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.

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 >>

sadly you're right about the Clovelly of today, Pal, even if your geography is a bit wonky. but it was a working fishing village once, and those donkeys were real workers - they have been changed into land-rovers now. but locals still use sledges and mats for transportation of good and rubbish [like they so in Appledore where we once owned a house] and if you were to visit in the winter, you might find that things hadn't changed that much over the last 50 years or so.

BTW, there is a very nice drive which goes along the coast from Clovelly, and at the other end you'll find the lovely little village of Bucks Mills. OK it's not as big as Clovelly, it has no pub, and no facilities, but it really is VERY pretty.

Wow, I am nothing short of humbled by ALL of your responses.

Based on all of those suggestions, here is what I an thinking and welcome your advice. We drive from Bath to Port Isaac or Padstow via Clovelly (probably stop for lunch and a walk around).

We stay in either Port Isaac or Padstow for 2 nights.

Then we drive to Penzance and stay there for 3 nights and take day trips to St. Ives (I think someone said there was a train from Penzance to avoid the heavy traffic at St. Ives), Mousehole, St. Mawes, Lands End, etc.

NOW, my big question! Would it be better to drive right to Penzance from Bath and make St. Isaac and Padstow a driving day trip? I don't think the races at Newton will work as annhig is right - it should be done coming in or out of Cornwall. The horse race enthusiast will have to live with his disappointment!

After that it's time to leave Cornwall and then head back towards London and find somewhere to overnight before our flight from Heathrow to Toronto the following day.

Day trips to St Ives. Park at Lelant Saltings and get the train to St Ives. Don't even try to park in St Ives in July.

The car park at Lelant gets very full and trains are only 2 an hour I think but check at National Rail website.

Thanks Havana128.

Hilda_Bell, may I tag on to your thread and ask annhig a question?

I will be in Cornwall from June 29 to July 4th; we are hoping to fly from Cork to Bristol ( I wanted to fly Cork to Exeter, but there doesn't seem to be a direct flight) and then drive from Bristol to Cornwall and I seem to remember annhig, you said you drove to Bristol often for work? Are you able to tell me approximately how long it will take to drive from Bristol airport to St. Mawes? We are staying at Hotel Tresanton there.

Certainly, raincitygirl, you may tag onto this thread. More than enough room for two!!

Thank you!

Please share the links for where you decide to go :)

FYI, we parked at the Leisure Center in St. Ives around 9 am (?) in August and didn't have any problems (though it did fill up). It's all downhill into town and we caught a bus back. Another option to consider.

Agree with indy, we've used the leisure center car park, which is huge, and taken the shuttle down to the harbor area, very convenient and cheap, maybe 50p, possibly more now. Bus runs every 15 min. Just follow signs as you enter st ives. It's an easy walk down, steep walk back.

For those wanting to avoid parking hassles on a day trip to St Ives perhaps the local bus may be the solution - assuming it's still running. In the mid 80s travelling on a BritRail Pass stayed a couple of nights at Penzance; the first afternoon/early evening after arrival (it was late May) walked around to Mousehole and back, and the next day took a local (not a tour) bus which allowed a brief stop at Lands End for the obligatory photograph, and then a good couple of hours in St Ives between services continuing clockwise and completing the circuit back to Penzance.

Hi hilda,

a lot to think about here, forgive me if I miss something!

I've looked at your proposed route and Bath to Port Isaac via Clovelly is shown on google maps as taking just under 4 hours, [for Padstow allow another 30 mins or so] which would give you plenty of time to stop in Clovelly and/or divert via a number of other places, depending on what time you want to get to your final destination, remembering that it'll be light until quite late in July.

As I said upthread, other places I would suggest [though you won't be able to do them all] would be

Dunster [lovely castle and gardens plus well-preserved village which features in an episode of Poirot, though they have done the opposite of PalenQ and moved it to Cornwall]

Appledore [historic ship-building village in a very pretty spot on an estuary]

Hartland Point [stunning cliffs] and

Morwenstow [wreckers village where the victorian Vicar the Rev. Hawker used to rescue sailors and souls, as well as writing the cornish anthem Trelawney and inventing the Harvest Festival]

[of course there are loads more, but diverting via at least 2 of those would be possible in your time frame and would make a lovely day's drive through north Devon and Cornwall]

After your stay on the north coast, Penzance would make an excellent base for the rest of your time; you might even take in St. Ives en route, [using the excellent parking suggestions made by Indy-dad and others] and then drop down the north coast road [possibly via the historic mines on the coast at Bottallack or Geevor] and across the peninsular to Penzance.

I've looked at the bus schedules and there is a bus that does a circular route from Penzance to Land's end and back [no 1/1A] http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/devo...=1&redirect=no

but if you have a car, I think that even in July you'd do better to use it as the bus timetable is bit restrictive. Places you might like to see on a westward day's drive round the area would be Lamorna, Pothcurno [wireless telecomminations museum plus Minack Theatre and beach] Land's End [drive to Sennen and walk back would be my proposal] Sennen, and st. Just. [though thinking about it, I might do this the other way round, unless there is a matinee at the Minack, when the close the site to visitors]

going east, Marazion is the main place you'd want to see and if you take in St. Michael's mount and its gardens , [National Trust; boat out and walk back or vv depending on tides] that'll take most of the day.

then there are the walks you can do to Newlyn and Mousehole as farremog and others have suggested, a visit to the NT gardens at Trengwainton, [best in spring but still lovely in summer] and in Penzance itself, a walk around the sub-tropical gardens, a dip in the Jubillee tidal pool or in the sea, the outstanding Penlee Art gallery and museum etc. etc.

hopefully that's given you enough to think about for now!

raincitygirl, i haven't forgotten you, but I thought that a separate post might be easier to follow:

<<I will be in Cornwall from June 29 to July 4th; we are hoping to fly from Cork to Bristol ( I wanted to fly Cork to Exeter, but there doesn't seem to be a direct flight) and then drive from Bristol to Cornwall and I seem to remember annhig, you said you drove to Bristol often for work? Are you able to tell me approximately how long it will take to drive from Bristol airport to St. Mawes? We are staying at Hotel Tresanton there.>>

I checked on the driving time shown on google maps for Bristol Airport to St. Mawes, and got 3 hours 15 mins, which I think is a bit on the optimistic side especially if you are having to pick up a rental car, but it certainly shouldn't take longer than 4 hours max. i would approach via Truro and the King Harry Ferry which if you hit the timing right might take you past the Philligh Inn where you can have an excellent lunch. Alternatively, you could stop off at the Trelissick gardens [NT] just before the ferry and have lunch or tea, and a walk round the beautiful gardens.

you've picked an outstanding place to stay in the Tresanton - http://www.tresanton.com/

it's a top class place with a very professional but relaxed atmosphere and a great restaurant with a wonderful view. i'm sure they will have plenty of ideas for things you can do, but my tops would be a boat trip over to Falmouth, a walk/drive to St. Just in Roseland, and a trip [boat-trip and walk or drive] to St. Anthony's Head lighthouse.

feel free to ask me anything else you can think of!

Hilda - I thought you might be interested in the Minack theatre programme for July 2013:

http://www.minack.com/whatson.htm

even if you aren't sure about what they are showing when you are there, IMO it's worth going for the position and experience alone but tickets go quickly.

Thank you, thank you!! I appreciate the info about the bus to St. Ives but can see we would probably use the leisure car park. Maybe we'll take the bus to Land's End.

I like the thought of staying in Port Issac and, annhig, we will divert to Clovelly en route from Bath. I have heard of Appledore so that is on the itinerary as well. Then we will stay in Penzance for the remaining time. I had thought of visiting the Minack Theatre so will add that and hopefully we can get tickets.

Does anyone have suggestions for accommodation in St. Isaac and Penzance? We wouldn't mind paying a bit extra for a water view and would like to be able to walk into town. When I searched extensively through sites like tripadvisor the comments vary so much that it is hard to imagine people are talking about the same place!

Hilda - I will have to defer to others about accommodation recommendations - as you can imagine, we rarely if ever have the need to stay anywhere overnight in Cornwall.

that said, there was a recommendation on another thread for this place in Penzance:

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

in a great position, though it is self-catering.

if you look up Penzance on google maps, and then enter B&Bs in the search box, you'll find that there are a number of guest houses in the area around Alexandra Road and on the front - i think that's where I would start looking.

as for Port Isaac, we have eaten here [eons ago mind you, pre Doc Martin!] and they have parking, which in Port Isaac is a huge bonus:

http://www.theoldschoolhotel.co.uk/

the Slipway is the main hotel in the centre: [nice bar food]

http://www.portisaachotel.com/index.php

anywhere IN Port Isaac is walkable, [it's not very big!] and the places I have suggested in PZ are about a 10 min walk to the centre [Chapel Street].

We stayed at Glencree House and really enjoyed it. It's not posh, but Andrew was an excellent host and the breakfasts were outstanding. It's a block off the water on one side of town (so a slight walk to the restaurants, but manageable).

Check out the reviews -- all good.

http://www.glencreehouse.co.uk/

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_R...l_England.html

Ann, thank you so much for all that info, we are really looking forward to Cornwall and our stay at Hotel Tresanton, I'm glad you say it is a good place. Oh, and thanks for providing the link, I have been reading the "how to" on the Help forum as I don't know how to do it.

We will definitely stop and see the Trelissick gardens, we will be too late for lunch at the Philligh Inn (flight arrives into Bristol at noon) but will save it for another day.

The other thing I was going to ask you (and this may sound odd to some people), I think you talked about a donkey sanctuary one time, could you tell me where this is please as I am interested?

I am taking note of all the good information you gave Hilda and ideas from everyone else too, thank you all, and thank you Hilda. Loved your trip report indy_dad.
I may be back with more questions.

Have just booked two rooms at the Slipway in Port Isaac. It looks amazing so thanks for that, annhig. The Chocolate House cottage would have been perfect but is booked for the dates we want. I will telephone them in case there are cancellations. Glencree House looks worth checking out. Thanks indydad! I will also check out some more sites. In the meantime if anyone else has suggestions on Penzance accommodation it would be appreciated! Thank you all again! annhig you have to be the best Cornwall tourism ambassador!

The other thing I was going to ask you (and this may sound odd to some people), I think you talked about a donkey sanctuary one time, could you tell me where this is please as I am interested?>>

raincitygirl - the donkey sanctuary is in Sidmouth - east Devon.

http://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/

a bit too far to do in a day trip from St. Mawes I'm afraid.

hilda - i should think that the Slipway is a good choice. good luck with finding somewhere in PZ that suits. if you like the look of the Slipway, the Abbey in PZ may appeal:

http://www.theabbeyonline.co.uk/The_...Our_Rooms.html

it's always had a good reputation and is in alistair sawdays which I find pretty reliable.

of course, I'm pleased to try my best to help people to get the most out of their visits to Cornwall. we want you to come back!