I agree totally Keswick when we lived in the Dales we wanted to come and stay here in the Lakes but we couldn't afford to so we went abroad, now we are back in the Lakes we anchor to go back to the Dales luckily we have a house over in Harrogate(as this one goes with the job) not too far away but just this week I was checking prices for B & B in the Dales and came up with £60 pppn well way ott it seems to me so you either pay inflated UK prices and enjoy our beautiful countryside or go for the cheaper option and fly overseas ! What a crazy world we live in !

Its definitely more expensive then. You can get a good B and B here for 30pppn. I do agree that knowing the best ones isn't easy if you don't actually live here but websites like this help a lot.

Quite honestly, the very best way to do the Westcountry IMO is also the cheapest. Camping (or if you have a caravan/motorhome some derivative of camping)

I was born and dragged up in North Devon, and Exmoor, I rate, second only to the Scillies in terms of must dos this side of Bristol. You can camp, even in the peak of the summer, for 14 pound a night per family. Its a bit more if you want hook ups, or bigger pitches but some of the camp sites really are beautiful. Its back to nature relaxation and allows you to enjoy what the countryside can offer.

Tinka, I'm with you on this one. If the weather is so poor and unlikely to improve and the accommodation is also poor, I think I'd probably do the same and come home too. It has never happened yet and I may have struggled on a little longer than you did but like you, I really can't see the point in pretending to enjoy a holiday if you really aren't enjoying it. Not very British I know but what the heck. As for the weather, it's a common misconception that it's much better in the South West than elsewhere. I moved to Somerset from the South East 10 years ago and despite the many positives of moving to this lovely part of the country, better weather isn't one of them.

thats such a shame tinka and i do agree that sometimes if your holiday starts of on a bad foot it can be difficult to get things back on track especially if the weather is and its putting everyone in a bad mood. We were in cornwall early in the summer holidays and had a beautiful week weather wise It was that good that we spent 4 whole days on the beach which is unusual for us as now our boys are older they dont want to build sandcastles any more. but we bought them all body boards ,bats and balls found some lovely beaches with rock pools to keep them entertained and headed off. but I have to agree with Keswick in that cornwall is best enjoyed in a relaxed state of mind whether the weather is good or bad. If you enjoy theme parks, piers and slot machines it isnt the place for you. We have had some brilliant days around bodmin moor , climbing rough tor , exploring the old engine houses and just walking,minions, cheesering etc . bike riding along the camel trail is great fun especially the section between wadebridge and padstow with fish and chips from rick steins chip shop at padstow .they taste even better if you have them sitting on the harbour wall. . We love mevagissey whcih is probably best enjoyed later in the day when the harbour walls are full of children dangling their crab lines over the harbour walls. an ice cream or a pasty and just strolling . you really need to move away from the crowds espeically during the summer holidays when cornwall can get mighty congested.

still prefer devon tho especially around dartmoor but thats another story
lyn

The UK is simply not suitable holiday destination for anyone for whom good weather is a vital ingredient for a good enjoyable holiday. I live right on the coast in the East of Scotland and have found it worth my while to trek down to Cornwall for some really enjoyable holidays. In my experience on the whole it is warmer but wetter than home.

Usually we book a self-catering cottage and pay a lot more than £150 pounds for it which sounds about standard for a chalet or caravan. It's what we paid for a private rental for a quick spur of the moment trip in early June one year in a small holiday park near Hayle. Yes, it was cramped and probably in need of a bit of TLC but not bad value for money. Our main purpose in going is to spend at least a day at the Eden project, take in a performance at the Mynack Theatre, get in some lovely coastal walking, visit various National Trust properties and gardens and 'do' the industrial heritage stuff. We still have things we haven't managed to do yet and will no doubt go back.

Good weather is always a bonus because we tend to take our UK holiday in April and it can never be counted on, so we tend to make plans around that. It's a beautiful county but popular with visitors so I think it's actually at its best off season even if the weather can be a bit 'off' too :-) Like others I can't imagine cutting a holiday short because of the weather - we've always found plenty of things to do and see which aren't dependent on sunshine. If I'm going for the sort of holiday which is dependent on good sunshine then I don't go in the UK - hence why we'll be off to the Canaries in October instead.

SM

well I'm glad to report that the weather stayed nice for us in Notts when we came back so we did go out and have a few days of fun in the sun as after all we were still on our hols..our holidays have been a bit different this year as hubby happened to win some holidays at work so we are off to New York/Miami in November! We can only wait with bated breath for the snow to fall in New York and hurricanes in Miami!

where did you stop we went to polperro 2/9/06 -9/9/06 and stopped at killigarth manor the weather was quite foggy but it was still quite warm the end of the week was lovely and the sun came out we stopped in the rose cottage, a cottage that slept 10 people it had 2 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms plus a double bed settee in the lounge plenty of room in need of a bit of decoration but like people say on here it only worked out a £50 a person per a week so good for the price and lots to do on the site

It was the following week and, in Tinks defence, the fog was bad. We did have some fog in your week, but in the following week from late afternnon Sunday for a couple of days it was thick and relentless.

We went down on the 9th Sept and got to Cornwall via Dartmouth and a village near Kingsbridge as we were visiting relatives and it was lovely and sunny and as Keswick says from late Sunday pm, it went foggy day and night ....we were visiting Fowey on the Tuesday and we got excited as for half an hour, it started to clear up and the sun was trying to break through and then the fog kicked in again, even worse than before! so while Notts was basking in 25c in sun, we had 18c and although it still felt warm,all our pics show overcast skies and fog! We stayed at the Seaview Holiday village just outside Polperro.....couldn't find any reviews on this place but did find some on Killigarth Manor some good, some dire!

Hi there, i'm originally from cornwall and moved up to hampshire only last year. I just wanted to say that its not only the place that makes the holiday its your attitude towards it aswell.
If you go there expecting the med weather constantly...you are going to be in for a surprise (this is the UK after all). Secondly, if you go to the touristy places then its going to be busy and overpriced. But if you search around//go exploring, then you (like me) will find carparks that charge 50p per DAY! some examples include tintagel, port isaac and port gaverne are pretty cheap plus widemouth bay or bude if you want to park within inches of the beach (summerleaze).
I'm not saying that you shouldn't expect your holiday park to be top notch. if it says its a 4* then it should be. But the standards in cornwall are not going to be the same as a hilton or a marriott. Cornwall is classed as a 'third world' county in the eyes of the european union, and therefore cannot support itself! Wages barely go over 10K annually in the majority of cornwall.
And thirdly, you did go in september! You missed the best weather that cornwall had to offer you...and generally because cornwall is surrounded by sea on 3! sides you are obviously going to get onshore/offshore breazes that bring the temp down by a few degrees compared to Notts...which brings in fog quite far inland!
In the case of Bnbs..i dont know where most of you went, but pretty much everywhere i have been in cornwall has been in the range of 15-30pppn. the cheapest being in tintagel...was absolutley beautiful, we had a sea view and the breakfast in the morning was lovely. (and tintagel is one of the most touristy places in cornwall)!
As for the eden project. I went there once on a school trip, and to be honest the ques are horrendous. Why not go to palces such as kynance cove? If you go to a place that is widely recognised....then surprise surprise there are going to be big ques...and you are going to be built up...just for some plants in a greenhouse!!
And to end, its a shame you found cornwall so horrendous...because it is one of the most prettiest places in the uk! and to reply to one comment that said about not being able to see the views form the road (you are not actually supposed to stay driving the whole time - you are supposed to get out and do some walking)!

Have just read this post and have to agree with the last poster!

Have been to Cornwall loads of times - mainly to Perranporth as a child, but more recently to Tintagel. This was August and the weather was hit and miss, but when we walked the coastal path we both commented (and we have had loads of overseas hols between us) that there was nowhere in Europe to beat it ---------including the Amalfi Coast, Highway One in California ----- there are places as nice, as stunning, as beautiful. BUT Cornwall is ----- Cornwall ---------- scenery, atmosphere, donkeys, ice cream and the British weather!

The Cornish Coast is stunning in its own right - you can't expect it to be something it isn't ------------ have just come back from a superb holiday in Sorrento but wouldn't dream of saying .... "But it didn't have the same scenary as Cornwall, Cornish icecream or the Cornish fogs

Come on folks - lets celebrate some of the GB's stunningly beautiful locations -- we have loads of them!



(Off to Devon next Easter ------------------)

We stood on the cliffs nest to Pendeen lighthouse on a rough, wild, wet and windy day, and it was glorious! If you go to Cornwall with pre-conceived ideas about perpetual sun, you`re bound to be disappointed, go with an open mind, believing that you`ll enjoy whatever the weather brings.

Several years ago, whilst running a pub, one of our customers offered us his council house for a week to give us a break. I think it was a little estate called Trelights. It was around the corner from the Longcross Victorian gardens at the back of the pub there. We had a great time even though the weather wasn't stunning, we loved Delabole, Port Isaac, Trebarwith Strand (great pub on the cliff!) and especially Bodmin Goal - Still threatening to leave son there if he cheeks me!!!
Helen

I really can't see what you are moaning about!
The weather - it's known that you get mist in cornwall. It's surrounded by the coastline, so you're bound to. I live about 10 mins from Fowey. I remember a short while back, there being thick mist for a couple of days, but it was nowhere near as bad as it can get in places like Davidstow (near camelford). It didn't last for that long and there are plenty of things you can do when the weather turns misty.

The cost. £150. Hardly breaking the bank, so how can you complain at what you got in return for it...? You stayed at a low cost site, you are never going to get 5* facilities! Accomodation is a place to get your head down and have a shower before you go out and explore - and there's still lots to see here even when the mist is out. Go inland and it goes away all of a sudden. If you wanted hotel facilities, then you should have upped your budget a bit and gone more up class.

I can't believe you cut a holiday short because of mist and cheap accomodation not being up to scratch - surely that's cutting your nose off to spite your face...? One of my fondest holidays was in Benidorm - we stayed in the worst apartment you're ever likely to see. But we made up for it by going out a lot of having fun. if you go somewhere and have the attitude that everything is not good enough for you, then you're bound to have a bad time! That's not down to anything but you, is it? Cornwall is a beautiful place, there's so much you could have seen, wasted opportunity!

Hear, Hear!!

I couldn't agree more