Corners of Cornwall

Everything was great. Most enjoyable.

Excellent guide & driver. Interesting , comprehensive itinerary. Accommodation at a couple of hotels not at the same standard as the rest of our stops. Friendly hotel staff at all places

Enjoyed all of the out of the way places the tour visited! Dartmoor National park was fabulous…loved all the little nooks and crannies of the bays and inlets of Cornwall with their contrasts of dramatic and serene harbours….! The visit to the tea plantation and tasting of Tregothnan estate was interesting! I’m not so interested in all the cathedrals and abbeys but appreciate the history and grandeur of them. Overall a well balanced tour.

We saw a great range of towns, had diverse experiences at each, travelled in safety with an excellent driver and had a first class guide

This small group tour was a great value. We could relax and not worry about the details of transportation, our bags, or booking hotels. The included breakfasts and dinners were excellent.

It met all my expectations in respect of that part of England, the tour guide Russell was sensational - he lives in Cornwall so is familiar with the area and was able to share his local knowledge and expertise.

A fantastic tour. I think everyone on the tour had a great time.

Some venues could have been missed as they were not very interesting. Lands End was a waste of time. Dartmoor National Park was very good and the hotel was great.

Have given this feedback a number of times already.

accommodations were generally quite good

It was led by a very informative, friendly , interactive and enthusiastic guide and a very experienced driver.
The activities and locations visited were perfect. .Accommodations and meals were of a high standard.
We were so lucky with the weather - not in anybody’s control, just lucky!

Tour leader Chris was very thoughtful and took the bus via Breage where we stopped for a little while and looked at a church, as I had ancestors from this area. The church was beautiful.

Our tour leader was excellent, a native of Cornwall and passionate about the area.
The size (15) seemed appropriate for a tour of this length, not so small that we got tired of each other but not too large to manage.
The pace was perfect, as was the activity.
The hotels were a nice mix of rustic and cosmopolitan. We especially liked the one at St. Austell, but did not like the one at Salisbury, where there was a mix up of the rooms.
The breakfasts were good; dinners acceptable.

Very cool trip and guide!

This is a great way to see most of Cornwall. It was a bit quick in some places, but overall, it was a great tour.

Well planned with the right pace . The Carlyon Hotel at St. Austell was just fabulous.

Because of the size of the group and the quality of the accommodation.

Great locations and good accommodation.

I enjoyed the small group of people and the size of the vehicle. I felt comfortable and included even though I was a single traveler.

As stated we would have expected to have air conditioning in our accommodation.

Safe and competent driver. Time to stop and wonder and wander.

The Tea experience went far too long, basically leave it off the agenda.

I did enjoy the trip. Cann not remember what I paid for it now, and was done through a travel agent.

Some places visited were unimpressive. Some lunch breaks seemed way too long with minimal things to do

Accommodation in a majority of locations provided a cross section of rooms that were below expected standard. Some of the actual hotels had good facilities however Back-Roads participants were treated with less priority to other customers.

A good trip but too much time in the bus. Some hotels were great but the final hotel at Salisbury was disappointing. The last meal as a group lacked a sense of occasion. The best meal was at the hotel at Dartmoor.

It was very rushed with long days travelling.
We didn’t spend as much time as we’d hoped in each place.

Good itinerary and lovely villages visited.

The tour and guide were excellent…..very enjoyable.

See above - very comprehensive tour of Cornwall.

As detailed above..not enough time at some daytime stops

Well organised - accommodation was to a high standard

Get rid of Wellington Hitel

Interesting itinerary highlighting the scenic places of Cornwall. Tour guide and coach driver friendly.

we wanted backroads and we got backroads. very happy

because i did - good coverage , very scenic, good weather,
informative,

Even before the tour began the service I encountered was always helpful and friendly. That level of service once we began the tour.
Chris, our tour guide was fantastic. Nothing was too much trouble and he seemed to come up with a new surprise for us each day.
Our driver kept us laughing and in good spirits every day.

Please see comments above.

Places visited were extensive and represented excellent value for money

MET & EXCEDED EXPECTATION.

Met my expectations with the various stops

Nice Mercedes vehicle, great guide and driver. Interesting stops. Overall an excellent tour.

The two resort hotels in Cornwall were very good.

A suggestion - the last hotel in Salisbury is not up to BackRoads standards. It should be replaced by a better hotel more equipped to deal with the tour. Breakfast was late and sparse, no lifts and the employees had to take the bags up and down many stairs. Staff seemed a little overwhelmed by all the details.

Good value for the money. Accommodations were very good to excellent. Included food excellent. Transportation and guides excellent.

Great itinerary, guide and driver.

Not anywhere near as good as the one to the Channel Islands and France.

All accommodations were above par, with the exception of our Salisbury stay. Guide and driver extremely knowledgeable and even went to see chalk horses In Wiltshire (which were not on the agenda). Overall a great experience

The itinerary covered many scenic and interesting places. Bus was very comfortable . Hotels and food were excellent except for one that was disappointing. The driver was excellent and interacted well with the group. The tour guide was lovely but had no real knowledge of what we were doing and I found this really disappointing.

We are a very fit couple and found the pace of the tour and the access to some of the “highlights” a bit hectic and at times uncomfortable.

Read opening comment, not much more to say.

Did not deliver on leisurely tour as driver was awful speeding through tiny roads and towns while chatting incessantly to tour leader. Very disappointing change for two nights of hotel from St Austell to the very unappealing Truro with no access to features such as the Eden Project

Large group in a small bus all coughing hence infection spread!,

The tour provides decent value for the cost.

The tour was good if we had a good guide. The views was wonderful. But needed to know more about it.

Good itinerary. Lovely locations. Last days too long in the bus, could have added another stop. Bus driver was brilliant but guide should have had better knowledge of the location.

Would have given 5 stars but Salisbury hotel not up to usual Back Roads standard. Dinner choices not very interesting, glass of white wine ordered was warm, dining room no atmosphere. Room very dark and old fittings. They are renovating so maybe this will improve. All other accommodation was great and choices of tows visited were good

Tourer guide excellent with histroy information ,would have like more on the geography of the area .
Plus detailed suggestions on lunch stops.

Central and comfortable accommodation. Beautiful scenery and seaside towns.

I tried seeing Cornwall on my own many years ago, using public transport. This did not work well and I wanted to see more with less time on the train. This trip filled in many blanks in my knowledge of Cornwall.

Someb hotels were poor,in fact the last Accomodation at Saulsbury would have to be the worst hotel I have ever stayed in. It certainly was not a standard that I am used to

Hotels need to be improved

A well organised and well led tour.

Getting back into London early afternoon on the last day was not ideal.
In reality, the tour is only six and a half days, not eight days as advertised.
Travelling from St Austell to Salisbury in one day is ridiculous.
A morning stop in Polperro and an overnight stop closer to Cornwall would’ve made much better sense., with a visit to Salisbury on the final day.
Based on the price of the tour, the value for money is poor.

Tee accomodation was disappointing for the two of the two night stays. Hotels too far from the the towns and, unfortunately, not up to their 4 star rating in terms of the rooms provided. In the case of The Carolyn Bay hotel the bathroom heated towel rail did not work unless the hot tap was run constantly in the basin, the cold water tap in the bath did not work and had to be fixed by the maintenance team and my wife wanted to use the nail bar in the spa. We arrived Wednesday to depart Friday and on trying to book an appointment when we arrived Wednesday was told no appointments available until Friday. It appeared they were putting non hotel guests ahead of hotel guests. Also the kids in the rooms above and on our level were playing chasey in the corridors and jumping on beds in the bedroom above ours. Complaints to reception yielded the expected answer that noting could be done until 12am. Fortunately we were able to join our other tour party members and attend a local hotel for dinner on both nights given the prohibitive price for meals in the hotel.
Two bridges was excellent and staff very welcoming with excellent food.

I thought it might have been a tad high for some of the hotels we stayed in.

Good but not great value.

Our tour was a small group of around 10 which is easy to get to know everyone and each person is helpful and caring.
Our driver was young and I felt unsafe due to his fast driving on those narrow wet roads with passengers on board.
One passenger spoke to the guide who spoke to the driver.
We on board are all someone’s mother, father, grandmother, grandfather etc. which I think he should be made aware of this factor.

This tour was excellent value for money and was well guided so that most information was disseminated while on the bus, making more time available in the places stopped at.

Extremely well organised by guide and driver

Location of some of hotels too far away from alternative reasonable food choices

Accommodation in Falmouth (2 nights) was dreadful, the room smelled (mould?), the food was poor and the staff unhelpful. Accommodation (1 night) in Salisbury only ok and food below par. So three night of poor and soso accommodation not what we expected from backroads. Also there was some (a lot) of friction between our guide and the last minute bus driver, there were faults on both sides but it was obvious and unpleasant. The itinerary could be tweaked a bit - mush less time in Port Issacs (only need 45 mins) and more time spent along the coastline, eg we had only an hour in St Ives, which was a highlight for many people. Would have liked more time to explore Dartmouth. Should include a visit to at least one of the gardens in the area (they are famous).
Bedford Inn and Carlyon Bay were very good, the standard you would expect. Lunch at Rick Steins also great. The bus was comfortable.
Also you need to advise clients that they will need to pay to store their luggage at the hotel in London (it is not cheap).
Would not recommend this trip to friends, and would look very closely at any future trips, but there is much better value for money out there now.

It definitely felt that "corners had been cut".

A bit of a fluff-up at our starter hotel, but it was worked out, no major issues.

There was so much to see , we had a wonderful time.
The coach was really comfortable and the driver was very good , nothing was to much trouble.

Good trip, good choice of accommodation and features.

Small group tour was an imperative choice because we got to places larger groups could not. What an experience!

Loved the "Back Roads". I have been on many, many, tours and highway driving gets very boring. Loved the scenery through the countryside!

Highly recommended tour.I enjoyed this tour a lot.

Well organized, got what was expected. Good recovery when Chris got sick.

Good value all around! Very personal tour with top facilities and equipment

Tour was well planned and very entertaining

Great tour. Very relaxed.

Loved st Michael’s Mount, st Ives, Port Isaac and lunch in Padstow, and staying at the Two Bridges Hotel.

Good value for the money.

Loved the stops, which we had more time in most of the towns. Taxi service was not so great, especially on a Sunday. At some stops, which we were closer to town but totally understand the hotel issues.

We saw and did some wonderful things

The tour guide was great. Too many days spent at beach resorts and one day with n0thing to do at all. He found us something to do but the pickings were pretty slim! Great for a family in search of a beach holiday though!

Accommodation satisfaction levels varied greatly. Bovey Castle 5 star. Hawk Church 3 star and Signature hotel (starting point) 2 star.

Every stop was well introduced and we got to see a variety of features of the towns and villages and landscapes. I especially loved the stop at Two Bridges Inn on Dartmouth.

Fabulous locations, great accommodation and excellent meals.

Tour leader especially knowledge of bus driver food and accomodation excellent I loved driving on the back roads and seeing the real U K

The places visited were of great interest but I would have liked more time in each town. The solo traveller charge was too high as only one seat on the bus was used and meals for just one person. Extra charge for accommodation was understandable, but nothing else.

Loved everything. Tours exceeded expectations

Great trip and well paced

Cannot fault the itinerary and accommodation. Everyone was very pleasant and the service experienced everywhere was excellent. The beautiful scenery spoke for itself,

Fantastic scenery along coast lines and inland places

Worth the money spent on the trip.

We were very well looked after. Great driver, tour director, beautiful food and accommodation

Cornwall is fascinating with unique physical features.

Food and services first class.

We really enjoyed the trip but were disappointed at how villages like St Ives were so touristy and over run with aggressive seagulls that totally spoilt the experience
Returning via Dorset, I thought somewhere in Devon would have been better

Tour itself was very good, maybe less time in Salisbury.

Well organized and we saw what we wanted to see

Great tour, great tour leader and driver. They were very knowledgeable and nothing was too much trouble. The small bus was perfect for driving down Cornwall's tiny narrow lanes. We got to see places not normally done by the larger buses.

Even though the weather was not the best the sights were still spectacular

Emilie and Robert were fantastic to travel with. Emilie was well organized, informative and very professional. Robert's driving was very precise considering the narrow roads and I had every confidence in his driving skills. The tour covered a lot ofarea and true to form, we travelled on mainly back roads through villages and down country lanes.

Comprehensive tour of this area and it's many points of interest with great accommodations and meals.

Good value for money with a group that was not too big enabling us to feel as one group thereby enhancing the level of cooperation.

Definitely off the beaten path. Guide had and could relate extensive local knowledge of Cornwall. Both he and driver were excellent, especially with accommodating older travellers.

The guide and the driver was excellent and they knew their job and history of the area

The knowledge, professionalism and friendliness of your drivers and particularly of your tour guide Edward, were exceptional. The tour itself was equally exceptional. We particularly enjoyed the small tour party size and believe this policy sets Backroads apart from other tours.

Cornwall was a beautiful travel destination. A very strong point was stopping at locations many groups don't go to, such as an ancient circle of stones on a farm. The small fishing villages and the garden we toured were gorgeous.