do that [or rather do't do that] either. the maitland looks a good choice - i hope they live up to their blurb. where are you staying in Fowey and PZ? we will be in Fowey on May 12, attending the festival but only in the day - we'll be leaving just as you arrive. Shame!

regards, ann

I enjoyed my brief stay in Marazion. As a bonus you have great views of St. Michael's Mount, it's right there. Easy access to Penzance, Land's End, and so on.

http://www.marazion.net/

Ann's right, Yelpir - definitely no bridge. I too would leave earlier than 09.00 to be on the safe side.

Steve

Hi Ann

Thanks for the advice regarding the route out of Dartmouth. From my map that looked like the best way to go, but I had no clue about the roads. Knowing now that I could get stuck behind a herd of cows, I will take your advice and leave a bit earlier.

I am surprised that Google maps show bridges instead of ferries in Dartmouth. The only reason that I can come up with is that their route making programs get fooled by ferries. For example, if you ask for a route that includes Falmouth and St Mawes, the route they give you takes you round the inland route instead of across the Carrick Roads by ferry.

The Maitland gets good reviews on TripAdvisor, with no bad ones. A big selling point is that they have parking. It was a choice between them and The Great Grubb in Totnes (a LOT cheaper and also with good reviews). I decided to dig deep into the pockets in order to be able to wander around Dartmouth in the evenings. I didn't think that there would be that much to do of an evening in Totnes.

In Penzance I will be staying at the Bay Lodge B&B. I chose them because they have off-street parking and are within walking distance of the heliport for my day on Tresco.

In Fowey I'm staying at Dawns B&B. It has four stars and off-street parking. I don't know a lot about this one.

In Tintagel I have booked at The Avalon Guest House. It has good reviews and off-street parking.

In Lynmouth I will be staying at Riverside Cottage. Downside is that they don't have parking and it's a considerable walk to the nearest car park. Upside is that the rooms have balconies overlooking the river. I sort of fancied the idea of sitting on my balcony with a nice glass of cider, listening to the river gurgling by. Of course, bad weather could put a damper on that little dream but that's life.

Sorry that we will be passing each other like ships in the night at Fowey. I hope that you enjoy the festival :)

Hi flygirl. From what I've seen, Marazion looks very nice. I was tempted to stay there but Penzance won out because of the proximity to the heliport. I will definitely pop into Marazion to get a good look at St Michael's Mount and walk out onto the causeway if the tide is out.