Driving to Cornwall

2

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  • pollywiggle
    pollywiggle Posts: 60 Forumite
    We usually travel down on the Friday night & stay overnight in Plymouth, leaving Oxfordshire at around 6 when there is very little traffic. The following morning we have a reasonably leisurely start to the day & then stop off somewhere like the Eden Project or Maritime Museum before arriving at our accommodation in Mousehole in the late afternoon. This avoids the worst of the queues but will admit it's not a particularly money saving way of doing things. It does save your sanity though if you have kids in the car!!
  • minerva_windsong
    minerva_windsong Posts: 3,808 Forumite
    Driving into Cornwall on a Saturday in August will be mental, especially if you're going to St Ives. How we used to do it when I was little was set off in the middle of the night (so around 3 AM from North Yorkshire), stop in Exeter for breakfast and then carry on from there, normally arriving around lunchtime.

    Definitely agree with the suggestions of trying to find somewhere to stay over the night before if you can, or finding something else to do in the daytime and getting there slightly later.
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  • chocolatepennyfarthing
    chocolatepennyfarthing Posts: 1,115 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    We are going to Devon, thinking of staying over night before and then going somewhere on the Saturday. Does anyone know any hotels ad places to visit that we could go with a dog.
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  • Moomin21
    Moomin21 Posts: 212 Forumite
    Thanks everyone, might reconsider our plans!!

    Staying in Birmingham was actually our overnight stop over as we're actually driving all the way from Leeds!!! My boyfriend wanted to drive through the night all the way in one go but I don't think he'd cope very well with it to be honest!!
  • sunshinetours
    sunshinetours Posts: 2,854 Forumite
    Moomin21 wrote: »
    Thanks everyone, might reconsider our plans!!

    Staying in Birmingham was actually our overnight stop over as we're actually driving all the way from Leeds!!! My boyfriend wanted to drive through the night all the way in one go but I don't think he'd cope very well with it to be honest!!

    Depends how confident a driver he is. Its just under 400 miles. We do it from our part of Essex to St Ives with the kids in one drive (with a couple of stops of course) but that is 360 miles. No problem if you leave early enough

    If you have to stop off overnight I would stop near Bristol area so you split the time in half roughly
  • daveyjp
    daveyjp Posts: 12,505 Forumite
    First Post Name Dropper First Anniversary
    You don't say what time you are leaving - please don't say Friday evening immediately after work. Leeds to Birmingham is only 120 or so miles. You can do it in a couple of hours, although leave Leeds at 5pm on a Friday and it can take over 4.

    If you are leaving on a Friday evening I suggest you don't leave Leeds until at least 6.30pm to let the rush hour go - you'll still be well south of Bristol by 11pm - and you won't have spent two hours doing the first 60 miles Hotel stop, leave early next morning and you'll be in St Ives in time for a lunchtime pasty.
  • cyclonebri1
    cyclonebri1 Posts: 12,827 Forumite
    Excuse me for not having read all the replies.

    20 years ago for matbe 5 years we drove down to Cornwall from Derbyshire a couple of times per year. Kids were young and they were the most memorable hols of our lives.

    325 miles from near Chesterfield to near Newquay, Treyanon Bay for anyone that knows.

    Always set off at around 11 pm, 1 or maybe 2 stops for the obvious.

    Kipping in the car waiting for the site to open at 6am, actual driving time with a caravan was around 6 hrs.

    It can go wrong however, we once spent 3 hours on the A30 near Oakhampton at 1 in the morning after 2 bikes drove off the road and killed themselselves:(:(:(
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  • qetu1357
    qetu1357 Posts: 1,013 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Drive to one hour's or so away. Stay overnight. Then set off at 8 am. No problem
  • cyclonebri1
    cyclonebri1 Posts: 12,827 Forumite
    Actually what we ended up doing was to drive all the way down the M5 to Plymouth. This avoided the nagging problems of the A30 although they may not exist now?

    Good breakfast and fresh air and then the pleasant cross country drive to north Cornwall in the afternoon. Must go back there. ;)
    I like the thanks button, but ,please, an I agree button.

    Will the grammar and spelling police respect I do make grammatical errors, and have carp spelling, no need to remind me.;)

    Always expect the unexpected:eek:and then you won't be dissapointed
  • craftysarah
    craftysarah Posts: 110 Forumite
    First Anniversary
    We usually drive overnight and take it in turns to sleep, the kids sleep too so no moaning that they're bored!! We leave about 10pm and arrive at about 5am and meet very little traffic. Mind you we stay with relatives who don't mind being woken up to let us in, could be a problem if you can't check in somewhere until 4pm!!
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