Hi there! Driving next week from London (four nights) to Bath (two nights) to Portloe in Cornwall (three nights) and then back to London a different route (one night). I'm thinking we might like to try to stop in the Cotswolds along the way. I have good plans and ideas for London and Bath but not the Cotswolds or Cornwall and would love insight from people who know!

Cotswolds- I know it is not possible to see a whole lot in just an afternoon, but if we were to stop in one town along the way, what would you suggest to get a tiny taste of the area?

Cornwall- the airbnb that I've rented and that area in the Roseland Peninsula sounds fairly remote and quiet with cliff walks and beautiful views. What else might you suggest in that general area of Cornwall and along the way from Bath and then to London? Love history, beautiful views, and hole in the wall places to eat.

I'm able to do this because of a grant for teachers, so anything with literary connections, if you know of any, would be especially of interest to me.

Thanks so much!

It sounds to me like you may not know how long it will take you to drive from London to Cornwall and back again. It's a long way and I suspect will take longer than you expect given the little time you're allotting for the entire enterprise. Someone will be along shortly with the figures but my suggestion would be to lose Cornwall until you have more time and enjoy yourselves in Bath & the Cotswolds.

Actually, I have mapped driving distances and times. Living in Indiana and driving 10 hours just to get to my mom's house makes driving to Cornwall and back to London in six days' time no problem.

Cornwall is already booked and I've paid for 3 nights in a lovely airbnb there, so that part of our trip is a definite and I'd love insight into things to do there.

>>Actually, I have mapped driving distances and times.<<

If you are using the on-line calculators you need to add between 25% and nearly 100% to the drive times. London to Bath via one or two Cotswold towns/villages (say Burford and Bibury just for discussion) will be a 4+ hour drive plus stops - so all day IRL.

Bath to Portloe = 4+ hours. Portloe to London via say Lyme Regis and Salisbury will be about 7+ hours plus stops.

Yes, I have all of that calculated. Thanks, though. I'm actually looking for suggestions on what to DO in those two places.

*I'd like suggestions on one place to stop in the Cotswolds for a few hours.

*I'd love suggestions of places to see near our rental around the Roseland Peninsula the three days we are there.

We are healthy, active, early risers who can handle days of travel and driving. I'm not worried about that.

If you're lucky annhig will come along and tell you about the gardens in the area and ferries that ply the waterways.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/de...oast-by-ferry/

That's a beautiful part of Cornwall with great coastal walks. Did you ever see The Camomile Lawn? That was filmed there.

Take a look at the National Trust website for details of some beautiful gardens down that way. If you want to see a bigger town, Falmouth and St Ives are both worth seeing.

Thank you, @Gyhtson and @MmePerdu!

We were just in the areas you mention. We stayed in St. Ives and its a fun little town, but its not particularly close to where you are staying. However if you are interested in a beautiful drive with interesting stops check out the coastal route between Penzance and St Ives with stops in Mousehole. Penzance is an
interesting town too.

Definitely worth a trip is a visit to the Minack Theater https://www.minack.com. Be sure to watch the video or read up on it to appreciate what has been done there.

In the Cotswolds I would visit Burford which is a nice little town.

I absoluetly love the Cotswolds. It is unfortunate that you will only have a few hours, but any of the towns will be wonderful. The larger twins depending on time of day, day of week and traffic, etc might be very crowded.

I would recommend Lower Slaughter.

The Cotswolds - North West of London - are a significant diversion away from the straight route from London to England's SouthWest.


From late June to late August, diverting not just to the Cotswolds, but to a specific town in the Cotswolds, is an exercise in pointless masochism: traffic in the towns can get congested and finding anywhere to park can take hours. The very idea misses the point of pottering through almost empty side roads - and above all, the real point of getting out of your car and seeing the area the way it was meant to be seem: from the top of a small hill you've walked up.

No doubt you won't be told. The least ridiculous misuse of your time is to travel to Cornwall by the M4. Turn off at J17 (A429), aiming for Tetbury. Drive back to J18 and resume your journey, possibly diverting via Castle Combe.

Ignore the siren calls to waste even more time heading for the Northern Cotswolds.