Need help with preliminary Devon Cornwall itinerary!
 

I'm leaving my thread where you helped me figure out where to stay our first 3 days, I have several stops planned, but now I need some help filling in the gaps!

Here is what I have so far, assuming we still have any money by then :)

Arrive LHR Sept 29th, stay at Clifton House in Bradford on Avon for 3 nights 29th thru Oct 1st.

Drive towards Lynton/Lynmouth ( apparently MANY wonderful small villages along this route) stay at Highcliffe House 3 nights Oct 2nd-4th

Oct 6th-9th I am working on finding a self catering in west Cornwall ( we will need a washer and dryer by then) ..........so........in between on October 5th I was hoping to find someplace great to stop for 1 night in between Lynton area and St Ives area. Any thoughts?

After our self catering in west Cornwall Oct 6th-9th, we will be headed back up the southern coast. I plan to stay at Spread Eagle or nearby close to Stourhead for 2 nights Oct 12, 13. This leaves 2 nights Oct 10, 11 in between our self catering and Stourhead. Any thoughts on where to stay then?

Priorities are charm (I like to feel like I'm in England) spas and hot tubs not necessary, love good food and a beautiful area. Gardens and large majestic trees, or crashing ocean always willing to pay for. Wonderful village works too. Would like on those days to eat dinner where we stay, or very close by.

Plan to stay last night Oct 14 in Windsor, or at LHR hotel before departing Oct 15.

Does this look feasible?

Thanks
Wrenwood

Hi Wren -

Well - lots of nice areas on the south coast between St Ives and Stourhead.

Are you looking for a 2-night stop - or 2 one-night stops?

Polperro? Looe? Dartmouth? Sidmouth? Lyme Regis?

Take your pick - you're spoilt for choice ;)

Steve

Hi Steve

The stop in between Lynmouth and St Ives area is definitely one night. Actually we are now booked in Dunster at Spears Cross instead of Lynmouth, excited about staying in another smaller village!

I was even thinking of staying 4 nights in Dunster and then driving straight through to our self catering somewhere near St Ives, maybe stopping to see Tintagel along the way. What do you think?

The 2 nights from St Ives area to Stourhead I would think we would stay 2 nights in one place. I try to do one night stops only if I have to. (see I'm already trying to get out of the one above!)

I had been thinking about the Dartmouth area, don't know much about it, except many have said it's beautiful. Again I would love a smaller village, not sure how big Dartmouth is. (if you remember from my previous thread I didn't want to stay in Bath! ) Dartmoor National Park is appealing.

By the way, what are "The South Hams?"

Hi Wrenwood -

About two years ago I visited England, Somerset-way. I really enjoyed Dunster as a day trip, I hope you do too! Will you be visiting Minehead? I really enjoyed that as well, though it was more like a "town" than a "village."

You need to visit Cheddar Gorge on your way through Somerset, this is an absolute must!

When you are down in Cornwall there are so many breathtaking things to see and do. St Ives is one of the most beautiful places on earth - golden sands and turquoise sea - you could be anywhere in the world!! The steam train there is quite an experience to travel on along the coast.

Another must see would be Godrevy & the lighthouse. This area is owned by the National Trust and there are some amazing walks. Godrevy is near Hayle (about 15 mins drive from St Ives). The website is: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main...ace/w-godrevy/ The web site doesn't do it justice - again its one of the most peaceful and beautiful places on earth!

Also whilst you are in west Cornwall you should make a point of visiting the Minack Theatre: http://www.minack.com/ This is an open air theatre cut into the rocks and overlooking Portcurno Beach. There is a tearooms there that overhangs the sea. Just amazing!!
Lands End is not that great in my opinion - too commercialised!

Mousehole and Lamorna Cove wouold also be worth visiting. They are only a couple of miles apart and linked by a glorious coastal path. They are both traditional fishing villages and largely unspoilt.

When we visit that area of Cornwall we always stay in a delightful self catering cottage on the coastal path between Mousehole and Lamorna called Burnt Toast Cottage: http://www.burnttoastcottage.com

I would suggest that when you plan your trip to Cornwall from Somerset, you could take road along the North coast of Somerset, taking in Minehead, Lynton & Lynmouth. Clovelly on the North coast is amazing: http://www.clovelly.co.uk/

From there you could head down to Boscastle, Tintagel, Port Isaac (where they filmed Doc Martin) and on to Padstow & Rock.

If you returned using the A30 to the M5 you could then take the A303 to the South coast and visit Lyme Regis, Eype, Westbay & Weymouth on your way back!

Your going to have a great trip!!

springer - that's a great list but will take a week or more - the OP only has a day or two to get from Dunster to St. Ives. the trouble with north devon -about half-way -is the paucity of palces to stay. Clovelly is one, but may be too twee, the Inn at Hartland point is pretty dire though in a fabulous spot..it's hard to reommend anywhere.

However one town stands out - Great Torrington - home of a lovely garden belonging to the RHS, Dartington Glass, and a few nice pubs and restaurants as well as lovely walks.

as the OP is travelling in october, she could travel on spec and just stop where she found somewhere she liked.

regards, ann

'I was even thinking of staying 4 nights in Dunster and then driving straight through to our self catering somewhere near St Ives, maybe stopping to see Tintagel along the way. What do you think?'

Wren - Dunster's an attractive stop. But I love the scenery around Lynmouth/ Lynton/ Valley of the Rocks* (- some of the best coastal views in England IMO). Have you considered 2 nights in each?

If you're in Dunster, don't miss nearby Selworthy for a cream tea ;

Dartmouth is a small town rather than a village - but I think it would be lovely for a couple of nights. A very attractive area - and the boat trip (Totnes-Dartmouth) and steam-train ride is a delight IMO.

I agree with Ann and suggest you just find where you like on the day rather than book ahead. You'll have no trouble finding something on spec in October.

Steve

P.S. The South Hams is another attractive area around Salcombe.

Hey - you really need a fortnight for Devon and Cornwall ;)

I'd just like to add my trip report of Devon. It includes many places that you have listed.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...m#last-comment

Wren - it looks like your going to need a few more days if you want to take everything in!! It really is worth it if you can. If you can't, my advice would just be to prioritise exactly what you want from the trip. Rather you than me - all the places suggested above are fantastic!
Good luck!
Springer

Unfortunately we only have a little over 2 weeks. Last year we did Ireland for a little over 3 weeks. This year the dates are pretty well set, as I need to schedule around home Penn State football games....... :) there ARE priorities in life!

Springer ~ Pauline has already answered my emails about her cottage. It's lovely! If our friends from Germany can join us it would be perfect! And I hadn't heard of Cheddar Gorge, thanks.

Sorry Steve you can't get me to unpack and do 2 days in each place! Fodorites have convinced me it's more fun to stay in a place for at least 3 nights when possible. At the moment I have our room in Dunster booked for 4 nights with the option to change to 3. We're planning on visiting Lynton/Lynmouth/Valley of the Rocks when we are in Dunster. I need to do more research on Exmoor.

We'll probably see Great Torrington one day from Dunster as my father's family is from Highhampton, Webbery, Hatherleigh, Alverdiscott areas, so I will be dragging my husband through ancestral footprints. Looks like Great Torrington is on the way to those footprints

Is Tintagel a must see?

What about Clovelly? Via Michelin takes us to St Ives from Dunster through the central part of Devon/Cornwall rather than along the coast, even when I ask for the scenic route. Maybe we do Clovelly while we are staying at Dunster? Is the Coastal path there better than up in Exmoor National Park, St Ives or the far west? I guess what I'm asking is whether Clovelly is for the village or for a coastal walk? I think it's too close to Dunster and too far from St Ives to consider as a stay over spot.

Schuler, I need to look at your trip report again, I copied and pasted quite a bit onto my vacation file. In fact it was your trip report that got me so interested in driving that northern coast and investigating all those wonderful villages!

What is Dartmoor Park like? Should we consider staying there?

hi again, wren,

Clovelley is visited mostly for the picturesqueness of the village which has more or less been preserved in aspic. there is a big car-park up by the main road and you have to pay to enter the village itself. it's very steep, and there are land-rovers to take you down &/or more importantly, bring you back up. the coast in this area is not the main attraction though pleasant enough.

the really exciting coast is the bit from Hartland Point [where the coast does a right-angles turn from north to west facing] down to cornwall. My favourite sections are at a place called Morwenstow and Hartland itself. Most of the cornish bit is good too.

as you are staying in dunster 3-4 nights, I would suggest using that as a base for exploring exmoor and teh porlock-lynmouth stretch, and leaving Clovelley til the day you move on. You could drive to Great Torrington via Barnstaple [try not to go into it, it's a famous bottle-neck] then turn north and goto clovelly, Hartland, Morwenstow, ending up at Tintagel or port Isaac which is very lovely and shouldn't be too touristy in October. that's a long day, but doable.

I would leave Dartmoor for the journey back.

regards, ann

Ann, can we walk to Hartland from Clovelly? How long a walk is it? And is Morwenstow a section you walk to somewhere in particular, or more of a sit and eat a sandwich type of place?

Dartmoor is definitely on the way back, I'm planning on the 2 days in between whatever self catering we do in the west and last 2 days reserved for Stourhead. Am trying to find a place in the area, can't decide if I want to stay in Dartmouth or in Dartmoor National Park.

Wrenwood

hi wrenwood,

I found this website where you can look up the distaances between different places on the southwest coast path - it's called [originally] www.southwestcoastpath.co.uk.

it says that it's 7.4 miles from clovelly to Hartland so it's not an afternoon stroll. but there are one or two nice walks around Hartland that you might enjoy, and a walk at Bucks Mills which is a rather less touristy version of Clovelly.

as for Morwenstow, you can walk out to the cliffs along a footpath from the car park by the church, and then turn south aling the coast path to the tiny hut where the Rev Hawker used to sit and watch for ships being wrecked, so he could rescue or bury any victims. turn north again, and you come to a very pretty cove with some very isolated holiday homes.

turing to Dartmoor, Dartmouth is really no-where near the moor itself, though a pleasant place apart from the yachties and the rapacious seagulls. if you want to stay in a town on the moor, Okehampton or Tavistock are your best bet. my very favourite place on the moor is this: www.thetors.co.uk. it doesn't look much, but the food and drink are excellent and the position very wild and attractive. A rather bigger village is Chagford which has plenty of character. if you have mmegabucks, you could stay at nearby Gidleigh park - £300 plus per night!

regards, ann

Thanks Ann, I'll check out the towns of Okehampton, Chagford and Tavistock, and The Tors. Our self catering will hopefully be close to ocean/cliffs so we'll see a lot of that..............so I'm thinking staying in Dartmoor itself might be kind of neat.

We splurged and stayed at Ashford Castle in Ireland for 2 nights last year (well worth it!) but Gidleigh House is even more expensive! I thought it looked great until I saw the price!

Thanks for the help with the walks!

Wrenwood

hi again wrenwood,

if you could get hold of them, the ordanance survey do great guides to "Devon and Exmoor" and Cornwall. they include maps, recommended walks and motoring routes, and a gazeteer of the major [and some minor] towns and villages.

your library might have them or get them for you; I'm not sure that they are still in print. there's a very nice walk they recommend at Belstone, and another circular one from Clovelly.

there are some other nice places on Dartmoor that aren't so expensive. I find the alistair sawdays guides quite reliable for more up-market accommodation and you can register for free on his website. www.sawdays.co.uk

regards, ann

hello, would definitely recommend Dartmouth, its gorgeous there, you could try the dart marina hotel, www.dartmarina.com. the South Hams are also very lovely. In devon my father stays at the Ilsington Country House Hotel which he adores and would recommend to anyone, www.ilsington.co.uk, and for Cornwall self catering for quintessential English, I would recommend the cottages at www.hybadore.co.uk, very private and beautifully done. all the best, R

Hi Ruby

The cottage at Hybadore looks wonderful! Unfortunately I really want something at the ocean, as all of our other accomodations are "non-ocean"

I did bookmark Ilsington, it looks lovely!

Thanks
Wrenwood