Tour of Cornwall
Discussion
Not a CC site, but I can definitely recommend Ayr site in St Ives if you want to go that far - http://ayrholidaypark.co.uk/
Ladys Mile in Dawlish would be fairly good if you have kids - bit busy but I would stay there again.
Ladys Mile in Dawlish would be fairly good if you have kids - bit busy but I would stay there again.
Widemouth bay near Tintagel/Bude has a car park you can park up to the back of the beach and great sandy beach for kids.
If you go anywhere near Slapton Sands then it would be rude not to drop into Salcombe for a couple of hours the wife will love the shops in the quaint fore street LOL
If you go anywhere near Slapton Sands then it would be rude not to drop into Salcombe for a couple of hours the wife will love the shops in the quaint fore street LOL
Padstow Touring Park is a pleasant walk from town across fields, maybe too far if kids are tiny but ok if say 6 plus. I think we all walked into town once when youngest would have been about 4 and then I got the van and picked them up from a play area on way back. There is a Crealeys park near Padstow too, old school kids entertainment, ours loved it.
Lovely area for a holiday, enjoy - and well done for following advice on making less stops and taking your time.
Lovely area for a holiday, enjoy - and well done for following advice on making less stops and taking your time.
Thought I would provide an update for anyone finding this thread in the future.
We originally hired a 2016 model Swift Escape 696. A couple of months before our holiday we received an email informing us someone had written off the motorhome (something to do with a low bridge). They had a new 2017 model Swift Escape 695 arriving which we could have instead. This had our key requirement which was the bunk beds at the back so our kids had their own area always available.
The new model has a more streamlined body. Lower overall so no drop-down step for the side door as well as no over-cab bed. The front seats have been upgraded to revolving 'captains' chairs instead. The additional bed drops down from the roof over the dining area.
After collecting the van, I drove it home so we could pack. The noise almost defended me on the 15-minute journey and I started wondering whether this whole holiday was a big mistake. However, I soon figured out that someone had just left the metal grill pan in the oven. Stock picture, but something like this.
With all the metal parts stowed away, enthusiasm for the 3 hour drive to Woolacombe returned.
Woolacombe Sands Holiday Park (spot our van)
A perfectly acceptable holiday park. Good size pitch (I reserved hard-standing and electric hook up at all our locations). Quiet neighbours. Good shop. Tired, but just about acceptable shower block. OK pool which the kids loved although changing facilities could have been cleaned more regularly. At 5pm the pool was absolutely packed, but at 7pm it was deserted. They also had an amusement arcade and bar which attracted a certain style of visitor. Looking back now makes me wonder if this is the reason we couldn’t hear our neighbours. They were in the bar instead of on their pitch. A slightly longer walk to the beach than I was expecting.
Padstow Touring Park
A clear change in in the type of visitor. New cars and posh caravans everywhere. What I did notice was that more people stayed on their pitches in the evenings and several had music playing outside which I thought was rather anti-social. At least it didn’t go on late into the night and there was no shouting or loud voices to accompany the music. The shower block was a huge upgrade and felt like an expensive gym. Large cubicles and very clean. Drinking water taps near every pitch made filling our fresh water tank easier than all the other sites. I never went into this shop but family managed to buy everything we needed. They had third-party onsite food most days, and the day we were there was burrito day. The burrito was very nice
Walk into Padstow was shorter than I expected. This was also the only site with solid Vodafone 4g.
Slapton Sands Camping and Caravanning Club Site
Interesting journey to the site. The roads are very narrow and you are recommended to take a sizable detour to approach from the south. Roads from the north are apparently even worse. Our 8 year old TomTom sat-nav kept suggesting ridiculous routes with grass down the middle of the road. I had my phone in a dashboard vent just showing Google maps which worked better than sat-nav. Site felt cramped with pitches a little too close. Having a hard-standing pitch meant we were on the edge of the site and hence didn’t feel it as much as those on the grass pitches in the middle. We had a nice grassed area behind the van for a little privacy.
Green Hill Farm Camping & Caravan Park
This was the biggest surprise for me. I was expecting something a bit more rural. They make a big thing of their adult only areas which gave me the impression it would be a quiet, forest site. In reality we were next to their bar which had an outdoor quiz night with a loud PA system late into the night. Other than that, quality of facilities felt similar to the Woolacombe site, and the kids loved their zip-wire.
Overall we did about 560 miles and averaged about 26mpg. 2 and a bit tanks of diesel and £1.30 of LPG for the oven/grill.
We originally hired a 2016 model Swift Escape 696. A couple of months before our holiday we received an email informing us someone had written off the motorhome (something to do with a low bridge). They had a new 2017 model Swift Escape 695 arriving which we could have instead. This had our key requirement which was the bunk beds at the back so our kids had their own area always available.
The new model has a more streamlined body. Lower overall so no drop-down step for the side door as well as no over-cab bed. The front seats have been upgraded to revolving 'captains' chairs instead. The additional bed drops down from the roof over the dining area.
After collecting the van, I drove it home so we could pack. The noise almost defended me on the 15-minute journey and I started wondering whether this whole holiday was a big mistake. However, I soon figured out that someone had just left the metal grill pan in the oven. Stock picture, but something like this.
With all the metal parts stowed away, enthusiasm for the 3 hour drive to Woolacombe returned.
Woolacombe Sands Holiday Park (spot our van)
A perfectly acceptable holiday park. Good size pitch (I reserved hard-standing and electric hook up at all our locations). Quiet neighbours. Good shop. Tired, but just about acceptable shower block. OK pool which the kids loved although changing facilities could have been cleaned more regularly. At 5pm the pool was absolutely packed, but at 7pm it was deserted. They also had an amusement arcade and bar which attracted a certain style of visitor. Looking back now makes me wonder if this is the reason we couldn’t hear our neighbours. They were in the bar instead of on their pitch. A slightly longer walk to the beach than I was expecting.
Padstow Touring Park
A clear change in in the type of visitor. New cars and posh caravans everywhere. What I did notice was that more people stayed on their pitches in the evenings and several had music playing outside which I thought was rather anti-social. At least it didn’t go on late into the night and there was no shouting or loud voices to accompany the music. The shower block was a huge upgrade and felt like an expensive gym. Large cubicles and very clean. Drinking water taps near every pitch made filling our fresh water tank easier than all the other sites. I never went into this shop but family managed to buy everything we needed. They had third-party onsite food most days, and the day we were there was burrito day. The burrito was very nice
Walk into Padstow was shorter than I expected. This was also the only site with solid Vodafone 4g.
Slapton Sands Camping and Caravanning Club Site
Interesting journey to the site. The roads are very narrow and you are recommended to take a sizable detour to approach from the south. Roads from the north are apparently even worse. Our 8 year old TomTom sat-nav kept suggesting ridiculous routes with grass down the middle of the road. I had my phone in a dashboard vent just showing Google maps which worked better than sat-nav. Site felt cramped with pitches a little too close. Having a hard-standing pitch meant we were on the edge of the site and hence didn’t feel it as much as those on the grass pitches in the middle. We had a nice grassed area behind the van for a little privacy.
Green Hill Farm Camping & Caravan Park
This was the biggest surprise for me. I was expecting something a bit more rural. They make a big thing of their adult only areas which gave me the impression it would be a quiet, forest site. In reality we were next to their bar which had an outdoor quiz night with a loud PA system late into the night. Other than that, quality of facilities felt similar to the Woolacombe site, and the kids loved their zip-wire.
Overall we did about 560 miles and averaged about 26mpg. 2 and a bit tanks of diesel and £1.30 of LPG for the oven/grill.
Antony Moxey said:
There's a great site at Bude called Woodah Farm. Decent pitches, shop, big play area, on site restaurant plus pitch and putt, archery, dog walk etc. Bit too far to walk to the beach - it's probably a 15 minute drive - but if you're only looking at an overnighter there's enough to keep you busy, or relaxed.
In North Devon we stopped at a fine site in Combe Martin called Newberry Valley that had the best shower/toilet/wash facilities I've seen. The beach and town are walking distance from the site and there are decent views from the big pitches.
Padstow is VERY narrow and very crowded. If you want something a bit different try and find somewhere near Rock and take a water taxi across the river to Pawdstow.
Penzance isn't much to write home about, you might prefer somewhere more towards Lelant , plus you can use the park and ride there and take the train into St Ives.
The only other suggestion I might offer is Crealy Adventure Park a couple of miles east of Exeter instead of Dawlish. I'm not sure on their touring facilities - I know their campsite is excellent - but I do believe if you stay at the campsite you get admission into the adjoining park which the kids would enjoy.
Can't help with Fowey I'm afraid, it was many, many years ago that I camped in that area and that was in a tent.
Good luck!
Been to Wooda.. Lovely place, well worth the 9 hour drive from Ayrshire. The walk to the beach doesn't take that long and there's a lovely pub en route. Loved Bude.. Beaches, canal boating, walks etc..In North Devon we stopped at a fine site in Combe Martin called Newberry Valley that had the best shower/toilet/wash facilities I've seen. The beach and town are walking distance from the site and there are decent views from the big pitches.
Padstow is VERY narrow and very crowded. If you want something a bit different try and find somewhere near Rock and take a water taxi across the river to Pawdstow.
Penzance isn't much to write home about, you might prefer somewhere more towards Lelant , plus you can use the park and ride there and take the train into St Ives.
The only other suggestion I might offer is Crealy Adventure Park a couple of miles east of Exeter instead of Dawlish. I'm not sure on their touring facilities - I know their campsite is excellent - but I do believe if you stay at the campsite you get admission into the adjoining park which the kids would enjoy.
Can't help with Fowey I'm afraid, it was many, many years ago that I camped in that area and that was in a tent.
Good luck!
On the north Cornwall coastal path heading north from Bude, there's a wee place called Sandymouth near the surfing beach down from the holiday camp that sells the best burgers I've ever eaten!
Padstow? Mobbed and parking difficult, nice though.
Boscastle is a lovely must see place.
Port Isaac (Portwenn). Again, lovely and my wifes a Doc Martin fan.
Surf shops everywhere. Everyone seems to drive a Transporter and even the churches have crosses made of surboards!
Newquay? Excellent. Saw some 80+ surfers with ancient bodyboards!
All in all, Cornwall has such a lot to offer, our favourite part of the UK. Just be careful of using satnav as you could end up stuck down some wee lane.
mrtwisty said:
What a comprehensive review 
Not my cup of tea to be sure, I gravitate to the more remote and rural end of things, but then I don't have kids yet. I'm sure this will be useful to plenty of folks 
Youd like the coastal paths.. Beautifully remote rural trails with awesomely high seas pounding below you, especially on the North side. Cornwall's quite unspoilt despite being popular, it retains an old world charm. Nice driving roads too. Not my cup of tea to be sure, I gravitate to the more remote and rural end of things, but then I don't have kids yet. I'm sure this will be useful to plenty of folks Thinking of retiring there.. Hmm...
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