driving to cornwall

[Strawbs]

We went to cornwall recently and we left the house at 5am and it took us about 5.5 hours and then about 7 on the way back..

If you can stomach the 4.30 alarm call I would definitely rec doing it that way otherwise you just waste loads of time sitting in traffic! Be aware at that time of the morning to take snacks as not much is on offer at super super early in the AM..

Good luck!

[Marmora Man]

I prefer the A303 route - that way you get to see Stonehenge and the stops for snacks are better. Can recommend the Lamb at Hindon having been a regular for 20 years, it has changed over time but still a lovely pub.

When we had very small children (as opposed to hulking teenagers) the Little Chef near Stonehenge was always a handy stopover - not sure what it would be like now Heston Blumenthal has a hand in Little Chef menus.

Once in Cornwall recommend the following:

Surf - anywhere on North Coast - but nice & safe for smaller children in Harlyn Bay.

Eat fish & chips in Port Isaac on a THursday evening listening to the St Breward Silver Band playing on the Platt.

Visit the Bush Inn at Morwenstow - and walk along the cliff top to Hawkers Hut - the lookout of Reverend Hawker, an eccentric vicar cum poet, who saved many lives of shiprecked sailors on the North Cornish coast and buried others in his churchyard at Morwenstow. He also wrote "The Song of the Western Men" or "Shall Trelawney Die" - often sung at Twickenham when Cornwall rugby is in the ascendant.

Crabbing in Padstow inner Harbour

Lusty Glaze for adventurous teenagers - climbing, surfing, rope slides.

Watch the sun set over Watergate Bay (if feeling very flush do so from inside Fifteen - Jamie Oliver's restaurant that faces West on the beach)

Get away from it all on Constantine Bay - no beach shop, ice creams, pubs - nothing except great sea, sand and huge sand dunes for sliding down.

Kite Boarding / Kite surfing - Watergate Bay

Deep sea fishing - never yet caught a shark but caught many mackerel, pollock and occasional bass, for subsequent bar be que

Eden Project if it rains = tho' the queues can get horrendous

Lands End - for tacky photos

Near Lands End for the Minack Open Air Theatre with the Atlantic as a backdrop.

Eat a cream tea (or two or three)

Eat a pasty - PAdstow / Wadebridge have best pasty shops.

One to miss - Bodmin Prison Museum. It's so bad it's almost worthy of a special award.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Is it's sister museum The Clink? - so boring I would have taken a turn in the gibbet.

[buggie]

even better than the Eden project is The Lost Gardens of Heligan - near Mevagissey (which isn't worth visiting - no decent places for afternoon tea!) the story behind it is v sad as they fell into disrepair during the 1st WW when all the gardener's joined up and few made it back. They were uncovered in the late 70's/early 80's and a group of dedicated gardener's have worked on them since to get them back to their original state.

....of course to properly compare you could do both!