York and Cornwall

One or both----It depends on how much time you want to spend in London, and what you want to see in Cornwall. Train travel is rather limited in Cornwall, and bus service may be oddly scheduled or, on Sundays, very limited. We managed a very nice visit to Port Isaac over three days/two nights but would have needed much more time to get to Penzance, Lands' End, or St. Ives. You need more like 5-7 days for that, giving the long travel times.

This past April we started our UK trip in York and Whitby. It was a 5- night trip in all, after which we returned to London. We went straight to York after landing at Heathrow and transferring to Kings Cross station. Tickets were booked well in advance for a good price. We stayed at the Best Western right by the York Minster, walkable from the train station, and well situated for walking the Shambles, visiting the Minster, and walking the walls. We also spent time at the train museum which I highly recommend.

Then by train up to Whitby. This is rather slow but the scenery is great. Daffodils were blooming along the tracks in places. We stayed high up at a terrific B and B with views over the harbor and the channel. Our goal during our visit was to walk the coast path to Robin Hood' Bay which was beautiful and fun in of cold and drizzle/ rain. We caught the bus back to Whitby and after cleaning up and relaxing a bit, enjoyed a wonderful meal at--I will have to look up the name.

The next day was sunny and beautiful, and we walked along the coast in the other direction, past the colorful beach cabañas that people were just setting up for the season. We returned to town to collect our bags from the B and B and found the harbor front area mobbed with holiday crowds, buskers, etcetera. Note to self--- avoid popular holiday destinations like this on Saturday - Sunday of a bank holiday weekend!

Our train back to York was quite empty as everyone was traveling the other direction, into Whitby. We walked from the station to our hotel ( Hotel du Vin), dropped our bags, and then went to watch the rowing regatta on the river which was fun. Walking back to our hotel we encountered more crowds of holiday-makers, some quite drunk by 5 pm. Another note to self--York was much more pleasant before the bank holiday weekend. We did manage to find a quiet dinner at a tapas place ( reserved in advance) which did not cater to large noisy groups.

Our Sunday morning train back to London was considerably delayed because all southbound traffic from York was halted ( and many trains cancelled, including ours) due to a death on the tracks. Once the trains resumed, we were able to find seats together despite all the people crowding on. But we had some stressful moments as we were expected back in London by 2 to meet my son and family with small children upon their arrival from San Francisco. We made it---just--- and now had another lesson: don't absolutely count on trains running on time, especially on holiday weekends.

We loved both York/Whitby and Cornwall, and I would be hard-pressed to recommend one over the other if time constraints force you to choose between them. I think the weather is likely to be better in Cornwall at the end of April, but we did have sunshine even in York the last day.

You could consider going north to Edinburgh as that is a quicker journey than going to Cornwall.

The National Rail website shows train trips from York to Exeter at about 5 hours, from York to Plymouth at about 6 hours, and from York to Penzance at 8+ hours. Most involve changing trains, and stations, in London (from Kings Cross to Paddington), but a few involve no changes at all. I would think you could spend about a week around York and another week in Devon/Cornwall with one day devoted to travel between them. I'd suggest avoiding the train change in London since getting between stations by tube or taxi will complicate your trip. Look for an itinerary that is either one train ride or a change at the same station (like Taunton or Exeter or Plymouth).

That rail website can also help you decide whether flying into Manchester makes sense, i.e. whether there's a good rail connection to York. I believe there's a station right at Manchester airport. But be sure to leave plenty of time to make your train in case your flight is delayed or immigration/customs takes longer than expected.

Our British friends will doubtless have more and better info when they wake up tomorrow morning (while we're asleep).

Yorkshire and Cornwall I think really require the flexibility offered by having a car.

As others have said, the choice will be based on how long you would like at each end and how much in London.

It is a long but reasonably easy connection via Birmingham by train from York to Exeter and onwards into Cornwall.

That time of the year can have pretty dodgy weather so you may want to allow a couple of rain days in the mix.