Southwest England Driving

The road going west from Salisbury to Devon is not very good. It would be better to take the train to Exeter which does have dual highways going west - A38 to the south of Dartmoor and A30 to the north. You can reach Cornwall via either route with SE Cornwall be more favoured via the A38 and the rest of Cornwall via the A30. Of course, much depends upon which areas of Devon you wish to visit on your way to Cornwall. Obviously, if you wish to see plans between Salisbury and Exeter, the nSailsbury should be the place to take the train from London/airport.

For quality of roads, suggest you go on Google Maps and drop down onto street view so that you know what to expect. Narrow streets in some coastal villages mean that you leave the car in a car park on the edge of the settlement(s). eg. Polperro, Salcombe, Fowey, St.Ives.

The roads can be narrow, but if you go slowly and pay attention to passing places and where oncoming traffic is you shouldn’t have any major problems. It is good advice to have a look at your route on Google street view. Google maps defaults to the shortest route in miles, which in rural areas is not always the fastest or easiest route.

I'd echo Helen's reply. In some places, notably part of Cornwall, the roads are narrow and have tight corners where it's hard to see what's coming the other way. The only thing to do, is to take your time.

Single track roads (wide enough for one vehicle only where there are passing places every couple of hundred yards or so) can be slow to navigate and it's useful to try to remember how far back the last passing place was (if you encounter a large truck coming the other way, you'll have to back up.) Also, remember that although the edges of the roadway may just look to be leaves and branches, they often cover stone walls.

Keep in mind that some of the very narrow roads in Cornwall have high stone walls on either side that are hidden by green hedges, so take extra precautions there so that you don't sideswipe them.

I've rented cars throughout Europe (including 3 trips to the UK) and found that Cornwall was probably the most difficult to drive through. It didn't help that when I was there, it was very rainy and some of the roads were flooded out. :-) But as others have said, just take it slow, plan for extra time, and don't get stressed. You will make it through and see some wonderful places.

I did find Devon to be easier than Cornwall, although there are lots of narrow single track roads in Dartmoor National Park, so take precautions there. Also I would definitely download the area maps on Google Maps on your phone, or bring along a paper map as sometimes I lost cell service in the park. If you can, stick to the more well-traveled larger roads, even if it is a longer route (that was good advice I received from a local while I was there). :-)

The narrowest roads in Devon and Cornwall are often the ones to very tiny villages off the main roads. It’s a case when a good old fashioned road atlas is useful for plotting journeys as you will be able to see the size of roads from the colour used, checking against the key. I love satnav but it’s not very good at checking the type of road, and can lead you via a “shortcut” on a one-track road when there might be a better but longer journey via a slightly wider road.

There are good roads in Devon & Cornwall - but to get to some of the tinier places you may find yourself on a single track road to get to a small coastal village or somewhere on the moors. Go slow, observe passing places on your near side and be prepared to reverse. If the only passing place is on the offside, stay on your nearside opposite the passing place.

A word about speed limits: the limit may be posted as 60 but that’s purely nominal. I reckon it’s just not worth putting speed limit signs on all these tiny roads because it’ll vary so much. Some, you can happily pootle along at 40 or 50; sometimes you’ll be creeping along at 20 or 30.

There’s a turning off the A38 in Cornwall near Trago Mills between Bodmin & Liskeard that always makes me laugh. There’s a bit where they have posted a 50mph limit on the main two-lane road for a bit because it’s twisty. Then you see a very steep narrow lane turning off uphill to some tiny hamlet, and the speed limit is posted at 60. But the point is, no one in their right minds would do 60 as it’s quite clearly a 20/30 kind of road.

Thank you so much James, Helen, Bill, Mardee and Golden Girl for your thoughtful responses. After considering all your helpful advise, warnings, and tips I've decided to give it a go. Staying the first night in Salisbury, then night 2 and 3 in North Bovey then night 4-6 in Fowey. Heading back to Exeter to drop the car off (haven't checked yet to see if a different drop off is allowed) then train back to London for our last night before flight back home. I hope this sounds like a good plan. If not, I welcome your suggestions. Thank you again for helping! I love this group of people.

Heading back to Exeter to drop the car off (haven't checked yet to see if a different drop off is allowed) then train back to London for our last night before flight back home.

I've done that several times and have never had a problem with it being allowed. You might have to pay an extra fee, but I doubt it would be that much, since the distance is not that great.

The little roads to North Bovey will be very narrow, so worth having a look at before you travel. But the “main” roads across Dartmoor are good driving: A382, B3212, B3357 are all two-lane roads where the main hazards are ponies and sheep in the middle of the road. There are speed limits posted.

Fowey - there’s a big car park at the top of town where visitors are encouraged to park because getting into the centre of Fowey (as with all this little coastal towns) is narrow and steep. I don’t know if your accommodation comes with parking, but whenever I visit I just bung my car in the big car park and walk into town (there’s also a little bus, I think, as it’s steep going back).

It sounds like a lovely trip.

Thank you Mardee and Golden Girl. Mardee, might I ask who you rented from? I checked with AutoEurope and Europcar and neither would allow a pick up in Salisbury and drop off in Exeter or any other southwest England location for that matter. I can if I rent from Heathrow and drive down, but we were hoping to train to our first night in Salisbury since our flight gets us in later in the afternoon and we would spend the night and pick up the rental fresh the next morning. It looks like my options are 1. to rent in Heathrow and drive to Salisbury and drive all the way back to London Heathrow on return. or 2). train from London to Exeter or somewhere else, taxi to our lodging and taxi back to rent the car the next morning. All the car rental places closes at 5 or 6pm Then return at that location 5 days later and train back to London. Am I missing something? Thank you for your thoughts/suggestions.

Enterprise are the only major car hire company in Salisbury,

They also have depots at Exeter Airport (bus into the city) or at Exeter South (use Marsh Barton station for local trains to Exeter St Davids).
Marsh Barton opened only about two years ago.

Thank you Isn31c!. I'm so appreciative! Your help and information regarding Enterprise was invaluable to me for making this work out. Enterprise was so easy to book from Salisbury returning Exeter. Their website was the most user friendly of all. I think I'm all set now thanks to all you good people! Again, many many thanks!