My 84 yr old mum, sister and myself will be going to Cornwall in May for 4 days. We will fly from Gatwick to Newquay and hire a car.

My sister loves Daphne Du Maurier, my mum Rick Stein and I am a Doc Martin fan.

We will not be doing a lot of walking as my mum is not really fit enough but she will be fine walking around small towns and villages.

I am looking for 1 base for the 5 days and am thinking about Fowey.

The villages/small towns we want to visit are:
Mevagissey
Polkerris
Looe
Port Isaac
St Ives
Cadgwith
Mousehole
Veryan
Tintagel
Padstow

Would Fowey be a good base for this or would we be better doing a round trip Newquay - Newquay staying at a different location each night?
Have I missed out any picturesque villages?

Thank you

You say your Mum is not a good walker, so I must warn you right away that Fowey is hilly. It's quite a hike from seafront to top of the village. I would call myself a fit 62 year old but I found it quite a stretch. Looking at the list of places you'd like to visit, they are spread widely and on both north and south coasts of Cornwall. I think you'll end up doing a lot of driving, on narrow lanes and country roads (not easy). Also most, if not all, of the places you mention are very small and would only occupy you for a couple of hours at the most.
You may want to consider staying in St Ives and touring the southern tip of the county visiting Mousehole & Newlyn amongst other places. Fowey would be a good base for visiting Polkerris and Veryan. Cadgwith is not close to anything (any particular reason for wishing to include it). Tintagel and Padstow best visited from Newquay.

It can be hard work to travel around Cornwall as the traffic in good weather can be very heavy and the road system simple isn't able to cope with the volumes. May should be easier but you still should be aware that Cornwall is not a small place and naviagting around the estuaries by road can add hours on to a trip.

I would add the area around Helford, Falmouth and The Roseland to your list but with 5 days time is fairly limited. I would agree with bellini that with mobility issues and due to its northerly location, although beautiful, Fowey may not be the best base. Newquay has become a little down market over the years although it is trying to drag itself up with more middle market restaurants.

Personally, I usually base myself in either Falmouth or St Ives which are centrally located for many of the small coastal south coast towns. It is easy to get to the gardens of Trebah and Glendurgan and Falmouth has some lovely boat trips out to both the estuary and into the English channel.

Annhig lives in the area and is a great source of local knowledge.

Will you have a car? You may find it difficult (and time consuming) to get around using local buses.

Personally I wouldn't stay in Newquay if I could help it. Towards the end of May when the English teenagers have finished their exams they tend to migrate towards Newquay and it has unfortunately in recent years become known as the vomit capital of England! Although after some underage drinkers unfortunately dying in the last couple of years, licensing laws have tightened up a bit.

However early May would be a better time to visit as these youngsters won't be there. Though Newquay still doesn't have a lot going for it, IMHO.

I usually stay in Boscastle, a bit north up the coast from Tintagel, and have found it makes a pretty good base as well as being incredibly picturesque and if you stay down the hill by the harbour it's flat with not a lot of difficult of walking. You still get great views and scenery driving down into the village.

Hopefully annhig will see this now I've topped it, and probably come back with how lovely Newquay can be, but I've just given my impression!

Thank you the information has been very useful. I had looked at timings on Google Map and they didn't seem to be very far apart but I did not factor in narrow country roads.

Bellini, we are OK with very small villages, in fact that is what we would prefer. Stop for a coffee or lunch or a cream tea and have a look around then on to the next village.

Julia, we will have a car and are not interested in Newquay other than collecting the car at the airport.

Yan, I like the look of Helford, Falmouth and The Roseland.

We arrive in Newquay around 11 50am and leave 5 days later at 16 45pm so we really don't have a full 5 days.

Taking on board all you have said I am now thinking of staying either north Cornwall or South Cornwall. I would love to do both but really don't think this is practicable. South Cornwall looks to be the more picturesque but I am only looking at photographs so don't know if that is correct. North Cornwall fulfils my brief - Padstow for my Mum (she wants to have lunch or dinner in one of Rick Stein's restaurants and she will not be back in Cornwall), Port Isaac for me and Fowey for my sister (however, I have a strong feeling that my sister and I will return).

Decisions!! I am leaning towards the north and staying in Port Isaac or Boscastle that Julia has recommended, saving the south for another visit.

Is Port Isaac hilly?

Thank you. Your replies have been most helpful.

I've only been to Port Isaac once. I drove down a steepish narrow road into the village and parked on the beach. The centre of the village is fairly level, but it's a small area. You do have to walk up a hill to the Old School House restaurant (loved the lunch I had there!) and most of the shops are on either side of this hill. I think the OSH has parking and there's a good view from there across the harbour to Doc Martin's house.

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

With walking issues It might be better to visit there for a day trip.

Padstow is mostly on the level as I recall, once you are down in the town.

North Cornwall certainly does have some dramatic and spectacular scenery!

The thing I loved about Cornwall is how the north and south coasts are completely different and really so close together....North Cornwall is very dramatic and St Ives is where all the artists are for the special quality of the light...

Fowey is lovely and most of the interesting bits are at harbor level so if you can find accommodation (with parking) down on the harbor, you should be fine with your mom.
If you go for a day trip, follow the "park and ride" signs to a car park above the village--small buses run continuously, small charge, I think 50 p.
St. Ives has a similar system which works really well, dropping you off just one or two streets above the harbor.

If you want to eat at Rick Stein's in Padstow book early. "Fifteen" which is Jamie Oliver's restaurant in Watergate Bay comes highly recommended.
I'd concentrate on South Cornwall (easier to move north to south coast in the tip of the county). Prettier, not as rugged as north Cornwall (ie Port Isaac and Tintagel). I'd recommend staying in St Ives, and visiting Mousehole, Newlyn (try Jelbert's icecream there) Penzance (Penlee Art Gallery is wonderful and has good little cafe) and Falmouth (Miss Peapod's coffee house in nearby Penrhyn).
Enjoy yourself.