Cornwall in July Trip
 

Am starting a new request. I want to firm up some travel arrangements in the next few weeks. Two Canadian couples flying into London Heathrow from Barcelona July 2013. We plan to drive to Bath and stay there three nights (men will golf; women shop and visit spa and we'll all see the local sights). Have reservations at Marlborough House in Bath.
Then we plan to drive to Cornwall for 5 nights. Would love to visit Clovelly but don't know if that is practical distance wise. Am thinking of staying for two or three nights in or around Padstow (we want to visit Port Isaac). Would like to find a hotel within walking distance to town. Any suggestions? Am also thinking of half a day at the races at Newton Abbot.
For the next two or three nights am in a bit of a quandry. Falmouth has been suggested but it doesn't seem that quaint. We like walking to interesting shops and pubs. I was thinking Penzance but have been reading previous forums where people say it is quite tired looking. Would St. Ives be a better bet? The Isles of Scilly seem interesting but maybe we won't have enough time (and my husband suffers from seasickness but recovers fairly quickly once on terra firma!). Plan to visit Mousehole and maybe St. Mawes. Our last night before our flight out of Heathrow back to Toronto will probably be spent at Windsor (have done that before) unless someone has a better suggestion. Thank you so much!

Falmouth has been suggested but it doesn't seem that quaint.>

Donnow thot Falmouth was really quaint - massive old castle brooding over the old port surrounded by ancient buildings - but what do you mean by quaint I guess.

Don't miss St Michael's Mount - the Cornish equivalent of the French Mont-Saint-Michel, built by the same order of monks and also an abbey on an island that at low tide is connected to shore.

Thanks PalenQ. By quaint I meant a smaller village with narrow streets with little shops and pubs, etc., where you walk up and see the ocean views. Maybe the Visit Falmouth site I looked at is not respresentative of the place at all. I am totally so open to suggestions. Yes, have heard that St. Michael's Mount is a must see. I did see one hotel there (Lerryn Hotel) which looked interesting.

Falmouth is not a small town or village but a larger town and larger towns are never as quaint as a small village - hopefully someone more in the know about those will chime in, like annhig, a local and one of Fodor's very nicest posters! so keep topping if it disappears into Fodor's Balck Hole.

Thanks! Yes, am looking forward to hearing from annhig.

St Mawes might be a god choice - very close to Falmouth but fits the bill for charm.

We found St. Ives to be very quaint and lovely and very much all about "walking to interesting shops and pubs" when we were there. Two nights though. would be better than three, IMO. Views of the sea there are spectacular!

We stayed in a little guest house/B&B on a high hill above the town that reminded all 3 of us (DH, DS who was 20 at the time, and me) for all the world of a real life Fawlty Towers right down to the wife who was really into it and the husband who seemed bored, at best! One of the guests was even an old army guy who talked about the war.

Unlike many B&Bs, though, there were individual tables for breakfast.

We stayed in both Falmouth and Penzance. Have a look:

http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/cornwall.html

Thanks to noncomformist, socialworker and indy_dad for replying. Everyone seems to love St. Ives although it will probably be quite busy in July. Unfortunately although indy_dad had some great family shots, I didn't see much of either Falmouth or Penzance except for the attractions outside of the towns! I will check more closely into St. Mawes as well.

Other place to consider would be Polperro, Mevagissey and Looe on Cornwall's south coast

This is a wonderful place between Polperro and Looe, just off the south coastal path:

www.tallandbayhotel.co.uk

The walk to Polperro isn't too bad although there's a short climb/descent at both ends. Path itself is well-groomed, with steps cut in, beautiful views. The walk to Looe is longer, also pretty.

The Polperro shops and restaurants are a mixed bag, a few good craft shops but also lots of ticky-tack and everything in between. Good for a few hours browse. The pubs and restaurants range from very touristy to some good fish places. Last time I was there (6 years this summer) there was still a small working fish industry, with a few boats in and out of the harbor. Not so fond of Looe.

Fowey is quite near with more interesting shops and restaurants, imo.

Using Talland Bay as a base we drove one day to St Ives, the traffic was heavy but St Ives is very interesting--The Tate St Ives, Barbara Hepworth's gallery and sculpture garden, art galleries and some great restaurant, none of which I noted. Be sure to book ahead, the restaurants are small and popular. It would be a good base as well although parking is very hard to come by, usually the hotels and guest houses have some parking or a solution.

Polperro, Fowey, St Ives and many other coast town and villages have Park and Rides, close enough that you could park and walk although the return walks are all up hill.

Hi Hilda,

I just came across your thread, and see that you've got some quite varied ideas, which it mght be a little difficult to accommodate, but I'll do my best!

I would not recommend staying in St. Ives in July - it has an awful traffic and parking problem and the best way to get there at that time of year is on the train! [though there is no train from Padstow so you might find yourselves driving there anyway]

Padstow might make a good base, or even Port Isaac itself, though my recommendation would be to stay in Penzance. It's not quaint as such but full of character, and some excellent restaurants as well as locals' pubs, and it's easy to get to lots of places - St. Ives, Porthcurno, Lamorna, Land's End, St. Michael's mount, Mousehole, [pronounced Mousel] and a lovely art gallery and gardens in the town.

I'm not sure that I'd call Falmouth quaint either, but it is historic and atmospheric with little alleyways leading down to the water, and winding streets leading away from it. again, there are lots of excellent restaurants, and one of the nicest hotels in the region [the Greenbank - http://www.greenbank-hotel.co.uk/ - not boutique exactly, but full of class and charm] one of the main advantages in staying in Falmouth is the number of trips you can make - both by car and by boat.

you could stay in St. Mawes and use it as a base for looking around the Roseland and doing some nice walks and boat trips, but personally I think that it's a bit limited and makes a better day trip destination. The King Harry Ferry trip across the Carrick Roads is a "must".

further east is one of my favourite places, Fowey, [pronounced "Foy"] which not that many non- british tourists seem to know about - it's in a beautiful position, and there's plenty to do to fill a couple of days or so if you like boat trips and walking.

Clovelly is too far to do in a day trip - rather you can have a very nice day leaving Cornwall by driving up the north coast calling at the beautiful Morwenstow, then exploring the cliffs at Hartland point, next making for Clovelly, and then the definitely quaint and interesting Appledore.

Newton Abbot would be the place to go on the way INTO Devon & Cornwall if possible.

any queries you might have after all that lot I will be happy to try to assist with.

I bow to ann's obvious extensive knowledge and I must add that we were there in May which is before "season". We had been advised that it gets VERY busy and crowded later in the summer, altho the weather we had in May was glorious summer sunshine w/temps ~80!.

We did go by train from London and I believe we had to get off in a town ~20 min away and take a cab the rest of the way, as that train did not go directly to St Ives.

Clovelly - one of the most unique and artificial places I've ever been - an open-air museum - not in fact but it seemed like it - all staged up and down that steep ravine - but lovingly so - I really liked Clovelly - make it all the way down to the Life Boat station - quiet a climb up and down.

We chose Penzance and Falmouth based on annhig's recommendations, though we were looking for nice and functional rather than quaint. We also like having plenty of restaurant options.

More info in my TR:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...sh-holiday.cfm

Though you didn't ask, here's our trip to Bath as well. I highly recommend the two walks we did (Mayor's Guide and Bizarre Bath):

http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08...tonehenge.html

http://www.bathguides.org.uk/

http://www.bizarrebath.co.uk/

Hilda,

as you will gather from indy-dad's excellent TR, Cornwall is not all quaint fishing villages in the manner of Clovelly - though the east of the county has them in spades with Polperro, Looe, and Mevagissy. that is not to say that there aren't lovely places and wonderful views, just that there's quite a lot of nitty gritty too, as you would expect from a county that has traditionally earned its living from mining, fishing and farming.

socialworker - sadly St. Ives has IMO become the victim of its own success. in summer the traffic is truly appalling, especially during the day. OTOH if you managed to find somewhere to stay with parking, and went out for day trips every day, that probably wouldn't pose such a problem, and I would say that it is possibly the most picturesque place to stay on the north coast, with the exception of Port Isaac, which unfortunately is too far from anywhere else to make a good base.

Actually, Ann, the very quirky place where we stayed, did have parking, although I did not pay much attention to it at the time, since we were not using it.

It was a serious hike up and down the hill from the B&B to town, but doable if you are in shape for Steep hill walking. As I said the views were unbelievable from up there!

We stayed there in 1998 so I know that's a long time ago and things may have changed a lot, at St. Ives is definitely one of the most picturesque places we have ever gone to, and definitely rivals the most picturesque places on Cape Cod!!

I find that after 40 years of living in New England, when one goes to "old" England the differences cannot help but stand out. We were just back in London in October after not having been there since ' 98, in the could not help but sigh at the comparisons people make between Boston and London.... Boston is no London! And as beautiful as the Cape Cod seashore is there was just something about looking out over the ocean at St. Ives that gave me shivers

Sorry from the typos above Siri was writing my post and my finger slipped on to submit too soon...

Cornwall is not all quaint fishing villages in the manner of Clovelly>

the only thing they angle for in Clovelly is the tourists' dollars - did not see any real fishing going on in this Portofino of Cornwall - one of the biggest tourist traps I've ever seen and that to me is not quaint - mobs of tourists traipsing up and down the single gauntlet to the sea - now that the donkeys have due to pressure of animal rightists.

<the only thing they angle for in Clovelly is the tourists' dollars - did not see any real fishing going on in this Portofino of Cornwall>

It's not in Cornwall it's in England, Devon to be precise.