self-catering Devon/Cornwall

[emily1982]

I've been offered a free (yes i know im lucky, but i've got a good mother's day gift prepared) holiday by my mom in August.
She wants to go somewhere like Cornwall/ Devon. I've never really been to these areas appart from Bournemouth which i love, but my mom wants somewhere abit more quieter with nice beaches. I just wondered if anyone had any ideas of places which are *quieter* but also not too boring , we would like a 2 bedroom or twin appartment or holiday home. Thanks

 

[Goofyish]

We are going to Appledore for a week in August. It's a nice area with somw very nice beaches at Westward Ho! and Instow.
It's also close to Clovelly - a lovely place to visit.

Also, look at the Bude area. There are some nice beaches within Bude and at nearby Widemouth. You can visit Boscastle and Tintagel as well.

We booked our cottage through this website:

http://www.holidaycottages.co.uk/

We have had a cottage through them before and they are really nice.

 

[Ware Bears]

We had some lovely holidays in Cornwall before we started going to Disney. We stayed at a really nice holiday village in St Austell. I was going to put a link but I've just discovered it's been redeveloped for housing

Anyway, we found that area of Cornwall was brilliant for touring ~ we found it easy to get to Lands End, the Lizard, St Michael's Mount, Tintagel, Eden Project and there's loads of lovely beaches.

Funnily enough, I'm Bournemouth born and bred and have never lived anywhere else but have always felt an affinity for Cornwall since first visiting as a teenager and have often said if I was to move anywhere it would be there ~ I think it must be those romantic rugged coastlines.

 

[Lottie]

I'm from Tintagel - lots of people love it here!!

If you PM me I can recommend some lovely places to stay! Lots of friends own some really good holiday accommodation

 

[carolfoy]

I'd recommend the St Ives area, a long drive but there are lovely beaches and some great things to see and do.

 

[Goofyish]

I'd recommend the St Ives area, a long drive but there are lovely beaches and some great things to see and do.

Yes, we have stayed in Hayle a few times and the beaches around there are fantastic.

 

[hildasmuriel]

We go near Padstow every year. Padstow itself is quite expensive now (and trendy) but just a few miles up the coast is Harlyn Bay which is where we go. The bays are beautiful and the walks and scenery are lovely too. The picture under my tags is of Treyarnon Bay which is about 5 minutes drive from Harlyn Bay.

 

[emily1982]

Thank you for all your replies! OMG we never realised it was this expensive!!! We will keep looking but it is looking doubtful we are going just due to the costs. It's a shame i have to keep to school holidays. Thank you thought everyone

 

[BONZO]

Hi,

We regularly use http://www.northdevonholidays.co.uk

We prefer North Devon as it's relatively unspoilt and not full of "kiss-me-quick" hats and candy floss. Like Tim, we tend to go near Bideford, Instow, Clovelly etc

Cornwall is lovely but the 7 hour plus drive to get there is a bit of drag but 4 hours to Devon is more achievable for us.

 

[Queenie]

Check out here:

http://www.stivesholidays.com/

If you go to '2008 Properties' then 'Porthmeor' and look at the Piazzas. I cannot recommend them highly enough. There is a private stairway (shared by all the piazzas) that leads directly onto the beach and they are good size, largest are easily akin to a 2-bed DVC.

This is the view from one of the balconies:

 

[fuse04]

There are loads of nice places in Devon and Cornwall. We tend to prefer south to north. Looe is very nice as is St Ives. Some good beaches around Newquay.

Fuse

 

[PoppyAnna]

Friends of mine just spent five days during half term in Devon at a place called North Hayne Farm. We went a for a meal and she couldn't stop singing its praises (they are very 5* creature comfort people) she said it was very child friendly, well priced (even during holidays) and a lovely place to stay.
I've looked on the website and it looks great. Her girls got to pet the animals and collect eggs as well as other things on the farm. Each cottage has a hot tub too! I think the nearest beach would be Woolacombe which is supposed to be very pretty.
http://www.northhaynefarmcottages.co.uk/index.htm

 

[carolfoy]

don't underestimate your drive time, from exeter to Launceston (first town in cornwall) on the A30, expect 45 mins, from Launceston to Truro expect 2 hours in the summer, traffic from Bodmin down is always horrific!

 

[Goofyish]

We always try to drive down very early morning and then stop off once we leave the M5 for breakfast.

This misses the majority of the M5 traffic, but the downside is that access to our rented cottage is usually around 2pm, so we do have some time to kill once we arrive.

If we stay near Bideford there is a little out-of-town shopping centre called Atlantic Village. It has a nice collection of shops and a nice food court area to grad lunch. There is also a kids adventure playground. So a good place to kill some spare time

 

[LeCras]

On the subject of driving... That part of the country has an insane amount of speed cameras, so make sure you take it easy.

Charlotte

 

[UKDEB]

My Dad's three sisters all lived in Ramsgate (Kent) when I was growing up. I spent many happy summers there and some of my most cherished childhood memories are of our family holidays there. The closest seaside town to Gloucester is Weston-Super-Mare, so we also spent a fair bit of time there. I didn't realise just how beautiful British beach towns could be until we started visiting the St Ives area. I don't have any recommendations for places to stay because it's a while since we've been there, but it fits the bill perfectly.

 

[carolfoy]

also look up The Scilly Isles, they really are the most spectacular part of cornwall. you can fly from exeter or newquay (many regional flights connect to these!).

 

[Goofyish]

also look up The Scilly Isles, they really are the most spectacular part of cornwall. you can fly from exeter or newquay (many regional flights connect to these!).

There a helicopter service that goes from Penzance too

 

[carolfoy]

There a helicopter service that goes from Penzance too

and the scillonian ship - but I'd avoid that unless you are strong of stomach