Cornwall in 5 days
Five nights, anticlockwise from Exeter — north coast out, south coast home. Every leg below is computed on our own road router; every stop count comes from our live map.
422 km all in, about 6h27 of driving across the week — including the run home to Exeter.
Stops below are described by type and area, not business name — we do not name a pub or farm as welcoming campers unless they have actually said so. The counts are live from our map and honestly labelled unverified.
The two things Cornwall does to a van
- Lanes. A satnav on "shortest" will put a 6-metre van between two Cornish hedges with no way to pass and no way to reverse out gracefully. Stay on the A39 and A30 as the spine and treat every shortcut with suspicion.
- Height barriers. Many beach and seafront car parks are barriered at around 2 m, precisely to keep campervans out overnight. How to read them — and why the seafront is rarely the legal option it looks like.
Night 1 · Bude
Over the border on the A39 — the Atlantic Highway — and straight to the north coast. Bude is the gentle introduction: a proper town, big beaches, and a sea pool for the brave.
Stop type: Campsite or pub stopover just inland. Coastal car parks here are day parking, not overnight.
Within 10 km on our map: 17 campsites & caravan sites · 1 service points — unverified, from OpenStreetMap.
Night 2 · Padstow
Down the coast past Boscastle and Tintagel — both worth the stop, neither worth the overnight attempt. The Camel Trail and the food scene make Padstow the night.
Stop type: Campsite on the edge of town and walk or cycle in. Padstow itself has no overnight parking for vans.
Within 10 km on our map: 54 campsites & caravan sites · 1 service points — unverified, from OpenStreetMap.
Worth the detour: Tintagel Castle, if the legs are up to the steps.
Night 3 · St Ives
The far west. Park outside and ride in — St Ives streets were not built for anything wider than a pilchard cart, and the park-and-ride from Lelant is the civilised answer.
Stop type: Campsite above the town or at Hayle. Do not take the van into St Ives itself.
Within 10 km on our map: 35 campsites & caravan sites · 1 LPG — unverified, from OpenStreetMap.
Slow section: the A3074 into St Ives; use the Lelant park-and-ride instead.
Night 4 · Helston, for the Lizard
Round Mount's Bay past Marazion and St Michael's Mount, then south into the Lizard — Kynance Cove, Lizard Point, and lanes that reward a small detour budget and punish a big one.
Stop type: Campsite or farm site on the peninsula. The Lizard's car parks are small and signed — read them.
Within 10 km on our map: 33 campsites & caravan sites · 1 service points — unverified, from OpenStreetMap.
Night 5 · Fowey or Looe
The south coast home: Falmouth, the Roseland, then the harbour towns. After the Atlantic side this coast feels sheltered and soft, and that is the point of ending here. Home to Exeter is about two hours up the A38.
Stop type: Campsite or pub stopover above the harbour — both towns drop steeply to the water, and the van stays at the top.
Within 10 km on our map: 35 campsites & caravan sites — unverified, from OpenStreetMap.
The part that is not about driving
Cornwall in season is the most parking-pressured county in England, and the rules are local and actively enforced: overnight bans and height barriers on the coastal car parks exist because of vans that stayed anyway. Book ahead in summer, arrive before evening, and if a sign says no overnight sleeping, it means it.
Wild camping in a motorhome is not a legal right in England — overnighting needs the landowner's permission, every time. The full explanation →