London > Cornwall; hate motorway services?

[OneEdgyHazelLion]

Travelling with a 4yo & 1yo and looking for a couple of places to stop for 20mins with a toilet, playground & within 10 mins of the motorway junction, i'd even take a garden centre soft play - any suggestions?

M4/M5 but hate motorways services for the queues, mess & eye-watering expense when we inevitable get coffee/food!

Look at the website ‘Whats halfway’

You can use Tripadvisor to search for Pubs then the word ‘playground’ - if you use the map feature to search areas that are appropriate driving distance away from start / end point. We’ve found some great options this way.

That's great advice, thanks

Lydiard Park in Swindon, a stately home with gardens and a nice cafe.

Depending on which part of Cornwall, Darts Farm Exeter is a great stop. It's a farm shop, good for lunch, has a playground. You could spend a few hours there.

Which route are you taking?

M3 > A303.
Stop in Amesbury. There's a big services at Solstice Rise where you can exit the dual carriageway. It has a Greggs, McDonald's, etc., and there's a Lidl and Tesco nearby.

From there you can drive into the town centre. There are public toilets in the main Amesbury car park and there's an Aldi, co-op and decent bakers. If you drive towards Stonehenge via West Amesbury, there's a kid's playground at Bonnymead Car Park. You can then continue on that route to rejoin the A303 near Stonehenge.

Cartgate Picnic area at Ilminster on the A303. Loads of parking, plenty of green space for the children and the most wonderful cafe.

This place is great, a few mins off the M4 near Swindon, it’s got soft play, a butterfly farm, cafe etc, perfect for your ages of DC. We used to stop there often when my DC were small. https://www.studleygrange.co.uk/home/

I often use the parkrun events map when travelling as their venues typically have parking, toilets and a cafe either on site or very nearby. Most have other facilities such as play areas too. www.parkrun.org.uk/events/events/

Teals on the A303 and/ or Strawberry Fields on the A30 at Lifton just before you go over the Tamar.

Pip's Railway Carriage: quirky, with a garden and room to play and decent food, moments from the A303.

https://www.pipsrailwaycarriage.co.uk/

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g1208080-d4297688-Reviews-Pip_s-South_Petherton_Somerset_England.html

And this is the great little site where we originally found it: specifically aimed at people who hate motorway services.

https://venues.theextramile.guide/

With that age gap I’d plan the breaks more than the route itself. A proper runaround for ten minutes beats another service-station browse, even if it means coming off at a random retail park or a town park you’ve never heard of. Pack snacks you know they’ll eat so you’re not stuck in a queue with a meltdown brewing. If one of them is done, treating an early stop as a win saves the rest of the day.

I can recommend the Ullacombe Farm Shop and Cafe. It has lop-eared bunnies, goats, and (toy) tractors for children to drive in a barn. Also does good food at reasonable prices. About 10mins off the A38 between Bovey Tracey and Widecombe.

At peak times you might need a table reservation.