Selecting Devon and Cornwall destination(s) for day trip(s)

[whole diary]

[grahame]

I'm looking to pencil in a trip to Devon and Cornwall for the end of June ... with a fallback for the end of September if June isn't safe and legal.  Perhaps meet up with friends there?  Please help - which of the above (you can choose up to 4) would you recommend to me?  Or would you choose some intermediate station; I have listed the termini, but perhaps Luxulyan, Lelant or Lostwithiel would be attractive for a trip?

[eightonedee]

Two qualifications to my selections-

1 - Paignton on the basis that you also proceed to Kingswear on the South Devon Railway. This together with the trip from Exeter probably gives you as much coastal scenery in a day as you can get on a railway trip.

2 - For Exmouth, better still to stop off at either Topsham or Lympstone and explore on foot - but do take the trip to Exmouth before/afterwards to enjoy the trip down the estuary.

[Bob_Blakey]

Train to Exmouth and then at some stage the ferry to Starcross followed by a leisurely stroll to Cockwood which has two excellent pubs from which to choose.

[PhilWakely]

My selections of Looe, Falmouth, Newquay andt St Ives are based purely on the journey rather than the destination.

I would also agree with Bob_Blakey above and do the round trip involving the Exmouth to Starcross ferry.

[Jamsdad]

For a destination I would say St Ives is hard to beat from the selection offered. In addition St Erth to St Ives is in my opinion the finest train journey in England.

[TaplowGreen]

Plymouth - obviously! 

[grahame]

My selections of Looe, Falmouth, Newquay andt St Ives are based purely on the journey rather than the destination.

You remind me that Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote "life is a journey not a destination" ...

[LiskeardRich]

In tourist season I?d avoid St Ives and Newquay as a local. They become overcrowded and if any form of social distancing is in place I imagine they?ll become very unpleasant places to be!

Lostwithiel is lovely for a walk and a picnic by the river.

Bodmin parkway and a walk down through the woods towards lanhydrock (about 2 miles each watch is lovely too.

[Adelante_CCT]

Coombe Junction Halt?

[REVUpminster]

Paignton June 5-6 is pencilled in for the air show this year. GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) run extra trains,  might get a free bottle of  branded GWR water from them if it's a hot day and your in the queue in the car park as you wait for a  return train that start disappearing.

The Esplanade is a good viewing point and you might be able to take tea on the terrace of the new Park Hotel that is supposed to open, covid willing, about that time. The Lighthouse next door might not likely to be ready.

New Park Hotel 24 DMR 20

Park Hotel 24 DMR 2020 by Robert, on Flickr

[smokey]

I put Okehampton as Number 1, the sooner Okie is back on the National Rail system the better.

Saying that the Trip to Gunny (Gunnislake) is the best scenic branch in the south west and Calstock an abfab place to visit (when the sun is out).

[TonyK]

Two qualifications to my selections-

1 - Paignton on the basis that you also proceed to Kingswear on the South Devon Railway. This together with the trip from Exeter probably gives you as much coastal scenery in a day as you can get on a railway trip.

2 - For Exmouth, better still to stop off at either Topsham or Lympstone and explore on foot - but do take the trip to Exmouth before/afterwards to enjoy the trip down the estuary.

Two good recommendations. A trip to Paignton can only really be justified by the onward ride to Kingswear. Like Barnstaple, I'm sure it has its own charms, but I haven't found them yet.

[johnneyw]

My votes were based on personal experience for all but Looe which was from a trusted source (I've been there but by car, not rail as a youngster in the 70s). The biggest problem was reducing the number of choices to just 4.
The Exmouth option could involve a rail trip from Newton Abbot down the Teign Estuary through Teignmouth, Dawlish, the Warren, Starcross and the change at Exeter for the Avocet^▸ (Branch line from Exeter to Exmouth) Line to Exmouth.  This formed the basis for a long weekend we did about 30 years ago. As suggested earlier, there are plenty of opportunities to break the journey and do try to incorporate the Starcross ferry into the proceedings.

[grahame]

Final vote ... so the destination most favoured is St Ives.   The date I suggested is several weeks AFTER the G7 will make access interesting but the whole thing remains so provisional it's absurd!

St Ives   - 18
Looe   - 14
Exmouth   - 13
Falmouth   - 11
Paignton   - 9
Penzance   - 9
Barnstaple   - 7
Gunnislake   - 7
Newquay   - 7

[TonyK]

St Ives looks good around 11 June, but be prepared for a mob. The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) reports:

G7: UK^▸ (United Kingdom) to host Cornwall seaside summit in summer

The leaders of most of the world's biggest economies will get a brief taste of the English seaside this June as they gather for the G7 summit.

Cornwall's Carbis Bay, known for its sandy beach and clear waters, will be the venue for discussions on debt, climate change and post-Covid recovery.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson called it the "perfect location for such a crucial summit".

(Continues at source)

And you wondered why the rail link was being upgraded...