Please help me plan my journey - newcastle to cornwall with 22 month old...

[MidgetGem]

Booked Cornwall in July, we have our cottage from Friday night for a week. Myself and DH will break up on the Thursday night for our holiday. I just wondered how to break the journey up? we haven't been on a journey that long before and wonder if we should travel a few hours thursday night and stop somewhere, or travel through the night taking turns driving or just get up fresh on the Friday and spend the day travelling - what do people do that they would recommend? x

Drive from Newcastle to cornwall

I do both but not at once as I live in the middle

Set off Thursday night and drive for four hours to midlands,

You will come down the M1 and near Birmingham want to change to be over on the M42 and then through to the M5.

Personelly I would get off and stop around here - even getting of the M42 and onto the M40 to jnt 14 where there is a travel lodge and a child friendly type place to eat.

Then carry on your journey early friday go back north onto the M42 and down to the M5 towards the SW.

Definitely don't do it all in one go on the Friday - too hard on a 22 month old, and even harder on his/her parents. I went from Newcastle to Cornwall by train and it took 11 hours - I guess it's around the same by car? You could stop in Birmingham after 4.5hrs (ish) or Bristol after around 6hrs. Both nice cities.

Thank you so much for your detailed replies, I agree we need to split it up! Husband, thinks we should just drive down on Friday , I will show him these ideas.

We regularly drive Stranraer to Southampton, probably a similar distance. We always travel overnight in the car, and DH & I take turns driving. The DCs sleep most of the way, usually we make 1 proper pit stop where was all get out of the car for a break, but for max. 1 hour (usually just north of Birmingham). All other stops one of us runs out to buy coffee then we swap over and keep driving. It is hard on us but easy on the DCs- and as I'm quite good at cat-napping I don't feel too bad the next day (unlike DH!). We just then have to take it easy the first day, no big excursions etc.

I've just remembered that I went to St Ives, which is the very furthest point in Cornwall, so your journey might not be quite so long. If DH really insists on driving through I'd definitely go for the Thursday night through the night option - at least DC will (should) sleep through most of it.

It is the start of your holiday though - better to stop over and take the less stressful option if you can afford it. Sounds like a lovely holiday. I went last May and Cornwall felt positively tropical compared to Newcastle

We drove South Yorkshire to Cornwall in one go when ds was 7 months. The following summer (19 months) we drove to Cork without overnight stop.

We always have plenty of lengthy rest breaks but prefer to get it over with in one go. It does help that ds has always been a relatively happy passenger though!

Have you considered letting DH drive and you and DC flying to Exeter or Plymouth? DH can do drive without stress of baby in car and meet you there, you have a much shorter journey.