Basing yourself in a particular location on a particular day meant that, unless you wanted to travel, you stick with the weather in that location. On previous breaks we have often moved from north coast to south coast (and vice versa) to chase the good weather. It wasn't too big a deal and in reality we had one cloudy morning and one with that wonderful Cornish mizzle that thankfully blew out by early afternoon to leave the usual crisp blue skies and light cloud.
One part of the break that we really enjoyed was having the bikes with us:
At our first stop, Dove Meadows at Marazion, we could leave the van on site and jump straight on the the coastal path that runs around Mount's Bay in to Penzance and on to Newlyn. With a pasty or two for the outbound journey and a beer or two on the way back, the bikes opened up another viewpoint of our favourite spots. Using the parts of the national cycle network that criss-cross quite a few of Cornwall's narrow, almost-traffic-free, lanes we could reach places previously unvisited such as the lovely Tremenherre Sculpture Gardens just outside Penzance.
Then on to Falmouth and the surprising Menehay Farm campsite. A first-time visit for us and we've already booked to go back for a few more nights in September. We were given a friendly welcome and a pitch number and then left to it, just how it should be. Great facilities, level pitches, free wi-fi, a wonderful location and transport links in to town, it was hard to find fault with Menehay. Vanlife really started to kick-in here as our pace relaxed:
As the weather was favourable we opted to walk in to Falmouth; a mile and a half of down hill, up hill and down again left us both ready for a beer on arrival. The following day we chose a more leisurely route around Swanpool and Ghyllyngvase beaches. There's a regular circular bus with a stop right outside the campsite should it be required.
Finally it was north to Trewan Hall, the site we can always trust to be consistently good.
Using the bikes more and the van less had been good on the wallet too - without the need for an extra tank of diesel meant we could spend a little more on eating out than usual, and here on the north coast are the perfect opportunities to do just that - the perfect way to end the break.
We'll be doing another three-part break again in September using two of the sites mentioned here and one totally new site to us - it's got to be a good way of finding new spots without relying on one particular site for the whole break.
