Holidaying down your way next month? Ideas please!

[Chicken Chaser]

Planning on heading south for 10 days in July (before kids break up) for a break in a VW camper. No idea on the place though as I usually go to the Lakes or Scotland! Heard the weather might be a bit more reliable down your way, and its a place worth visiting! Dorset/Cornwall/Devon are areas i'm interested in. I briefly visited Somerset a couple of years ago and squeezed in a visit to Cheddar & Glastonbury so thats about the extent of it. I like my outdoor adventures (Cycling, walking, kayak & canoeing), but I'm with Wife and 6 month old daughter this time around, so I might be a bit restricted in fairness as to what can be undertaken. Late night parties are out of the question now too.....

If you could give some local knowledge on where to visit it would be highly appreciated and if anyone wants any ooop north advice, I'll gladly oblige!

[lee st]

Seen as I live here it seems very normal but everywhere in the uk I go everyone tells me how amazing it is. It's a seaside town called bude. Good base with beaches like westward ho and braunton and what not towards the devon direction. Also family friendly parks and the very long cycle route in Bideford being the tarka trail. Not far down into Cornwall there is boscastle which is very popular and tintagel with all it's ancient history. Further south again there is padstow which is a pleasant day out and the town everyone knows of Newquay. Heading inland from bude there are plenty of walks and such at places like Lydford gorge or even up into dartmoor. I'm sure tripadvisor search of bude and surrounding area will throw up a huge amount of holiday ideas. Have fun wherever you go

[BristolRich]

Anywhere along the Jurassic Coast (Dorset) stretching from Beer in the West to Swanage in the East with Weymouth and Portland stuck in the middle.

West side tends to be long rolling hills and valleys meeting steep cliffs and shingle beaches, East more "flatter" with more sandy beaches.

Was down there at the weekend and was fantastic (and bl**dy hot).

[Chicken Chaser]

Great, just what I'm looking for. I guess it can be a bit odd thinking about where you live as a holiday destination, but someone has got to be lucky enough to live there!

[BristolRich]

It may seem an obvious thing to say but dont underestimate the time it can take heading down south/ south west in the Summer.

The Bristol section of the M4/M5 is notoriously busy this time of year Southbound even with "improvements", equally heading in to Dorset can take up valuable travelling time too.

Our trip at the weekend into Dorset - 90 odd miles took the best part of three hours.

[Keep it stiff]

If you don't want to go too far west take a look at Polzeath. Much easier to get to than heading deep into Cornwall, choice of camp sites, good surf beach, several first class golf courses in easy distance.

[DevonPaul]

Plenty of usual touristy things to see down here - Eden Centre, Sparkwell or Paignton Zoo, Jurassic Coast (don't forget to stop off at Beer Head for the comedy tourist photo next to the sign).

Exeter and Plymouth have enough to do to kill a day or so (underground passages and Royal Albert Museum in Exeter, National Marine Aquarium and Barbican/Hoe area in Plymouth.

Into deepest darkest Cornwall for St Ives or Falmouth for the artists, or PadStein (Padstowe) for the Celebrity Chef seafood experience. North Cornwall/North Devon for surfing, Dartmoor/Exmoor for cycling/hiking.

Havee a look at the tourist info websites for events happening whilst you're down here too.

[Wings]

Depending how long you are staying in the west country, will depend both the places you visit and how far you want to travel. I recently, being Bristol based, took the my motorhome and drove westward down the M5 turning off at Bridgwater heading over Exmoor to Minehead, Lynton, Woolacombe, down the coast to Bude, Launceston, Dartmoor, Dartmouth, Brixham, Dawlish, Exmouth ending up for two days at Golden Cap Dorset near Westbay.

I am not a beach person, much prefer coastal and rural scenery, and both Devon and Dorset has some of the best in the UK.

[Chicken Chaser]

Thanks to all for the advice, I'm getting a vibe that you get nowhere fast down in Cornwall/Devon and thus shouldnt try and get too far in a day.

If I was to limit my trip to 3 places to set up camp, where would be the preferred options? I'm looking at about 9 nights (to avoid travelling on a Saturday out of the area). I was considering St Ives, St Austell and probably one other location. If there's better than that though, i'm all ears.

I would and should have planned this earlier but the trip has been a bit of a last minute decision to head south. Hopefully there'll be spaces available. 9-18 July are the planned dates.

[CHIEF]

I've been to St Ives Bay hoiliday park for the last 4 years and we love it.

Mainly statics but they have a touring part for tents and campers.

Right on the beach and its brilliant.

http://www.stivesbay.co.uk/

Food is very cheap with most meals under a tenner.

http://www.stivesbay.co.uk/the-park/food-and-drink...

http://www.stivesbay.co.uk/the-park/facilities/cam...

Nice bar (attached to the Bay Bistro) when you need to go for a swifty when the missus is putting the nipper to bed The beer garden is to die for.

Just check the pics out and you'll get the idea.

http://www.stivesbay.co.uk/the-park/food-and-drink...

[ChrisFitz]

Chicken Chaser said:

Thanks to all for the advice, I'm getting a vibe that you get nowhere fast down in Cornwall/Devon and thus shouldnt try and get too far in a day.

If I was to limit my trip to 3 places to set up camp, where would be the preferred options? I'm looking at about 9 nights (to avoid travelling on a Saturday out of the area). I was considering St Ives, St Austell and probably one other location. If there's better than that though, i'm all ears.

I would and should have planned this earlier but the trip has been a bit of a last minute decision to head south. Hopefully there'll be spaces available. 9-18 July are the planned dates.

St Austell, or St Awfull as it's known, is a bit of a dump putting it politely. Better off going a bit further west to somewhere around Mevagissey or thereabouts in that area. Much much nicer....
There are lots of camp sites around the Looe & Polperro area not that far from me. Polperro is the much nicer of the two, but much smaller. Good also look out towards Whitsand Bay area as this is a nice quietish part of SE Cornwall which is not so well known and a result much quieter than the likes of St Ives etc. Which is great for us as means we can drive about or go for walks in relative peace...