Liverpool to Penzance and back

I'd just say to take a big helping of patience for the drive, the motorway ends at Exeter. My colleague drove home to Liverpool last weekend - Sunday - from Exeter (M5 to M6 via Spaghetti Junction) and he was absolutely exhausted because of all the traffic and construction. I live in the East of England, the same distance and we left the same time, and I got back 3 hours before him.

Hmmm, thanks for the warning. We may look for an alternative route!

You could go through Wales. We stayed in Chester, it has a City Wall you can walk on and plenty of eateries and shops. One time we stayed in Townhouse B&B with parking, another time we stayed in a Pub with a family style dining. I went to Penzance long ago on the Train. Visiting the coastal villages requires a lot of back tracing. The coast of Wales is also very interesting with several Castles and beachside trails .

How many days have you got for the journey? If you planning to do it in a day you h@be no spare time to visit anything on the way - it’s a full day drive.
If, however you have a few days each way there are plenty of alternatives without going over old ground.
Alternatively you could fly from Manchester to Newquay at least one way.

If you are planning this trip to be done in just 1 day, you will have no time for any sightseeing /detours. It will be a solid day of driving.

Yes, Cornwall is lovely but Liverpool is practically on the doorstep of north Wales. I would have prioritised a trip around Wales being as it is so much closer and you will find coastal scenery just as good as that in Cornwall. https://www.visitwales.com
(RS has a separate Wales forum).

Also note that the Lake District - the most scenic part of England is not too far north of Liverpool. (About 1 hour 30 minutes).

A nice place to break this journey, which is not just a motorway service station is Dobbie's Garden World. 1/4 mile from Junction 12 of the M5.near Gloucester. A nice place for a leg stretch and a meal at their Restaurant.
That should be about 3 hours into your journey.

For a second stop I would be inclined to turn off the A38 at Buckfastleigh, and have a leg stretch at Buckfast Abbey. Maybe look into the Abbey or have a walk round the grounds.

That is about 2 hours on from Dobbie's Gloucester, so you should be there in time for a West Country cream tea.

From Buckfast it is around 2 hours to Penzance, depending on traffic so two fairly evenly spaced stops which are quite nice ones.

We plan to overnight one night somewhere both coming and going.

Maybe Exeter or Plymouth?

or possibly Bristol?

I don't see how going through the middle of Wales would move you any faster, and now they have the national speed limit of 20 mph.

20 mph? I can’t even imagine it.

It’s not quite that bad Nigel. The 20mph limit is in built up areas and a route through central Wales wouldn’t hit many of those.

The route to take depends on how much you like just driving. A route through central Wales or down the A49 would be a lot slower than using the M5/M5 but would take you though some lovely scenery and provide plenty of interest for short stops. But it could easily take a full day to get to Bristol, which will be barely half way.

An alternative would be to get past Bristol and then look for somewhere in Somerset or Devon for an overnight. And then concoct a slower route through Devon, maybe taking the A39.

Thank you!

The 20mph speed limit in Wales applies to built up areas. Going into Bristol would be far worse due to traffic congestion.

Going from Liverpool south towards the Bristol area - you basically have 2 routes. I think it would be preferable for you to go south on route 1 and return to Liverpool on route 2. (I have listed both as if southbound).

1. Go east and join M6 and then south to Birmingham where you join the M5 to head down towards Bristol. This route will be like what you call an interstate. If you wish to make a detour off it - & perhaps spend an overnight - I would suggest you leave M5 at Junction 6 & tale A44 SE towards Evesham. Continue on A44 to the lovely Cotswold village of *BROADWAY. When you leave Broadway - take B4632 in a south westerly direction and detour through STANTON & Stanway to reach a roundabout at Toddington. Then take B4077 W to re-join M5 at J9 just E of Tewkesbury & continue your journey SW. * If staying overnight in this area & have spare time - take a short drive to the Cotswold village of Chipping Campden.

2. Leave Liverpool & head for Chester - which you loop around. (Chester is well worth seeing on a day trip from Liverpool). Then take A483 going S. At Ruabon, you could make a short detour to W to see the PONTCYSYLLTE AQUADUCT before returning to A483/A5 going towards Shrewsbury - which you loop around. Then A49 going S.

Just before LUDLOW - go & see STOKESAY CASTLE - which will be on your R not far south of Craven Arms. LUDLOW is also worth a look. Anyway - continue S on A49 to Hereford - where you mighty wish to take a quick look at the centre although traffic can be problem. Continue S on A49 but before you reach Ross - turn R onto A4137 which joins A40 towards Monmouth. When A40 reaches Monmouth - turn L at traffic lights and take A466 down the lower Wye Valley to see the ruins of TINTERN ABBEY. (The Tintern > Chepstow area might be a good place to spend the night).

After Tintern - it will be down to Chepstow (which has a castle if you wish to detour into town) before crossing the Severn Bridge and joining the M5 bound for the SW near Bristol.

Note that when you reach EXETER (worth a look), that you have a choice of 2 routes to Penzance. The southerly A38 route via Plymouth is slower than the northerly A30 route, You may like to go one way and return the other way.

Google the places mentioned. Also look at the roads on Google Streetview so that you are aware of what to expect. Pay particular attention to junctions.

If you are having an overnight stop on the way then in one direction an alternative route is to follow the north coast of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, for simplicity following the A39. There are many potential stops on that route to research, some of which are deviations off the A39. The overnight stay would be at a number of possible locations in North Devon or North Somerset such as Clovelly, Bideford, Barnstaple, the Valley of the Rocks, or Dunster- but many other possibles.

If you had overnighted somewhere in the Bristol area in either direction it would not be unreasonable to divert to Cheddar/Wells/ Glastonbury on the way- if you didn't visit that area from Bath.

My number one piece of advice would be to avoid doing this trip on a Friday or Saturday as by mid-May the number of weekend visitors to Devon and Cornwall will be building and this route gets extremely busy. If there’s a good weather forecast you can expect very heavy traffic south of Bristol. Going mid week will make for a much easier journey.

I am so glad to be planning this trip well in advance. I can’t thank you enough for the wealth of information and tips. As Canadians we are used to travel distances quickly, however my very limited experience in Great Britain tells me to slow down and stop often. Your advice is very appreciated. So much to see!

Pleased we Brits are being of help. This is not the wide open spaces of Canada. We have a bigger population than Canada all crammed onto our little island. You will learn a lot from Google Maps and street view.

isn32c (above) mentions the north coast of the SW peninsula as one possible alternative route. He is indeed right about it being very scenic but it is also winding & slow going. Click this link and you will get a Google Map of part of this route. Take the yellow man and drop him on the A39 where it says Countisbury and you will see the kind of road this is - go down the hill to sonic Lynmouth.

I don't want to throw too many curves your way, and it's hard to tell exactly what your full plans are (for example, are you staying in Penzance for a bit or heading right back to Liverpool?). But have you considered dropping off your rental car in Liverpool and taking the train to Penzance? You could then rent another car in Penzance and explore Cornwall. Then when you're ready to head back, just get another train to Liverpool.

That is what I am doing. I'm taking the train from London to Cornwall, renting a car there for 9 nights, then dropping it off, taking the train to Liverpool, staying with a friend for 3 nights and then picking up a new rental in Liverpool, It beats dealing with all the traffic. 😊

As others have said, if you're going through Wales stop in Snowdonia or Bannau Brychieniog nat'l parks. Lovely moors and ancient mossy woodlands. There's also Exmoor and Dartmoor down here, and Bodmin Moor in Cornwall which offer similar sights and activities.
Cheddar Gorge in Somerset will give you a chance to buy some lovely cheese for the journey ahead.
If you have time in Penzance, St Michael's Mount is brilliant (think Mont St Michel in Normandy). Keep an eye to the weather because they close the island in adverse conditions. Get the bus to Marazion which goes from right outside the station in Penzance.
And some Cornish towns I like personally and in no particular order are Mousehole (I saw no mice) and Falmouth.

isn32c (above) mentions the north coast of the SW peninsula as one possible alternative route. He is indeed right about it being very scenic but it is also winding & slow going. Click this link and you will get a Google Map of part of this route. Take the yellow man and drop him on the A39 where it says Countisbury and you will see the kind of road this is - go down the hill to sonic Lynmouth.

As you have two days for the trip I think it is important that you know the options.

If you only had a day you clearly would not take that route.

I would be really annoyed if I was planning a road trip to the US, sought advice, and then found that someone had edited that advice to merely be the fastest roads, or the roads that someone else thought I might like. And of course not all the A39 is as severe as at Countisbury, and anyway many people really like the twin villages of Lynton and Lynmouth. Another concurrent thread mentions the flooding disaster of Boscastle in 2004 (further west on the A39), Lynton/Lynmouth had a similar disaster in 1952. That kind of history is significant in understanding Cornwall.

To use a WA example if I wanted to trip from Seattle to Spokane I'd be really frustrated and annoyed if I was only told about the US2 and the I90 if I had time to do deviations and use a slower road and/or see more sights, especially if I didn't know there were other options until I had done the trip. Don't worry, I do know of the various alternatives- this is just an example.

Further east you reach Porlock Hilll- the steepest A road in the UK at 25%, which is actually an experience in good weather. But what is less well known is that the hill can be avoided by using the nearby far less steeply graded (14%) toll road. The toll road also has an interesting history as a work making scheme after the Napoleonic Wars, and is still used annually for motor racing. A rare chance to drive a motor racing road. If you take the toll road you will see why it makes a good racing stage!