Cornwall/Devon/Somerset touring

Caygill

We are motorhomers from southwest Scotland who want to go to Cornwall/Devon/Somerset  next July 2017, probably the first week.    Can anone please advise us about the best campsites and do we have to book ahead or can we just turn up?   Will it be really
busy?  Thank you.

DEBSC

We live in North Devon Caygill, wouldn't suggest you come here in July without booking. It is the start of the 'silly season' here and even if you are lucky enough to get in anywhere on speck then they won't be popular sites, if you get my drift. No chance
of getting in anywhere in the school holidays but beginning of July not probable either. 

DEBSC

Hillhead site is nice, but depends what you want. If you don't have kids then avoid the school holidays. For a motorhomer it is good because bus stops outside and good shop, restaurant, pool and entertainment onsite but not the place if you want peace and
quiet, try the North Devon sites for that, also lovely beaches here.

brue

What sort of camp sites do you prefer Caygill? By mid July places start to fill up and the traffic can get quite busy. Avoid weekend travel on the M5 and you should be ok.

eurortraveller

We are motorhomers from southwest Scotland who want to go to Cornwall/Devon/Somerset  next July 2017, probably the first week.    Can anone please advise us about the best campsites and do we have to book ahead or can we just turn up?   Will it be really busy?  Thank you.

The "best"campsites fill up first, especially the well known ones, and the popular ones near the coast , but with a comprehensive site guide and a mobile phone to ring ahead you will find space on smaller, independent, inland sites - often on minimum facility CLs, and ones which were CLs  and are no longer listed in the Club handbook. There are hundreds of sites here in Cornwall outside this Club's network.

But there's also a review on here here of a CL in mid Cornwall from some people saying they had a fortnight there in August and for the first ten days were the only ones on the site. The problem for you as motorhomers is that sites like that are often isolated and you have to use your vehicle to go shopping and get to places. 

Tinwheeler

I think you need to tell us what sort of places and sites you like, Caygill. There are some great sites around but your idea of great and mine might be entirely different. Bear in mind that the Westcountry lanes don't always lend themselves to easy MH use. Unlike Scottish single track roads, we have few passing places and high hedges blocking the view ahead. That might mean you'll prefer to stick to more major routes.

I live on the south coast of Cornwall and it gets very busy in July - even more so during school holiday times of late July/Aug. I wouldn't advise anyone to come here without booking.

DavidKlyne

Caygill

We did a bit of a tour of Somerset and Devon using the Minehead and Hillhead sites in October of this year. Both sites are handy for buses into the nearby towns. I recorded the trip in the Story Section

here  if its on any help.

David

QFour

Not the best place in the world to go at that time of year. Depends how you use your MH. If you want to head down to the beach with it don't bother. All the beach car parks are packed on nice days and trying to get anywhere in a MH is a joke. Narrow roads and locals doing 50 mph. Don't move over to much as they have rocks in the sides of the road. Best time to visit is early or late in the year and leave the holiday makers to the long queues 

The Local Council doesn't like us either. If you don't fit in one of their oh so small parking places you are expected to buy TWO tickets.

Tinwheeler

Not the best place in the world to go at that time of year. Depends how you use your MH. If you want to head down to the beach with it don't bother. All the beach car parks are packed on nice days and trying to get anywhere in a MH is a joke. Narrow roads
and locals doing 50 mph. Don't move over to much as they have rocks in the sides of the road. Best time to visit is early or late in the year and leave the holiday makers to the long queues 

The Local Council doesn't like us either. If you don't fit in one of their oh so small parking places you are expected to buy TWO tickets.

So I guess you'll be Ieaving more room for us locals to do 50 on the roads and park in the carparks, Q4. Thanks for that.

eurortraveller

We live in Cornwall and can echo what Q4 says.  Motorhomes in the lanes down here are a problem. But a complete county wide bus timetable is worth its weight in gold -  plot the routes on to an OS map and hunt  out the small inland sites near those bus routes
to take you around and about. It can be done,  but Caravanning is easier down here. 

Tinwheeler

We live in Cornwall and can echo what Q4 says.  Motorhomes in the lanes down here are a problem. But a complete county wide bus timetable is worth its weight in gold -  plot the routes on to an OS map and hunt  out the small inland sites near those bus routes
to take you around and about. It can be done,  but Caravanning is easier down here. 

The very reason I was pointing out earlier the differences between our lanes and those in Scotland, ET. If we go away locally with the MH we take a car as well and travel in convoy so we have secondary transport available on site.

Car hire might be something for the OP to consider or choosing sites near cycle tracks such as the Camel Trail.

 

Francis

I can recommend Hillhead CC in Brixham its one of our favourite sites and we make a point of visiting it every couple of years the facilities are good as is the pool and the bar area is nice too and had entertainment on in the evenings. We have visited Hillhead
in July and had no issues bit you would have to book in advance As it does get very busy. With regard to Cornwall we stayed at Looe CC this year and enjoyed it and the area was nice but we tow a small car on an A Frame behind our motorhome so we left the van
on site for 2 weeks and went around in the car. If we didnt have the car we would have struggled as the roads were narrow and the parking for motorhomes was limited

Caygill

Hi everyone,

thanks for your helpful comments.  We are thinking of coming down and maybe go to two sites through the week, we are keen cyclists, so usually get about that way.  We like sites with country views, maybe a central position, or coastal, not fussy.  Quite
happy with CLs or larger sites.  

We have not had a really hot summer in Scotland for a few years, a bit of heat would be nice for a change.

allanandjean

Hi Caygil, we live in Cornwall and rally here quite often but for longer stays we choose St Ives. There are many reasons that we love the place but for a motor home user the good thing is that getting around is pretty good. Many of the sites have a mini
bus service into town,and also some are on a bus route, and the train gets you to St Erth and the mainline.

We usually stay at Polmanter, it seems very popular with motor home users, and you can easily walk into town from there and get a taxi back for the same price as the bus both ways. First week in July should not be too busy but
as others have said some of our roads may cause a blood pressure issue-I have to drive 3 miles before I come to a road thats wide enough to need a white line down the middle.

If you can arrange for the heat you mentioned let us know!

brue

If you're coming down from Scotland and are thinking about a two site/area break you could consider stopping in Somerset first. You mentioned cycling and the Somerset levels and moors are excellent for cycling, there are lots of interesting routes to try. If you based your stay around Glastonbury or Langport you'd enjoy quiet flat roads away from the tourist crowds. There are a lot of walking trails too.

DEBSC

Not the best place in the world to go at that time of year. Depends how you use your MH. If you want to head down to the beach with it don't bother. All the beach car parks are packed on nice days and trying to get anywhere in a MH is a joke. Narrow roads
and locals doing 50 mph. Don't move over to much as they have rocks in the sides of the road. Best time to visit is early or late in the year and leave the holiday makers to the long queues 

The Local Council doesn't like us either. If you don't fit in one of their oh so small parking places you are expected to buy TWO tickets.

Great thinking Q4, that will be one less motorhome taking up two car park spaces in our local town/beach car park. It's not the locals with the problem on our narrow country roads it's some of the holidaymakers who can only drive on duel carriageways,
simply never learnt how to use their reverse gear and absolutely refuse to back up, even when facing a bus coming the other way. The reason for the badly made up roads is that, except for ten weeks of the year, the population is less here so not enough council
tax being paid by locals to keep them in order. 

DSB

Our favourit site for 'west' Cornwall is Globe Vale, just outside Redruth the Porthtowan and Portreath side.  I would certainly advise booking.

David 

Kennine

For many years we have spent one of our holiday tours covering the Dorset, Devon and Cornwall areas. 

There is plenty to do and see. in those three counties Cornwall in particular has great little coves and beaches to explore. Give yourself plenty of time or you just might miss a few great areas. 

One year we based ourselves for a couple of weeks on a great CL next to the river Camel just outside Bodmin and from there we could easily tour Cornwall in all directions. The town of Bodmin was within easy walking distance and
the Camel Trail was well used. Even after being in Cornwall for two weeks we did not see everything and will return in the future. 

Cheers.........K

 

cyberyacht

 

 It's not the locals with the problem on our narrow country roads it's some of the holidaymakers who can only drive on duel carriageways, simply never learnt how to use their reverse gear and absolutely refuse to back up, even when facing a bus
coming the other way. 

There seem to be an awful lot of people on the roads who have absolutely no idea how wide their vehicle is and are incapable of driving through a gap unless it is vehicle width plus a metre either side.

Paragon

We just got back yesterday from Beverly holidays site in Paignton.  We've never been anywhere before with a better view.  We had an uninterrupted view of Torbay from the van which my wife would have been happy to have just spent the week looking out the
window, although it was a bit exposed when Agnus blew in Saturday night. There is a bus stop at the gate if you are in a motor home.