Considering Cornwall End of June - where to base
May 9th, 2021, 12:23 AM
#1
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Considering Cornwall End of June - where to base
Farelocked flights SFO-LHR on UA for 40K miles plus tax with the thought of a possible 8 day holiday in Cornwall. There are a few extra days for London in/out. (Booked flights to/from Lisbon in the same time frame as another option but I will leave that for another thread) Have a few guide books and have perused some of the trip reports here. Would like suggestions of 1 or two bases from which to explore the area. Would consider a nice hotel, B&B, cottage, AirBnB with price less than 350 Pounds a night. Would prefer to be close to a town and near the ocean. Will have a car. Understand that we may decide not to go but the fares were excellent and we need a holiday.
May 9th, 2021, 01:18 AM
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I think it may be worth doing your own research as people like myself could post lots of suggestions based on what we have experienced in "normal" years.
As you are well aware this year is anything but normal and the chances are the suggestions will be booked up. Our hotels are currently closed to anything but essential travel and they reopen (if infection rates remain low) in mid May. By that time the only mass market short haul destination that Brits have access to is Portugal. Effectively, this summer will probably be a staycation year, in normal years Cornwall is mobbed. This year who knows?
Accommodation availability will be an issue.
As you are well aware this year is anything but normal and the chances are the suggestions will be booked up. Our hotels are currently closed to anything but essential travel and they reopen (if infection rates remain low) in mid May. By that time the only mass market short haul destination that Brits have access to is Portugal. Effectively, this summer will probably be a staycation year, in normal years Cornwall is mobbed. This year who knows?
Accommodation availability will be an issue.
May 9th, 2021, 07:43 AM
#3
I have a Calif to London trip booked for 3 - 10 July and I fully expect I'll end up cancelling. The situation is just too fluid and the rules could change multiple times between now and then. But if I was to do a trip at that time - at this late date I'd assume finding nice accommodations in Cornwall would be pretty difficult. A lot of Brits have discovered that 'staycations' (hate the word but it gets the point across 
) are more doable/practical now so scenic hot spots like Cornwall, the Lake District, etc have been booking up months in advance.
) are more doable/practical now so scenic hot spots like Cornwall, the Lake District, etc have been booking up months in advance.
May 9th, 2021, 09:03 AM
#4
The G7 will be in Cornwall from 11 to 13 June. If your period coincides then may not be fun. Meanwhile the Brits will be enjoying freedom day from 21 June. So get your booking in early.
Last edited by Moderator1; May 9th, 2021 at 09:23 AM. Reason: edited for clarity and delete comment about moderation.
May 9th, 2021, 02:20 PM
#6
<<Yes forget about the G7. if they are not there try the Carbis Bay , wonderful place.>>
Baboom, BC. That's exactly where it is. As well as the huge entourages of the delegations [well over a dozen] there are going to be 5000 extra coppers, massive numbers of journos, and then there are the demonstrators as well. Fortunately we don't live anywhere near there but i wouldn't be surprised to find that we will have problems getting around as well.
MJS - most accommodation is already gone for most of the season and at premium prices. Also as of this moment the USA is on the "amber list" of countries meaning that amongst other things you would be required to quarantine for 10 days "at home or in the place where you will be staying" plus taking 2 covid tests. Not sure I'd want to take the risk of booking accommodation only to find out you'd have to spend the entire time inside it unable to do anything. I'd love you to come and have a holiday in Cornwall but honestly I think that I'd start looking seriously at Portugal and leave Cornwall for another year.
Baboom, BC. That's exactly where it is. As well as the huge entourages of the delegations [well over a dozen] there are going to be 5000 extra coppers, massive numbers of journos, and then there are the demonstrators as well. Fortunately we don't live anywhere near there but i wouldn't be surprised to find that we will have problems getting around as well.
MJS - most accommodation is already gone for most of the season and at premium prices. Also as of this moment the USA is on the "amber list" of countries meaning that amongst other things you would be required to quarantine for 10 days "at home or in the place where you will be staying" plus taking 2 covid tests. Not sure I'd want to take the risk of booking accommodation only to find out you'd have to spend the entire time inside it unable to do anything. I'd love you to come and have a holiday in Cornwall but honestly I think that I'd start looking seriously at Portugal and leave Cornwall for another year.
May 9th, 2021, 06:51 PM
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Thank you all for your replies but I am aware of all your concerns and am quite up to date with the epidemiology of COVID both here at home and abroad. We will not go if we have to quarantine and we will not go if our destination is closed enough so it is not worthwhile. We will also not book anything we cannot cancel. We are finding quite bit of availability at the moment in Cornwall. They might not be the best places but there is significant availability both on booking.com and AirNBnB. So to return to my original question, any suggestions for one or two bases from which to explore Cornwall? Considering The Pig at Halyrn bay for one base
May 9th, 2021, 08:08 PM
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in addition, its about 50 days before we plan to land at LHR. By that time hopefully enough people of the US and UK will have been vaccinated either by needle or infection to markedly drop the new infection rate to a much safer situation
May 10th, 2021, 01:25 AM
#9
Your confidence may be right or wrong.
Anyway, lets talk about Cornwall. The counties main road the A30 is not a great road with a lot of junctions and at this time may be packed with lots of caravans, hence do not be surprised if you use it that it becomes blocked. Luckily many of the other roads are smaller and more wiggly and so they offer no real succor.
The A38 can also be used to enter the county and will often block up between Exeter and Plymouth or indeed Exeter and all parts north. Old hands at Cornwall visiting in August often travel in the hours of darkness.
Annhig may point out where I am over playing this story but at least with my words, you have been warned. Visitors come for a variety of reasons, the beaches which are wonderful, the food which is pretty good (don't start on scones, the story will never end) and the cider is better than the wine and the wine is fairly good. People also come to visit gardens which, because of the gulf stream can be wonderful. All this means that there are artists around and galleries. Pasties are another subject dear to all.
I would start looking for a base between St Ives, Mousehole and the Lizard possibly as far east as Truro. Slow driving and taking the train may be the best solution to get to some of the harder places. So I would not drive to St Ives, I would drive to a nearby station and catch the train in as the parking in town is "crazy".
Your second base needs to be east either on the north or south coast and again depends on your wants and needs. If surfing Newquay is a bit of a Mecca and the surfers ensure the whole town is high. I often visit the area around Fowey but after a bit yet another cove begins to bore.
So layout your planned visits and interests on a map and come back and talk about where to stay to visit List 1 or List 2.
In terms of time for journeys, I normally use Google times and add 50% for Cornwall. 2 years ago my sister took 12 hours to get from Heathrow to Liskeard which Google bravely thought would be 4 hours.
Anyway, lets talk about Cornwall. The counties main road the A30 is not a great road with a lot of junctions and at this time may be packed with lots of caravans, hence do not be surprised if you use it that it becomes blocked. Luckily many of the other roads are smaller and more wiggly and so they offer no real succor.
The A38 can also be used to enter the county and will often block up between Exeter and Plymouth or indeed Exeter and all parts north. Old hands at Cornwall visiting in August often travel in the hours of darkness.
Annhig may point out where I am over playing this story but at least with my words, you have been warned. Visitors come for a variety of reasons, the beaches which are wonderful, the food which is pretty good (don't start on scones, the story will never end) and the cider is better than the wine and the wine is fairly good. People also come to visit gardens which, because of the gulf stream can be wonderful. All this means that there are artists around and galleries. Pasties are another subject dear to all.
I would start looking for a base between St Ives, Mousehole and the Lizard possibly as far east as Truro. Slow driving and taking the train may be the best solution to get to some of the harder places. So I would not drive to St Ives, I would drive to a nearby station and catch the train in as the parking in town is "crazy".
Your second base needs to be east either on the north or south coast and again depends on your wants and needs. If surfing Newquay is a bit of a Mecca and the surfers ensure the whole town is high. I often visit the area around Fowey but after a bit yet another cove begins to bore.
So layout your planned visits and interests on a map and come back and talk about where to stay to visit List 1 or List 2.
In terms of time for journeys, I normally use Google times and add 50% for Cornwall. 2 years ago my sister took 12 hours to get from Heathrow to Liskeard which Google bravely thought would be 4 hours.
Last edited by bilboburgler; May 10th, 2021 at 01:28 AM.
May 10th, 2021, 02:51 AM
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Mmmm....forget Carbis Bay, G7 or not.
they appear to have gone upmarket since we visited, the rooms are £1200 a night. Not seen that rate since our last visit to The Turks & Caicos!
In all honesty , you could just simply key in the area around Mylor or Helton into Air BnB and see what comes up. Just be prepared to hunker down and enjoy what’s on your doorstep, we haven’t been to Cornwall in summer for 4 years, Ann will know much better what the current or coming transport situation is like but usually the transport network is nowhere up to coping with the amount of visitors.
I wouldn’t start with what you want but rather what’s left and if it looks OK just book it. At least you won’t be travelling with a dog which complicates matters even further and lead us to buy a holiday house. Just so sick of being offered dog kennels to rent on Air BnB when you tick that infamous “pets allowed” box.
There is much to do at both those locations, we think The gardens at Heligan , Trebah and Trelissick are world class for their context and planting. Heligan is just magical with 10 ft high gunnera and a secret beach at the bottom. We also love Restronguet passage and its walks.
they appear to have gone upmarket since we visited, the rooms are £1200 a night. Not seen that rate since our last visit to The Turks & Caicos!
In all honesty , you could just simply key in the area around Mylor or Helton into Air BnB and see what comes up. Just be prepared to hunker down and enjoy what’s on your doorstep, we haven’t been to Cornwall in summer for 4 years, Ann will know much better what the current or coming transport situation is like but usually the transport network is nowhere up to coping with the amount of visitors.
I wouldn’t start with what you want but rather what’s left and if it looks OK just book it. At least you won’t be travelling with a dog which complicates matters even further and lead us to buy a holiday house. Just so sick of being offered dog kennels to rent on Air BnB when you tick that infamous “pets allowed” box.
There is much to do at both those locations, we think The gardens at Heligan , Trebah and Trelissick are world class for their context and planting. Heligan is just magical with 10 ft high gunnera and a secret beach at the bottom. We also love Restronguet passage and its walks.
May 10th, 2021, 02:54 AM
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I’m also going to take a flier and say that by the time you travel I think the U.K./US will have a reciprocal agreement in place for travellers with some sort of Covid passport. Just allowing Portugal on our green list isn’t going to work and the National Infection rates per head in the US are low.
But as ever who knows ?
But as ever who knows ?
May 10th, 2021, 03:42 AM
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May 11th, 2021, 06:34 AM
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<<Heligan, lost gardens of. Are great fun. If going on a nice day get there early as the Cpark fills up fast and you find yourself at the bottom of a muddy field.>>
not sure when you last visited Bilbo but IME said field has been greatly improved and if it's that bad then really you'd be wasting your money going.
<<In all honesty , you could just simply key in the area around Mylor or Helton into Air BnB and see what comes up. Just be prepared to hunker down and enjoy what’s on your doorstep, we haven’t been to Cornwall in summer for 4 years, Ann will know much better what the current or coming transport situation is like but usually the transport network is nowhere up to coping with the amount of visitors. >>
Well having been the voice of doom first time round, I'm going to be rather more optimistic about travelling when you get here, bearing in mind that you will not be hitting any school holiday traffic. However I would strongly advise thinking about getting the train one way, not just to avoid the traffic, but also to enjoy one of the iconic railway journeys anywhere in the world, ie the stretch from Exeter to Penzance, with the parts around Dawlish and Plymouth being particularly spectacular. And whatever you do, do not drive in either direction on a Friday night or Saturday. BTW, i looked at flying but there don't seem to be any direct flights to Newquay from LHR at the moment but there are flights every two days [20, 22, 24 etc] on Easyjet from LGW and there are several car hire firms at Newquay.
As for where to stay, Falmouth is one of my favourite places and you could easily spend the whole time there and never run out of things to do. Someone, I've forgotten who, [I'll try to find it] wrote a TR about their stay in Falmouth in 2019 and had what sounded like great accommodation. There are loads of gardens in the vicinity, walks, and the little nooks and crannies of Falmouth and Penryn to explore and more restaurants than you can shake a stick at. In inclement weather [I hope you wouldn't get any] there is the National Maritime Museum, the Town Museum and Art Gallery, the Arts Centre which is always fun, [and has great films on too] and there are quite a few gardens that have galleries such as at Trelissick. And then there are the boat trips which you can take across to Flushing, or St Mawes [the starting point for a couple of great walks] or down the Helford, or up the Fal to Trelissick gardens or even as far as Truro. And Land's End should you be so inclined is only just over an hour away.
If you wanted to split your time you might consider Penzance which is an interesting place in its own right and say Port Isaac [made famous by the Doc Martin series] which is on the north coast above Padstow. Unless you stay only a few nights I would avoid Fowey [pronounced Foy] as though lovely it's hard work to drive into and out of and is best treated not as a base for touring but as a destination in its own right, using it for walking and getting the boat over to Polruan.
Hope that helps!
not sure when you last visited Bilbo but IME said field has been greatly improved and if it's that bad then really you'd be wasting your money going.
<<In all honesty , you could just simply key in the area around Mylor or Helton into Air BnB and see what comes up. Just be prepared to hunker down and enjoy what’s on your doorstep, we haven’t been to Cornwall in summer for 4 years, Ann will know much better what the current or coming transport situation is like but usually the transport network is nowhere up to coping with the amount of visitors. >>
Well having been the voice of doom first time round, I'm going to be rather more optimistic about travelling when you get here, bearing in mind that you will not be hitting any school holiday traffic. However I would strongly advise thinking about getting the train one way, not just to avoid the traffic, but also to enjoy one of the iconic railway journeys anywhere in the world, ie the stretch from Exeter to Penzance, with the parts around Dawlish and Plymouth being particularly spectacular. And whatever you do, do not drive in either direction on a Friday night or Saturday. BTW, i looked at flying but there don't seem to be any direct flights to Newquay from LHR at the moment but there are flights every two days [20, 22, 24 etc] on Easyjet from LGW and there are several car hire firms at Newquay.
As for where to stay, Falmouth is one of my favourite places and you could easily spend the whole time there and never run out of things to do. Someone, I've forgotten who, [I'll try to find it] wrote a TR about their stay in Falmouth in 2019 and had what sounded like great accommodation. There are loads of gardens in the vicinity, walks, and the little nooks and crannies of Falmouth and Penryn to explore and more restaurants than you can shake a stick at. In inclement weather [I hope you wouldn't get any] there is the National Maritime Museum, the Town Museum and Art Gallery, the Arts Centre which is always fun, [and has great films on too] and there are quite a few gardens that have galleries such as at Trelissick. And then there are the boat trips which you can take across to Flushing, or St Mawes [the starting point for a couple of great walks] or down the Helford, or up the Fal to Trelissick gardens or even as far as Truro. And Land's End should you be so inclined is only just over an hour away.
If you wanted to split your time you might consider Penzance which is an interesting place in its own right and say Port Isaac [made famous by the Doc Martin series] which is on the north coast above Padstow. Unless you stay only a few nights I would avoid Fowey [pronounced Foy] as though lovely it's hard work to drive into and out of and is best treated not as a base for touring but as a destination in its own right, using it for walking and getting the boat over to Polruan.
Hope that helps!
May 11th, 2021, 06:38 AM
#15
May 11th, 2021, 09:00 AM
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Ann
there used to be a network of little foot passenger ferry boats which went of Falmouth to all the surrounding creeks ie pubs, Mylor, NT etc
not sure if they still run , was a great way to avoid traffic. We spent a week on Restronguet creek one July and travelled this way, the roads were insanely busy but in our little world we didn't know what was happening in the outside world.
there used to be a network of little foot passenger ferry boats which went of Falmouth to all the surrounding creeks ie pubs, Mylor, NT etc
not sure if they still run , was a great way to avoid traffic. We spent a week on Restronguet creek one July and travelled this way, the roads were insanely busy but in our little world we didn't know what was happening in the outside world.
May 11th, 2021, 10:33 PM
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We shall leave the Shepard home. Have late nights for tonight and the next few so will not be able to do much planning but thank you all for helping to narrow things down a bit. I am hopeful but not totally convinced we can do this holiday. Weather may also be an issue as we will want to stay outside as much as possible due to the airborne nature of COVID. Unfortunately I have not found long range UK forecasts to be particularly reliable. Will bring along some good books just in case. Falmouth sounds interesting. Our flight lands at 0655 on a Saturday and we are thinking about driving to somewhere in the Cotswolds to spend the day and take an early night. Move onto Cornwall on Sunday.
May 11th, 2021, 11:54 PM
#18
After a long night flight, different country, LHS of road, stick shift. Driving on first day.
Can you guess the advice?
Certainly there are local lovely places to LHR, Windsor for example which is easy to bus to.
Can you guess the advice?
Certainly there are local lovely places to LHR, Windsor for example which is easy to bus to.
May 12th, 2021, 01:40 PM
#19
<<there used to be a network of little foot passenger ferry boats which went of Falmouth to all the surrounding creeks ie pubs, Mylor, NT etc
not sure if they still run , was a great way to avoid traffic. We spent a week on Restronguet creek one July and travelled this way, the roads were insanely busy but in our little world we didn't know what was happening in the outside world.>>
mmm - not sure, BC. if they are still running I haven't heard of them, and I couldn't find them on line. There are some water taxis which might be useful to get to Restronget and Mylor but I don't think that there are any little ferries of the type you describe, apart from the one that goes from St Mawes to Place and is the start/end of the walk out to St Anthony's lighthouse which is one of the walks I referred to. They sound like a great idea though!
mjs - i'm with bilbo here. Enjoy a day in Windsor or wherever and drive down to Cornwall on Sunday.
not sure if they still run , was a great way to avoid traffic. We spent a week on Restronguet creek one July and travelled this way, the roads were insanely busy but in our little world we didn't know what was happening in the outside world.>>
mmm - not sure, BC. if they are still running I haven't heard of them, and I couldn't find them on line. There are some water taxis which might be useful to get to Restronget and Mylor but I don't think that there are any little ferries of the type you describe, apart from the one that goes from St Mawes to Place and is the start/end of the walk out to St Anthony's lighthouse which is one of the walks I referred to. They sound like a great idea though!
mjs - i'm with bilbo here. Enjoy a day in Windsor or wherever and drive down to Cornwall on Sunday.
May 22nd, 2021, 12:19 AM
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Turns out that Airbnb doesn't work for us due to limited late cancelation protocols. Managed to book what appears to be a decent hotel in Falmouth that we can cancel last minute. Appears to be some concern over the B 167.2 version of COVID in the UK with an opinion piece in the BMJ suggesting that delaying Uk opening might be prudent. Might be a race between vaccination and this new COVID virus and our possible visit to the UK.
