Please help with my itinerary

Hi, madeliene, you've chosen some really nice destinations, but since you are asking for feedback, I will tell you that you are sort of all over the place. With only 10 days, you've got a whirlwind of driving in place and that will be very tiring.

If it were me, I would probably focus on one, or at the most two areas. For example, Cornwall and Devon and maybe a final stop in Liverpool (although optimally I would leave that out as well), but omit the Lake District. I enjoy the Lake District, but for two nights, it's not worth it to spend all that time getting there. You will definitely shortchange yourself with regards to the southwest of England.

Or alternatively, omit Cornwall, start your trip in Bristol, then head north to Hay-on-Wye, Windermere and Liverpool. I would also consider returning the car in Liverpool, and taking the train back to London. There will be a fee, but it's usually not much and would be easier than having to drive that distance. Plus the train is much more relaxing. :-)

Is there a specific reason that you’re looking to go to St Ives? It’s a long way down, you could save driving time by staying somewhere else such as Padstow

Driving in the UK is nothing like driving on the rural highways of Australia.

Hay on Wye to Windermere is quite some drive to apparently get half a day there, and you've come past Liverpool to get there. That is way short changing Windermere and is only barely worth the time and effort.

Liverpool again you are maybe getting two half days there- distinctly short on time, I'm afraid to say and I mean that caringly, not in any sort of other way.

On a Summer Saturday in July the last 8 miles to Windermere is one big car park- I can give you a very cunning back route in to avoid the traffic if you need it.

If set on that plan then either off hire the car at Liverpool John Lennon Airport and take the twice an hour (it's changed from hourly since Mardee was there) train to London Euston or if totally set on driving use the Mersey Tunnel, M53, M56 route to the M6 for the south.

But this would read better as Hay on Wye to Liverpool then Windermere then off rent at Kendal or Penrith, for the train to London in half the time driving will take. Although even then it is a very very fast paced schedule.

This is certainly a different itinerary to what we see here. Driving aside a very nice itinerary.

Can I just say thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions?

I have posted an earlier itinerary on another forum and was literally abused to the point I thought maybe I should just not go anywhere at all!

I wonder whether I should skip Glastonbury and stay somewhere closer on the way to Cornwall? I definitely don’t need to stay in St Ives, although I would like to visit it. So maybe focus on staying in Padstow instead as a base?

And is there an overnight stop that could break up the drive from Hay to Liverpool? That seems to be the problem at the moment.
Liverpool before Lakes District definitely makes sense.

I'm trying to make this flow a bit better for you-
You could either-
a- On Friday 18 July take the overnight sleeper train from London Paddington to Penzance, then rent the car from outside Penzance Station (on a one way rental). Do start in the first class Lounge at Paddington- Queen Victoria's private waiting room in years gone by.
or
b- Fly on Eastern Airways from London Gatwick to Newquay at 0930 Saturday morning, arrive 1050 and rent the car at Newquay airport

Saturday and Sunday nights- St Ives. If you are starting from Penzance you could reduce that to one night, then you have an extra night for Windermere (or Liverpool) at the end. Do drive the long way round the Penwith Peninsula while there to St Ives.

Monday night- Lynton and Exmoor

Tuesday and Wednesday nights- Bristol (and do Glastonbury from there if it's important to you)

Thursday and Friday- Hay on Wye as scheduled

Saturday and Sunday night- Liverpool (the Hay to Liverpool drive is a bit better than trying to extend on to Windermere, and we are in the geographically correct order. You could do stops in Ludlow, Shrewsbury and Chester (but park out of town there and use park and ride buses) or just power up the road to get more time in Liverpool. The choice is yours.

Early on Monday- Liverpool to Windermere, stay there Monday night, have most of Tuesday there, finish on a high note (scenically) with an afternoon drive over the Kirkstone Pass and along Ullswater to off hire at Penrith as late as possible in the afternoon.
Train Penrith to London Euston about 5 to 6 pm, which takes slightly over 3 hours so you arrive back in London mid evening. And do treat yourself by travelling first class, toasting the holiday with a complimentary glass or two of wine.

It's a suggestion for you anyway.

@ isn31c

Thanks that helps a lot. My only issue is I am returning to Heathrow late on the 18th from Athens (too late for the sleeper train)

There are no flights from Heathrow that I could see to Cornwall on the 19. So would I be better getting the train from Heathrow - Paddington - Cornwall or trying to get to Gatwick the next morning to fly out?

.. ah, that was the reason for the original itinerary. I thought your preceding 4 days were in London. Heathrow has a night flying curfew, so I suspect the last flight arrival would still get you on the sleeper if you cut the corner, took the Railair bus to Reading and got the sleeper there. But let's avoid that stress.
There used to be Heathrow to Newquay flights but those stopped maybe 2 years ago.
I would suggest taking the Oxford Airline bus direct to Gatwick at 0040 from Central Bus Station (T2/3) or 0050 (T5) for the one hour journey. Later buses are at 0240, 0335, 0450 and 0550. The 0550 is a bit tight as it hits traffic on the M25 so takes 90 minutes. I'm a worrywort and arriving 2 hours 10 minutes before my flight makes me chew my finger nails.
National Express Buses also run at 0040, 0250, 0305, 0330, 0400, 0420, 0440, 0500, 0510, 0550 etc.

The first train out of Heathrow is at about 0515 to Paddington, change for Penzance arrive 1140.
The next is at 0730 arrive 1307.

By the time you have driven down from Newquay to St Ives either of those trains (especially the first) gets you to St Ives at much the same time.

But you see even the day train saves you a lot of time over the drive and you start the road trip relaxed hopefully. It's too far out to know if any rail engineering (as it's a Saturday) would wreck those plans, but on a high Summer Saturday you would hope not.
The only snag is that Enterprise at Penzance (the company you want) close at noon on Saturday. That tips the balance back to the flight.
You could rent Hertz at Truro Railway Station to beat the Saturday lunchtime deadline but the closest Hertz to Windermere is at Preston (a 90 minute drive south of Windermere), pick up the train there. A possible although both Preston drop offs are not well situated (at Bamber Bridge and Leyland).
So Enterprise is the best bet to me.

You are trying to cover too much territory whilst missing out places in between. I get it that having flown all the way from Aus that you want to cover the country as much as possible.

I would skip Glastonbury - just not worth the hassle of driving down poor roads.

The A39 along the Exmoor coast between Minehead and Lynmouth/Lynton is a great scenic drive and be sure to divert into Selworthy to see a real ye olde England thatched village. However, it will be slow going like many roads in Britain. I suggest you go on Google Maps and zoom down on the proposed routes and look at bits of them on Streetview. Also check out the location of any hotels that you plan to stay at - do they have free parking? Note that St.Ives in particular has limited parking with many people having to park on the edge of town or visit by train.

Hay to Windermere is quite a distance and again, you will be doing nothing but driving rather than visiting places near the route* such as Powis Castle:> https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wales/powis-castle-and-garden * Depends which way you go.

Ludlow and nearby Stokesay Castle would also be near one of your possible routes and worth a look.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts!

Looks like flying to Newquay may be the way to go - can I get some additional feedback on this itinerary, and now I have an extra night up my sleeve a stop between Hay and Liverpool?

Saturday 19 - fly to Newquay, pick up car drive and stay in St Ives
Sunday 20 - St Ives
Monday 21 - Lynton
Tuesday 22 - Bristol

Wednesday 23 - Hay on Wye
Thursday 24 - Hay on Wye
Friday 25 - ?
Saturday 26 - Liverpool
Sunday 27 - Windermere
Monday 28 - Windermere
Tuesday 29 - drive back to London (unfortunately I have to drive back)

Your feedback has been so helpful so far. Thank you all

Whilst Hay to Windermere is a long drive, to Liverpool is not really. Although there are lots of lovely places on the drive I would avoid another one night stay and get to Liverpool for an extra night. A decently early start would allow you to stop for some time in Chester to see the Roman walls and Rows (Roman double decker shops).

If you are driving back to London then I think it is worth taking the M6 Toll road.

Down the M6 to Junction 11 then onto the M6 Toll. For the extra £10 or so I think it's worth it. Then (and again this is subjective) when you come off the toll take the M42/M40/M4 route rather than the M6/M1. That will take you straight to Heathrow where I assume car drop off is. Good luck with that, maybe on a Tuesday it won't be too bad.

On arrival day I find it difficult. The easy way is straight down the A30. But I would love to say to you to take the route down the coast to see the Cornwall you have come to see- through Holywell Bay, Perranporth, St Agnes, Porthtowan and Portreath. On a summer Saturday that is likely to be slow going. At least you drive on the same side of the road as us. But apart from traffic some of the roads down the coast are decidedly skinny, and you certainly need to know how to reverse in a straight line.

St Ives to Lynton is every bit of three hours on the main road. I would say to have stop offs in Okehampton and Launceston on that route. I am not sure whether to say to come off the A30 at Bodmin, then up the coast via Port Isaac, Tintagel, Bude, Hartland Point and Clovelly on the A39. I'm just worried it adds too much time onto the drive (and time off Lynton), even if it is the scenic route.

Lynton to Bristol is 3 hours on the A39 along the coast, which is not the fastest route but is the route you must take. In July I think you add an hour onto that. More if you want to add in Dunster Castle or Taunton. You don't have time for both as you also need the afternoon for the sights of Bristol (and next morning).

Hay on Wye to Liverpool- I've mulled this over as there will be different opinions over this. I think I would take the A483 up through Builth Wells and Llandrindod Wells through Newtown then Welshpool. You could overnight in Welshpool but personally I would add the extra hour over B roads to Bala for your overnight. [Disclosure I have historical family links in Bala so am not impartial]. But it is undeniably beautiful up there.

Then next day the A494 up through Corwen and Ruthin.
I would then take you up the west side of the Wirral Peninsula - Heswall, Hoylake etc for the Mersey Tunnel to Liverpool.
But I accept that you probably won't be able to avoid the call of a stop in Chester (use the Park and Ride into the City). Afterwards take the M53 and Mersey Tunnel route to Liverpool.

If you overnight in Welshpool then take the A483 through Oswestry, Chirk, the famous Pontcysyllte Canal Aqueduct and the Wrexham Bypass to Chester.

Is your having to drive back to London due to not having an option to return a car in Windermere? If so, there will be other options that would allow you to drop off and take a train, which would be much quicker. Exactly where would depend on which hire company you use.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts - it has been so helpful. I am now considering dropping the car in Windermere and getting the train back to London rather than driving. What is the best car rental place to do this close to the station?

One of the interesting things about the Lake District is our relative dearth of car hire places. There are various good reasons for that- not least that demand has been proven to be insufficient.

The closest car rental places to Windermere are in Kendal- 8 miles south- Enterprise, Practical and a new outfit called Indigo. 8 miles but allow 30 minutes as you have to cross the town centre to get to the Enterprise yard on the Mintsfeet Industrial Estate.

I can't find out anything much about Indigo except that they seem to be a broker, using cars from a local car repair and sales garage called David Hayton's.
Practical have never had a wonderful reputation and only have a very limited national chain anyway.

So that brings us to Enterprise. They are a good company, and have a good small town coverage, especially in Cumbria including my own town. Historically I have hired from them several times (normally commercial vans, not cars) and been perfectly happy with them. It is actually nice to know of their small town network, in case there were any problems.

Kendal Railway Station is just round the corner from their yard, but they will take you to the main line station at Oxenholme. For a visitor that is a more sensible option. It's different for me knowing the area well.

So my suggestion would be to hire from Enterprise at Newquay Airport (ensure you choose the airport as I think they also have an in town depot) and return to Kendal ensuring they know you need the shuttle to Oxenholme (although you could also summon a taxi for the two mile journey).
I'm not an Uber person, but am not aware that Uber exists in Kendal.
They also seem to have quite sensible pricing.

When going from St.Ives to Lynton - you are most likely to use the A39. Suggest you detour into Tintagel and further north - stop at Clovelly (you have to pay to get into this private village).

Lynton eastward will again be the A39. After Porlock you will see a left turn into Allerford- worth a quick look to see the packhorse bridge. After Minehead - turn R to see the lovely village of Dunster.

When you leave Bristol, you have the choice of 2 bridges to cross the estuary into Wales. For Hay, the M4 route to J24 & then A449 to Raglan & then A40 westward will be the quickest. However, if you cross the estuary on the M48 bridge & come off at first junction on Welsh side- take A466 up the scenic lower Wye Valley. (You may wish to detour into Chepstow to see the ruined castle & nearby town bridge over the Wye. The one way system is a bit complicated to get back to the A466 so check on Google maps & streeview).

The A466 will bring you to Tintern with the ruins of the famous Abbey built in the 1100’s. A bit further up the A466, the old Tintern station on your R is worth a stop and it has a cafe & toilets. On reaching A40 at Monmouth - turn L and loop off this highway at Raglan to proceed west on A40 to Abergavenny. (Raglan has a ruined castle - well worth a look but you must swing back to the eastbound lane at the roundabout. It is also a bit complicated to get back onto the westbound A40 from the castle - zoom down on Google maps to figure out).

Abergavenny to Hay - best to go via Crickhowell and then A479. (The route via Llanthony - ruined abbey - and the Gospel Pass over the Black Mountains to Hay is VERY narrow and you must be prepared to drive backwards to passing places. Only for the brave)!