We are flying into Gatwick on 24Sep, spending a couple days with friends in London, then leaving for Cornwall on GWR overnight train on 26th. We plan to leave Cornwall on 30th or 01Oct as we are flying back to US from Gatwick on 03Oct and wanted to spend a couple more days in London before we fly out. First time to Cornwall. We are in good physical condition in our young 60s and want to do some hiking along the beautiful cliffs, enjoy some seaside villages, see some history (love history) enjoy some good food, pubs, coffee. Some highlights we are interested in are: Tintagel Castle, St. Nectans Glen, Truro Cathedral, St. Michaels Mount, Minack Theatre, perhaps some Poldark filming sights, not sure about King Arthurs (might be fun). I was thinking we should choose one good B&B centrally located as we plan to pick up a car. My questions are: should we get off at Exeter or Penzance? Doesn’t seem to be any other choices if we are taking the overnight train. Penzance was first choice as they have Europcar rental office right at the station - although they are closed on Sunday, which was my original day of return to London, but we can extend Cornwall to the 1st. Seems odd you can’t return a rental car on Sunday. Other forums said Truro is a great place to pick up a car, but overnight train doesn’t go there. Was thinking maybe go all the way to Penzance on the train, see the show at Minnack that evening and then head north to see other places. Planning 4-5 days in Cornwall. I’m a “go-er”. Get up early, get going and go see things! Any suggestions about where to take train/pick up car? Any other things I need to know about Sundays other than the car rental agency is closed?
Posted by
2599 posts
The night sleeper does stop to let passengers off at Truro at 7.06am.
Posted by
UK
767 posts
Penzance is a great base for exploring the west of Cornwall.
Truro is a good place for exploring central and further eastern Cornwall, and nearby Falmouth is a great place to stay too.
From Exeter it would take an hour’s drive just to get to Plymouth and the bridge crossing to Cornwall, so rule that out.
Posted by
Lake District, England
8126 posts
You can return a car at Penzance at any time.
There is a key return drop box outside the office door, for when they are closed. Unlike Plymouth that rental parking area is available 24 hours a day, with no security fencing.
The Exeter stop is at about 0430 and Plymouth 0530, then all principal stations through Cornwall. So Exeter and Plymouth are too early. At Truro the 1st class lounge opens at 7am, and has showers to freshen up. It opens that early specifically for sleeper arrivals.
The Penzance lounge is also open for the Sleeper arrival.