Whats Cornwall like for a holiday?

[nixieh]

Hi everyone :wavey:

Well, my suntan has well and truly faded and we are just living on the memories from Easter so of course my thoughts turn to our next holiday.

Unfortunately we are not going to be able to afford to go back to Orlando for at least two years and I really want to get away for a few days in the Summer as I can't bear the thought of 6 weeks at home with the kids and nowhere to go!!

Someone I know stayed at a Haven camp in a caravan in Poole recently and recommended it. I have been looking at their site and really fancy the site in Cornwall called Riviere Sands (partly because dogs aren't allowed and my DD is quite scared of them). The downside is that it is in Hayle near Penzance and we are in London which means a 6 hour drive! Also I am worried that if it rains the whole week and the beach is out that there will be nothing much else to do. I would welcome any advice from anyone who has holidayed or lives in Cornwall as I have never really done a proper UK holiday before and I am worried that we will go all that way and the weather will be rubbish (we would be going in August)!


Thanks Dibbers

Nicola

[Diane]

Hi, I live in Devon and don't really visit Cornwall too often (although like you we are hoping for a couple of days down there to break up the summer holidays this year). I thought this website might be useful to you..

http://www.cornwalltouristboard.co.uk/

I'm sure you'll find something to do - don't forget the Eden Project, this is about three quarters of an hour's drive from Hayle. Hopefully though we will get some nice sunny August days this year (fingers crossed :confused2 ).

Diane x

[Chelle27]

Hi Nicola. We camped in Cornwall a couple of July's ago, my DH and DD still rave about it. It's such a beautiful place and there's so much to do that you won't be stuck. We camped in Holywell Bay near Newquay. There's a link here (http://www.trevornick.co.uk/) so you can have a look. If it does rain whilst you are there, you could visit the Eden Project or such like - there's loads of stuff. If you are on a good site then the kids will really enjoy it.

[Disney_Dreamer]

We absolutely love cornwall, this may sound mad but when we had the chance of going to florida for two weeks I was tempted to say lets go to cornwall for a month instead. If your near penzance you will find loads to do if the weather isn't to good. There is the flambards theme park, goonhilly satelite station,culdrose, minack theatre, lands end, loads of different beaches, roskillys ice cream, there are loads of things to see and do. We stayed at a caravan park near kennacksands. Have a look at www.parkdean.com (have a look at the seaacres park. although they do have one called whiteacres aswell)it has a fantastic view as you are on the clifftop, (it is safe) and kennack sands beach is a five minute walk. The beach is very good as there is also a good rock pool area. Don't know whether you can tell but we love cornwall and the kids do to. If you go you will absolutely fall in love with the place. We live in swindon and it is about five hours for us to get there.

[John]

I've not been to cornwall for about 20 years, would love to go back

[maidmarian]

We absolutely love Cornwall - our favourite place to stay is St.Ives in a cottage, its great so many places to visit, fantastic cornish pasties all different fillings, they even do a half and half one, savoury and sweet!! :tounge:
The clotted cream is to die for :tounge: and the fresh fish and seafood is fab, you have to go you will love it, the beaches are fab too!!!

Love Maz xx:wavey:

[Alvin]

If you are thinking of Cornwall you should look at Looe, a very picturesque village set either side of the river, My mum says Its beautiful when the sun is out although Kim and I have rarely seen it, we have a special rain cloud which we tow behind our car when we go down there.
For many years my mum and dad have used an apartment(ok a flat) which looks right out onto the river, its great to just sit and watch the fishing boats come and go with the tide.
If you are interested I can get the details of the apartment for you(PM me) although my mum always complains that it costs them a lot more for a week down there than it does for a week in Spain.!!

[Ste]

Spent all me childhood holidays there:tounge:

St Austall.....to be entirely truthful a week in a static caravan there is equally as nice as florida IMHO!(i may sounds crazy)

I love love love it!

[lindylou2_2002]

THe dibb is a bad influance lol putting Ideas into my head now looking at going to Cornwall in the summer too :D :D

[Gill635]

Ah Cornwall !!!!

I love Cornwall. We used to go here or Devon every year. We stayed at Riviere Sands about 3 or 4 times and it is great. Theres loads to do in the area, and the beach is really close.

As someone has already mentioned Flambards is a must, there is also a place nearby called the Milky Way which is a working farm. You can milka cow, feed baby animals. Theres also Monkeyworld, the Butterfly sanctury and of course the Eden project.

If you want any more info, just ask or PM me.

Love,
Gill xx

[BEC]

cornwall is fab we have family in St.Ives who live in a cottage in the harbour we go and stay with them, although we haven't benn for a while ...we must go!!

[TinkTatoo]

There are some lovely places in Cornwall and all the better if you get fantastic weather


............ I can't bear the thought of 6 weeks at home with the kids and nowhere to go...........!!

This is exactly why we go to Orlando in the summer - our kids are off for 9 weeks so we have something to look forward to and there is only a week of the school holidays left when we get home (just enough time for the kids to get over their jet lag)

[G,T&S]

Hi we live in Plymouth. Cornwall doesn't have much to offer in our opinion (now there's a bold statement!), I will take the attractions one at a time and give you our experiences of them.

1.

[scottfeltham]

my dad lives in mevagissey its a lovely fishing village
we go down for feast week every year, which is great fun
theres plenty to do in cornwallif it rains
must admit ,i havnt been to the eden project
looe ,fowey are good places to vist
scott

[G,T&S]

The Eden Project.

If you don't have pre-booked tickets, you will queue for ages to get in!

The food is expensive and small portions as well as sub-standard!

The most stimulating thing is the structure of the Bio-Domes!

Flambards Park.

Done on the cheap, next to a Navy Airbase (loads of noise) from jets!

Some attractions were out of order when we went!

Litter bins and toilets were dirty!

Lands End.

Nice views, but the only thing there is a guy and a road sign who will take your photo and take your money!

Looe.

A very nice fishing village, great sea food restaurants, boat rides and gifty shops.

Our advice.

Stay in Plymouth so much more to do and see, such as the Marine Aquarium, fantastic undersea life exhibits. Control an underwater robot and much much more!

Take a habour boat trip and see the warships and submarines of the Royal Navy!

Take a fishing trip and catch fresh fish!

Visit pre-historic caves at Kents Caven!

Have the choice of shows at the theatres in the city!

Visit and walk on Dartmoor!

The Weather.

The only difference between summer and winter is that the rain is warmer in summer!! Having said that, when the sun does shine (such as today), it is really warm.

Cornwall lacks stimulation for the holiday maker who is looking for a little 'Get-up and Go!', rather, it relies more on the natural beauty of the countryside. Cornwalls other boast to fame is the traffic jams, only one road in and one out!

Plymouth is more central to ALL the best places to visit in the Southwest.

Hope this helps.

[Disney_Dreamer]

Just to give a different opinion
Eden project book your tickets and take a packed lunch
Flambards the kids will love it and like most theme parks some rides may not be working all the time, I have never thought that it was that dirty. The plane noise is not that noticeable.
Lands end is rather touristy, but they do have other attractions.
There is a fantastic aquarium at newquay about an hour away.
There are always fishing boat trips in most of the harbours.
If you want to see boats charlestown often has tallships in the harbour, you can also visit the shipwreck, rescue and heritage centre.
And if you want walks you cannot beat some of the coastal paths in cornwall.
The minack theatre has got to be one of the most outstanding theatres any where. There are also several cinemas around.
If you leave earlier or later you can avoid some of the traffic jams, we follow the M5 then towards Bodmin and st austell, through truro and down. You can go through redruth but Indian queens can be a bit of a nightmare.

[nixieh]

Wow, thanks for all the wonderful advice and responses, I will definitely check out all the suggestions, sounds like the majority of people recommend it. Can't wait to have another countdown even if it is not the one I really want!

Nicola

[keswick1uk]

OK. I live here (Looe) so I am biased. However, any help with particulars just ask.

As for getting here..what about the night riviera from Paddington? Its a sleeper train and it takes cars one night a week. Leaves about midnight (but you can board much earlier) and arrives really early into Penzance and you can stay on board until a sensible hour.

I shall be coming up to London on it next Thursday night.

I have no idea what the guy from Plymouth is talking about! There is loads to do here and its beautiful.

Choose the north coast for long sandy beaches, the south more for fishing villages, although we do have beaches. St Ives is lovely and the Minack amazing. A visit to the Scillies is a must if you can afford it and the weather forecast is good.

[tiniegil]

Hi we live in Plymouth. Cornwall doesn't have much to offer in our opinion (now there's a bold statement!), I will take the attractions one at a time and give you our experiences of them.

1.

We live in Devon, and I suppose we are a bit spoilt with all the coutryside etc and maybe miss what everyone thinks of here, tend to agree a bit with GTS though, however if the weather is on your side probably nothing better espcially if you have a young family, . I the weather is poor just make sure where you stay have a few facilites to use !!! ( we all go your ways for shops etc he! he! whilst you are all on the M5 queing to get here :d: ,

could do a deal, 2 weeks in florrie and you can stay at mine lol !:pgig:

[grottyrotty]

We love holidays in Cornwall. We've stayed in cottages, static caravans & camped.

We stay at a beautiful caravan/camping site 3 miles outside of Padstow (of Rick Stein fame!) called Mother Iveys Bay. We usually go every October half term in a static c'van & the weather is usually ok - warm enough for shorts on some days (and the water is ok if you have wet-suits - which you can hire there). Obviously we have had bad weather, but not usually for the whole week. We did 2 weeks at Easter once & the weather was abysmal - it even snowed!

We camped at this site for 3 weeks in the summer 2 yrs ago & had a wonderful holiday.

Unfortunately the cost of holidays in the UK can be quite prohibitive. Looking at a static c'van for this October made us realise that it is often cheaper to book a cottage. We have found a lovely little 2-bedroom apartment to stay in not far from Padstow.

We have always found plenty to do even if the weather is bad (and with a dog in tow!)

Deb :wave:

[Ste]

my dad lives in mevagissey its a lovely fishing village
we go down for feast week every year, which is great fun
theres plenty to do in cornwallif it rains
must admit ,i havnt been to the eden project
looe ,fowey are good places to vist
scott
I love mevagissey!!!!!!!!!!
Spent hours there everyday:cry: :cry: last went there 2004:thumbs-up

[orlandosgr8]

We went to Cornwall and loved every minute. We've booked to go back next year in October to celebrate Mum's 60th :D .