London to Cornwall - stopping places and strategies?

[NumptyNu]

Hi there,

Thinking of booking a holiday to Cornwall. We have three young kids. The idea of the holiday fills me with delight, but the car journey with dread.

Does anyone have any tips or recommended places to stop and let the kids run about for a couple of hours mid-route from London to Cornwall?

Killerton is a lovely NT just off the M5 - and Fyne Court is also very good. Avoid the A303 unless you're travelling at midnight on the 3rd Tuesday after a full moon.

Top tip I had when I started a similar thread last year was to avoid the services like the plague and go for supermarkets instead. A lovely poster gave directions to Tescos a couple of mins drive on same turn off as Exeter services, and we got petrol, visited the café and got the DC out of pyjamas and dressed, plus picked up supplies, while people were still queuing to get into the services.

Ah yes, just checked map - I thought 303 went on much further, but it turns into a30. The famous car park?

You can get to Cornwall via the A38 - depends whether you're going north or south coast.

We drive from Lincoln to Cornwall every year - now theres a drive . We set off at midnight and drive straight through till we get there at 7am ish. The kids sleep the whole way.

Thankyou so much everyone. Just sitting here with maps and all your brilliant suggestions. Thankyou so much.

PS what's the 'hogs back'?

Take the train. Book now and it will be cheaper than the petrol .

The hogs back is the road that cuts off the M25/M3 corner via Guildford.

Useful if you're travelling from Kent/Essex/bits of Surrey

Cafebistro... our drive is from Yorkshire down so even further ;)

We do this journey (the other way) fairly regularly. Echo what lots of others have said about leaving early in the morning/late at night. We tend to set off (from mid-Cornwall) about 6 am, which usually gets us past Bristol before the fun really starts. (Thinking about what time you're going to hit Bristol is critical - if we have a bad run we stop for breakfast to wait out the rush hour, otherwise it's breakfast in the car.)
We tend not to stop much - but when we do stop we like Exeter and Leigh Delamere services (Moto M&S) and also Asda/John Lewis at Cribbs Causeway, just S of Bristol.
Kids are good in the car - having been schlepping up and down since infancy. We don't have DVD players, but lots of people swear by them. Depending on their age, books, sticker books, i-spy, those little Usborne activity cards all worth thinking about. And snacks. Many, many snacks.

Really think about when you travel, try for a weekday early morning or late night if poss, especially if it's in the school holidays. We've done this journey a few times a year (for years) and early morning or late night is really the only way to beat the traffic.

We usually stop once at Giordano services (near Bristol) and time it so it's toddler lunchtime, with any luck dd then sleeps much of the rest of the way. There are much nicer places to stop as others have suggested if you want a longer break though.

We used to make it in around 4 hrs before we had dd but now it usually takes us around 5 hours (inc stop off) provided we go on a weekday outside school hols. The one time we drove on a Sunday in August it took closer to 7 hours.

Train (if it's running by then) and plane are potentially quicker but depends how much luggage you have and how easy it is for you to get to Paddington/airport. You also might need/want a car when you're in Cornwall.

You didn't say what part of Cornwall but allow an extra hour if you're going 'down west' (St Ives etc).

And well done for supporting a part of the country that needs an economy boost right now :)