Yes. The route runs down the M5 to Exeter and then the A30 across the moor, and it is the section past Exeter that decides the day. From London to west Cornwall is five to six hours in good conditions and considerably more on a summer Saturday.
Category
Coverage and distance
Contact
+44 7775 554848 or info@firstclass-chauffeurs.co.uk
01/The short answer
Yes. The route runs down the M5 to Exeter and then the A30 across the moor, and it is the section past Exeter that decides the day. From London to west Cornwall is five to six hours in good conditions and considerably more on a summer Saturday.
It is one of the journeys where the map lies most. Two hundred and eighty miles sounds like a motorway run, and about a third of it is a single trunk road shared with every caravan heading in the same direction.
QA-01/The route and the timings
The route and the timings
M4 or M3 down to the M5, then south to Exeter, then the A30 through Okehampton and across Bodmin Moor. Bristol to Exeter is quick; Exeter to Truro is not, and the final legs to the coastal villages are slower again.
The summer months change everything. Saturdays in July and August are changeover days for holiday lets, and the A30 and A38 both suffer for it. A weekday departure saves more time than any route choice possibly could.
M5 to Exeter, then the A30 west
Five to six hours London to west Cornwall in good conditions
Summer Saturdays add substantially to that
Coastal villages have narrow, slow final approaches
Bristol, Exeter and Newquay airports as alternative arrival points
QA-02/Whether to drive the whole way
Whether to drive the whole way
For a passenger who intends to sleep or work, it is a long but perfectly reasonable day. For anyone who needs to be useful on arrival, an overnight partway or a flight to Newquay with a car meeting you is frequently the better arrangement.
Bristol and Exeter airports both work well as staging points, and the train to Truro or Penzance with a car at the far end is worth pricing. We would rather suggest that than sell an eleven hour round trip nobody enjoys.
QA-03/Getting to the actual house
Getting to the actual house
The last mile is where a South West journey goes wrong. Cornish lanes are narrow, high-banked and often unsigned, and a device will confidently deliver a car to a gate that belongs to somebody else two fields away.
Send whatever detail you have, including a location pin. A chauffeur who has the approach right before setting off does not spend twenty minutes reversing down a lane while a tractor waits, which is the alternative.
QA-04/The rest of the region
The rest of the region
Bath, Bristol, the Somerset levels, Dorset and the Jurassic Coast are all considerably closer and behave like ordinary long distance work. Bath from London is around two and a half hours and is one of the most requested journeys we run.
Devon splits in two. The south coast towns are reachable from the M5 without much difficulty; the north coast and Exmoor are slower and want the same planning as Cornwall rather than the same planning as Exeter.
Around two and a half hours on the M4 in reasonable conditions, and one of the more predictable runs west. The approach into the city is the slow part, since Bath is compact and its central streets are not built for through traffic.
Is it worth flying to Newquay instead?
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For west Cornwall, often. A flight plus a short car journey at the far end beats five hours on the A30 for most trips, and we will say so. Where the journey has stops or heavy luggage, driving the whole way becomes reasonable again.
Can you do Cornwall and back in a day?
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The mileage is possible and the day is punishing, particularly in summer. It is one of the runs where an overnight genuinely costs less than the arrangements a very long day requires, and it makes for a far better trip.
Tell us the journey. We will send the price in writing.
Message us the date, the pick-up and where you are going. You will get a fixed written quotation with the vehicle, the chauffeur’s arrival time and what the figure includes — no form to fill in, and no estimate that moves later.
