(Also posted under Trip Report) My husband and I recently returned from two weeks in southern England, dividing our time between Bath, Cornwall and Salisbury. Since it took us a lot of searching to find places to stay that would work well for day-trips in the area, I thought I'd share where we stayed for those who might be going to the same areas. We spent the first two nights and our last night in Bath at Dukes Hotel http://www.dukesbath.co.uk/, a lovely Georgian townhouse just a few minutes walk to restaurants, shops and sites. A sumptuous breakfast was included. We had not yet picked up our rental car, so did not need to occupy any of their limited parking spaces.
We then spent a few nights in Lewis' B&B http://www.cornwall-online.co.uk/lewis-bedandbreakfast/ in Tintagel, a 16th century home with sea views and within walking distance to Tintagel Castle, restaurants and shops. Bonus, there's a laundry right next door. We did day trips to Boscastle and Bude (for golf) north along the coast and Port Isaac and Padstow south along the coast. Free, secure parking and wonderful breakfasts. The owner is on site and very friendly and interesting to talk to.
Next we drove to Truro and stayed at the Alverton Hotel https://thealverton.co.uk/, a 19th century former convent. It was about a 10 min. walk to Truro Cathedral, restaurants and shops. It was a good base for day trips to points east and south: Botallack Mines (saw filming of Poldark! including Ross and Dwight), St. Michael's Mount, Falmouth. Again we enjoyed a wide variety of breakfast options and free parking. You may choose to include the breakfast in your room fee or choose not to. Full-service restaurant on site as well.
Leaving Cornwall, we headed to Salisbury where we stayed three nights at the Peartree Serviced Apartments. https://stayatpeartree.com/ It's right across the street from the train station and just a few minutes walk to restaurants and shops and about a 10 minute walk to Salisbury Cathedral. We had a one-bedroom apartment with a kitchen/dining/living room combo and a free laundry downstairs. They provided breakfast for our first morning, but we found it was almost enough for the second day -- just supplemented it with items from the Marks & Spencer bakery. There is also a spacious parking lot on site with free parking.
We would recommend all of these lodging options.
Nov. 10, 2017
An added comment to my original post above -- phone service, and Wi-Fi-access in the car (though it had On Star which was supposed to give us Wi-Fi access) was very spotty down in Cornwall. Be sure to print out good maps or directions to your hotels before you leave home rather than rely on your phone's maps while driving. Or download maps to your phone ahead of time.
We used a Marco Polo Southern England/Wales fold-out map and cut off the large section that we needed. It was very good to have with us!
The two-foot-thick stone walls in the Bath and Tintagel lodgings caused their Wi-Fi to be a bit spotty at times as well.
Posted by
Vienna, Austria
5381 posts
You saw Ross and Dwight! Awesome!
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
Cornwall is famous (infamous?) for the patchy mobile phone coverage. It is due to the roiling countryside with narrow valleys.
One moment you may have perfect coverage, 200 metres later no coverage, 200 metres later coverage, but only from a different operator.
It is also famous for narrow winding local roads between stone walls. Your Sat-Nav may think it is a shorter route, but the locals know better. Example: http://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/satnav-stuck-lorry-coach-cornwall-678059
Get an Ordnance survey map (1:50,000), and stick to the A- and B-roads. Only venture onto the yellow unclassified roads if that is the only way.
Posted by
TX, USA
4070 posts
Thanks, suepow! Good to have information and place names!
Posted by
8 posts
Suepow, Were these hotels you stated in while our the Risk Steves 14 day England tour?
John
Posted by
8 posts
Suepow, Were these hotels you stated in while our the Risk Steves 14 day England tour?
John
Posted by
OP
15 posts
We were not on a Rick Steves tour -- just planned the trip on our own using some printed resources and on-line resources such as Rick's Travel Forums.
Posted by
California
2 posts
Hi,
Thanks for the helpful information. We are planning a trip for June and are thinking about including 2-3 days in the southwest area of England. Do you have any particular highlights or do you think it is too remote to be worthwhile for just a few days? We are traveling as a family with two kids (but ones who live in California so are used to fairly long drives).
Thanks!
Posted by
OP
15 posts
If you're thinking about the "far" southwest, being Cornwall, we really enjoyed our time there -- except for the narrow roads! Depending on where you're coming from, look at the map and see if Tintagel is too far out of your way. The castle ruins on the windy cliff were interesting as was the nearby church. The steps are steep, so it's not for anyone who might have difficulty climbing.
Down on the southern coast is St. Michael's Mount. It was fun to walk across the causeway when the tide was out and the castle-home was fascinating! Restormel Castle (an English Heritage site) was our favorite ruins. It's quite difficult to find and the staff member on site said they want it that way to keep the crowds away. If you go there and they still have some jars of All Butter Cherry Curd, get some!!
Not too far from Restormel, is Lanhydrock Estate, a National Trust property. It is well worth a visit. Look at the National Trust and English Heritage web sites to get more information about both properties.
If I had to leave out one of these stops, it would be Tintagel, but only because it's way over on the west coast and you would be on smaller/slower roads. I hope this answer has given you something to think about.