Select South West Tours

My family and I spent 6 days on a tour throughout Devon and Cornwall with James in March 2023, and we had a wonderful time! James is a knowledgable and professional guide whose love of the area is apparent and contagious. Although we had a general itinerary for each day of the tour, James was very flexible and accommodating if we wanted to make any last minute adjustments. We loved seeing all the highlights of the region as well as some lesser-known areas that we never would have found on our own. We had an amazing experience and would love to come back and book another tour with James in the future. If you are planning a trip to this region, I highly recommend booking a tour with Select South West Tours!

James is a true professional! I recommend him to anyone interested in seeing Cornwall. I toured Cornwall with my grandparents and my aunt and he made the trip truly unforgettable. My grandma and her sister were in Cornwall to research our family history and James went above and beyond in terms of preparing a personalized trip for us. He researched our genealogy with us ahead of time and visited locations pertinent to our history before we arrived to do further research. He even spoke with some of the locals to arrange for us visiting the homes where our family lived. He provided us with a packet of information he compiled about the history of Cornwall upon arrival and it was exceptional. I thought he must do this sort of thing all the time and asked about his experience doing genealogical research, and he said this was the first time he had done this. I was blown away! He really seemed like he was a seasoned expert in the subject; he is just so dedicated to creating a personalized trip for us that he was able to do so.James is a treasure trove of information about the mining history of Cornwall and Devon. If you are interested in a trip where you will not only see breathtaking countryside but also learn a lot about the region, its history, and its culture, this is the trip for you.One aspect of this trip I really enjoyed was how easy James made everything. He had a whole itinerary prepared for our three day trip, so we didn't need to do any planning. He picked us up promptly every morning from our hotel and dropped us back off every evening around 5 or 6 after a day packed full of visiting gorgeous scenery and other sightseeing. He was a very engaging guide and really made the whole trip unforgettable. He is friendly and professional. The car is very comfortable and he is an excellent driver, especially on the tiny country roads that are so hard to navigate! A tour with James is worth every penny! We were able to see so much more of Cornwall than I imagined we would because he knew all the best places to go and got us there so efficiently. This is the kind of tour for groups interested in getting to know their guide and really having a personalized journey.

We hired James at Select South West Tours in August 2022 to drive us to North Devon to find where my ancestors had lived 200 years ago. We spent about 1 1/2 days visiting little village churchyards as well as another 1 1/2 days seeing some lovely sites in North Cornwall, Plymouth and Dartmoor National Park. James did a great job sharing his knowledge and joy for Devon and Cornwall as well as finding the sites I had sent him in advance. We would gladly recommend him to others and look forward to hiring him in the future to see more of Cornwall and Devon.

I had a wonderful experience with Select South West Tours. They were very professional and went the extra mile to make me and my family feel confortable and enjoy our experience in Cornwall, which we did very much! We were traveling with an 82-year-old person with less mobility than the rest of the us, and our guide, Mark was an amazing help to make her experience interesting and enjoyable. He also customised his explanations according to our interests and culture. It was a pleasure to use your services and I will highly recommend Mark to anyone that wishes to visit Cornwall.

Holy Mackerel! What an incredible two day tour! We had never been to Cornwall before and all we knew about the area was Poldark. We had a vague idea what we wanted to see and do but left the planning to Nigel and Select Southwest Tours. From the start of the planning / booking process they were extremely responsive and courteous. On our tour Nigel gave such insight into Cornish life and culture. There are places that we went that on our own would have been beautiful beaches and views and we would have looked, taken pictures and left. But, Wow, Nigel with his wealth of knowledge provided a depth of the history and life to the places that would have been completely overlooked without him. Additionally having someone to drive us who knew how to navigate some of the tiny roads of southwest England (née Cornwall) was totally worth it! OMG we so need to come back and see Devon! Thanks again Nigel for making our trip truly educational and unforgettable.

It was a wonderful trip!James was a great guide and driver. We were particularly thrilled at his ability to drive through those VERY narrow Cornish roads. Even though we weren’t driving, I couldn’t help but close my eyes when a car (or a small truck!) was coming towards us - on a 1-lane road……. James was incredibly helpful in planning our trip, advising us on what to see and what not to see. He gave us hotel recommendations and some outstanding restaurant recommndations and we had some spectacular meals. Knowing we were interested, he took us to sites where parts of Poldark were filmed - how interesting to see the actual places and to see what the film captured and what was left out.His colleague, Tim Burston, was our guide/driver for 3 of our 7 days. He was also terrific: very knowledgeable, also very able to navigate those Cornish roads and very friendly. And he listened. We talked a lot about always wanting ice cream at lunch - so he took us out of the way to have Moomaid of Zemnnor ice cream (from a family run dairy farm) at the Old Wayside Museum, just down the road to the left of the Tinners Pub. Through chatting, James discovered we love going to the theater so he told Tim who checked the schedule at the fabulous outdoor Minack Theatre and we went to see a play with the Atlantic Ocean as the backdrop. Exceptionally thoughtful and a wonderful experience!People who recommend, who are knowledgeable and can navigate those crazy roads - you can’t ask for anything more. I highly recommend Select Southwest Tours with James and Tim.

James picked up myself and two friends in Chipping Campden and transferred us to Padstow in Cornwall and then we spent the next two days being guided around Cornwall by James. This was definitely the highlight of our ten day trip to Great Britain. James is very warm and congenial and he provides an experience that would be impossible to achieve on one's own. His Land Rover was very spacious and comfortable and in it he was able to drive us around to areas that we would not have been able to go to on our own. When I watched videos online of driving on the tiny lanes throughout the countryside I knew we needed a driver. But James is much more than a driver. He shared history, stories, local music and his lifetime of knowledge about the area all while we were having a great time laughing and looking at all of the beautiful scenery Cornwall has to offer. James introduced us to very interesting locals and meeting these people was so very special. We had an interest in the British television shows Poldark and Doc Martin and James did an excellent job of showing us locations and sharing information about the filming of these shows that only a local would know. The sights he showed us on the coastline were truly breathtaking! He took us to wonderful historic places to have Cornish specialties such as pasties, cream tea, cakes, and seafood. Whatever we were interested in, James went out of his way to make sure we got to see or experience it. I definitely plan on going back to Cornwall in the future and contacting James once again for his services. There is so much to see I may make several trips back!

Excellent tour group. James and Tim are amazing. Very knowledgeable about the area, patient and kind. So much fun!

A truly wonderful day out with NigelReview of Spectacular West Cornwall Highlights Luxury Private Tour from CornwallReviewed todayMy husband and I visited Cornwall for the first time and had limited days to try to see everything! We were so fortunate to have found this tour with friendly, professional and knowledgeable Nigel as our guide. A comfy, spotless car, accommodating itinerary and a new wow around every corner and unlimited learning made this day trip perfect in every way. Thank you so much, Nigel.Date of experience: May 2023

Fantastic tour customized to our interests. James has a deep knowledge of Devon and Cornwall that he can use to customize the perfect trip for you (gardens, pubs and historical sites in our case). Travel in comfort and style, and relax as James shows you the the best of Cornwall. Then end your day at the door of hotel.Unless you are supremely confident in your ability to drive blind single track roads using a manual right hand drive, this is the way to see the Cornish countryside.