On the 3rd worst holiday ever - pity party

[BlowDryRat]

TLDR: we are in Cornwall, staying in a caravan with walls so thin I can hear the DC breathing at night. All the pre-planned, booked months ago activities have been cancelled because it won't stop F-ing raining. Everywhere else is rammed or fully booked and wonders why we didn't book months ago We resorted to taking the children to the cinema on Tuesday, then to an English Heritage place exactly the same as every other English Heritage place that doesn't take me 5 hours to drive to. Today we are at the Eden Project. DD keeps trying to steal leaves and flowers and whining for ice cream. DS just wants a rest or to go on the zip wire,which is fully booked and I didn't pre-book because we did zip wiring last week. I'm allergic to all the rare plants and keep sneezing. All the ice cream is made with weird stuff.

I've paid a grand to live in a caravan, doing things that I could do within an hour of home. I can't wait to go home. I know lots of people are 'going on holiday' by camping under their imaginary dining table this summer but

@michellelovesizzy there is so much to do in Somerset, do you need some suggestions?

Also, at that price I'm guessing you're staying at one of the chain holiday camps? If so, take full advantage of everything on offer, we did. Swimming, walks around the huge park, crazy golf, arcades, story creations, wizard academy, creative explorer, clubhouse in the evening etc etc etc. DD absolutely loved it!

I know it’s too late now but we usually do a week in Penzance or Hayle at some point during the year aswell as having a holiday abroad - it sweetens the bad weather in the U.K. knowing that we usually have sun to look forward to. Not this year!
We went to Hayle a month or so ago and had a bloody brilliant week but the weather was utterly glorious every day.
We found it to be much much busier this year than previously which we were expecting.
Lizard Adventure was who we used for Dh and the dc to do paddle-boarding and the instructors were absolutely brilliant, they booked to go again a few days later.
I took ds to paradise park a few years ago when the others were surfing at and it was horrible - just a bit shit, seemed unloved, dirty and an all round money making venture and nothing more. The best thing was the soft play at the end, I’d never repeat the experience or recommend it!
Hope you managed to enjoy the very last bit of the holiday OP.
I love being by the sea in terrible weather but it’s bloody hard pinning all your hopes on a lovely week by the sea in summer to have it all washed out so I feel your pain. We’ve had some weeks away that I wish we’d never bothered with but to be honest the dc have always enjoyed them and don’t look back negatively so I try to take the positives in that!

We used Lizard Adventure too. They were so patient with DD, who was a bit unsure about jumping in. Highly recommended.

I remember one camping holiday in Wales when I was little when everything went wrong. There were storms, it rained nearly every day, DB fell in a pond at Harlec Castle, I wrecked my shoes by playing chicken with the waves and my mum had an epic meltdown when I accidentally fell into the gutter at the campsite toilets. I remember it fondly - going down what seemed like every mine in Wales, getting beautiful new shoes with lace laces, buying penny sweets at the tiny village shop by the campsite, playing Mouse Trap and Pontoon in our tent, eating vast quantities of fruit cake at a cafe with old beams and a real fire, watching DB's sailor hat floating on top of the pond . It must have been so stressful for my parents but us kids had a blast.

Cornwall is an amazing part of the country. Dont let others put you off. Yes if the weather is rubbish it can put a slight dampener on it but we are in England and we are used to that by now! Research and book what you want to get up to. I especially recommend a little fishing village called Padstow, and the coastal walks in that area are breathtaking even in the rain, just take a waterproof jacket!!

@euronorris

The Exeter exit on the m5 northbound was absolute murder yesterday. No accident, just sheer volume of people. We came off there for the services and it took 30 bloody minutes to get past the exit roundabout! So, if you can avoid that exit, I would.

M5 was dreadful all the way to the M6 yesterday. But i feel more sorry those going south through j4 as there was an overturned lorry. It took us over 9 hours to get down ourselves (3 hour m6 closure) and i suspect the delays yesterday evening were worse. Apparently there was queuing traffic from m5 j15 all the way to Devon and the traffic we saw going into Cornwall on the A30 didn't look better.

Its so tiring and yeah I have to say I am not sure I would do it if we didn't have friends down that way.

The services all the way up to the one past Gloucester were murder too.

Once there its great, but yeah the traffic is a mare. Its quicker for us to travel abroad. Cornwall is unique though i do love in, once there.

@EmmaOvary

Solidarity, OP. Just arrived at our holiday cottage in Kent with our 14 month old. The cottage is beautiful, the grounds are beautiful and the pool is beautiful, what a shame it's going to piss it down for the whole stay. Nothing in the cottage is baby-proof and a quick scout of the surrounding area revealed that the only things within walking distance are a Shell garage, motorway, Indian restaurant with terrible TripAdvisor reviews and a Hair and Scalp treatment centre. We don't drive. So we are basically locked down in a one bed cottage, having paid the thick end of a grand for it. I could have got two of my frugal city breaks for that!

Sorry you are in for a rubbish week, but why would you not research the area in advance?! Especially if you know you won't be able to drive anywhere? Hopefully you can find a good food delivery service :)

@AmigoingcrZy

Cornwall is an amazing part of the country. Dont let others put you off. Yes if the weather is rubbish it can put a slight dampener on it but we are in England and we are used to that by now! Research and book what you want to get up to. I especially recommend a little fishing village called Padstow, and the coastal walks in that area are breathtaking even in the rain, just take a waterproof jacket!!

Padstow is one of the most overcrowded villages in the country in school holidays. It's beautiful but if you go in school holidays you will be shuffling along the pavements and eating your pastie standing up as there is nowhere to sit.

Thinking about it, it would just be better if our school holidays were a bit more staggered. At least you'd get a couple of weeks either end of the main few weeks when there would be a slight reduction in people.

Why on earth you would attempt Padstow with half of London in school holidays is beyond the best of my comprehension. Especially atm.

Op have you ever holidayed in Cornwall before? I’ve been several years and it ALWAYS rains. Jamaica inn is quite a good indoor attraction and there’s a pirate museum nearby as well if your dc are into that. Just enjoy it for what it is, or can’t you do some outdoor activities despite the rain? I’m stuck in London working through the summer and dd is in school holiday club, I’d love to be there even if it was raining!

Geevor tin mine is excellent, mostly inside and loads of kids activities. Our kids dragged us there every time we went to Cornwall. Lands end has a good 3D interactive cinema for kids and a couple of other things. We have left Cornwall early before but we were there for 2 weeks….

I've had summer holidays in the West Country all my life, so well over 60 trips and it's probably rained on most at least once! My dad made a huge tent that we used to erect on the beach and we'd amuse ourselves in there for hours during the cold, windy, rain (only b &b so no returning to accommodation during the day). As soon as it stopped we'd be in the sea again. Wet sand is amazing for building stuff!
As parents we had a couple of pop-up tents for cold beach days but enjoyed rainy beach days in the sea and surf. You have to come prepared for the english weather!

@RedToothBrush

Why on earth you would attempt Padstow with half of London in school holidays is beyond the best of my comprehension. Especially atm.

I made that mistake a few years ago, in August. The very pavements were overflowing. It was sweltering too. We gave up trying to get a table in a Rick Stein restaurant.

However Padstow is very nice at quieter times.

It's dry with bits of blue sky in my part of Cornwall today.

That's nice FuzzyPuffing.

It's pleasant here today too, on the outskirts of London.

The op is going home today, it's a pity for her the weather was so dreadful last week. July is usually all right, August tends to be rainy.

Gosh, why do the locals always seem to come across so badly on these threads?!

If someone wants to spend their money and have a moan about the weather and ice cream being shit...they can!

We're heading home on the A30 now. Today was exactly what I'd hoped for: visiting Lands End (wow! to the wild scenery there), learning something new about Cornwall's heritage at Botallack, seal watching from a boat and then chilling out on the beach in St Ives. I'm sad that we're going home now!

I feel your pain. DH and I spent an obscene amount of money to stay in a pretty shepherd's hut near Truro, at the start of July. It absolutely honked it down most days, and was definitely chilly. The shepherd's hut was very cramped, felt damp and the wafer thin mattress gave me a bad back. I can't even imagine the horror of it, if we'd had children with us [shudders]

In the end we left 2 days early and checked into a very nice hotel just outside Bath for 3 days.

After the worries about getting stuck on the A30, we left St Ives at 5.30 this afternoon and had a straight run to Exeter. No traffic at all.

And now you are left with a wonderful lasting memory.....soon you will find yourself rebooking for next year with the optimism that surely the weather won't be so bad again...... 😉

The M5 is always such a nightmare, we hit traffic soon after and it took us an hour and a half to travel 39 miles after that point. We were lucky in that we live in Weston-super-Mare, so wasn't too far for us to go. I really feel for those on much longer journeys. Its hellish.

@BlowDryRat

After the worries about getting stuck on the A30, we left St Ives at 5.30 this afternoon and had a straight run to Exeter. No traffic at all.

Well you have definitely put the boot in to me with that one!!!

Fair play. Lucky you. See not all that bad!

I hope you eventually got home in one piece and not too frazzled RedToothBrush. We'll see how the last 200 miles goes tomorrow...

If you do decide to visit Cornwall again OP I would suggest you stay on the North coast - we always get much better weather than the South!