Heading for a family holiday in Cornwall soon, anything that is a must do? Recommendations for places to eat and visit and things to do with the kids.
Depends where you're staying - it takes nearly 2 hours to drive the length of the county.
Cardinham Woods and Lanhydrock have good 'blue' trail centres that are fun for all the family. Just near Bodmin.
Friar Tuck fish and chip shop in St Merryn is a must for me, great food. (if you like fish and chips).
Go to Rick Stein town and have the fish and chips. Make sure you go to the restaurant, not the takeaway or the corner shop or the pie-shop but the proper sit-down restaurant.
also try the Chough (pronounced chuff) cornish pasties
Stand on the shore and wait for the big container ship to go past with all the roosters on it?. 😆
For the truly authentic Cornish holiday experience make sure that you get mugged by a seagull for fish & chips / pasty / ice cream.
It's best if you let them swoop down behind you, let them land gently on your shoulder to allow them grab the food out of your hand just before you put it into your mouth and promptly bugger off with your snack.
Don't forget to wave your fist in impotent rage at the culprit and swear profusely before stalking away along the harbour in a cloud of mortal embarrassment.
.........or take surf lessons. That's awesome too.
You could take the kids for a cycle down the Camel trail, which is undemanding and scenic, visit the Barbara Hepworth Gallery in St Ives, visit the Eden project.
Walk along a nice bit of the coastal path, cross the river on the KIng Harry Ferry.
There are loads of options but it depend what you and your kids like doing.
Eden project, St Ives, tintagel castle, and mebbe go surfing..
Avoid Newquay.
Avoid the Lands End experience, it's crap.
How old are your kids and where in Cornwall? There are beaches galore, the Eden Project, the Bodmin moor mine remains & stone circle, Dartmoor, Haligon Gardens, Tintagel, etc etc. But if you were staying near the Devon border, going down to the Lizard would be a long long drive
There's a Shaun the Sheep experience at Lands End.
Where's SmurfMat when you need him?
YoKaiser - MemberHeading for a family holiday in Cornwall soon, anything that is a must do?
If it's gonna be anything like the last time I went, take an umbrella is a must do!
Eden Project is good.
Flambards for kids - I assume that's still going? I think I last went about 25 yrs ago 😳
Loads of scenic places to go, like Port Isaac, Tintagel castle, Boscastle, Newquay (if you fancy some SouthWest Blackpool action)...
Flambards for kids - I assume that's still going? I think I last went about 25 yrs ago
Yep still going strong. ....and once you've paid for yer tickets you can go back for another day in the next week. Bargain ! Just ordered tickets for Flambards using tesco clubcard points.
RNAS Culdrose air day at the end of July is good.
Isles of Scilly are beautiful but the 3 hr boat trip on the "great white stomach pump" is perhaps not for everyone.
How old are your kids and where in Cornwall? There are beaches galore,
<my mother>There are only 2 really safe beaches in Cornwall - so beware the undertow particularly with little kids.</my mother>
It really depends upon what part of Cornwall you're in...
For the adults I really enjoyed the Tate St.Ives plus there's a safe beach there for the kids
We are in Mawgan Porth and the kids are 6,4 and 2.
Mawgan Porth is ace! Bedruthen steps for cream teas. Not too far to Padstein or Newquay.
I can recommend Padstein too. We tend to base ourselves up the coast a bit from Padstow, around Constantine Bay, which is a lovely unspoiled beach. Padstow is nice to visit, but beware the restaurant - there always used to be a 6 month waiting list for reservations and traditional fish and chips was £35 on the lunch menu. Peronsally I avoid the Rick Stein establishments. Plenty of nice pubs and restaurants to eat at without gravitating to Ricks places. The other fish and chip shops in town are just as good as Ricks fish and chip place too.
We love doing walks along the coastal path - Treyarnon Bay (where we usually stay) to Padstow is a good 6 miler taking in some stunning coastline.
Goonhilly is an interesting place to visit. I personally don't rate the Cornwall attractions, its a pretty boring place to be if the weather is crap. For me its all about the beaches, sauntering around the various picturesque fishing villages and hitting the coastal path.
We went back to Cornwall last year for the first time since I was a kid, and I was gutted to discover that the one really good attraction - the miniature railway at Dobwalls - closed back in 2007.
There's now a good child-friendly cafe at the other end of the Camel Trail at Wenford Bridge, so you can start in Wadebridge or Bodmin and head out that way if you fancy a family-friendly day on the bikes that doesn't end at Padstow.
I'm not a fan of doing Padstow with kids. Trying to herd a toddler and baby through crowds, constantly making way for cars (I can't believe car access isn't more restricted) and worrying about the toddler leaping in the unfenced harbour isn't my idea of fun. Pasty from Chough's was good, though.
Cardinham is good too. As well as the bike trail, there's various walks including a themed trail for the kids, plus a decent cafe.
If you want some fun riding, grogley is just off the camel trail.
Other than that, surf, surf, surf.
all the above and also see if the minnack theatre has any shows on for the kids http://www.minack.com/
Also run over to st micheal's mount which is a laugh. I did like fistral as its long, has showers and facilities.
Went in April this year and had really good weather.
We had Fish N Chips from Rick Steins at Fistral Beach which was nice with some pleasant coastal walks around there too.
Newquay town centre is nowt special and probably worth avoiding.
Had a pleasant day in Lostwithiel too, dinner in one of the towns cafes, skimming stones in the river plus a visit to Restormel Castle which my kids enjoyed.
Tintagel is worth a visit too, especially keeping fit carrying a 3year old up the cliff path.
If you're heading between St Austell and Truro then pop in to MA Griggs for lunch. Very nice food and a bit of shopping too
Chapel Porth at low tide ( sea can be a bit strong) and Hedgehog Icecream (don't be greedy and have 2 though).
Many thanks all, have a pretty good list of stuff to do now.
Looking for a lunch spot somewhere between Evesham and Mawgan Porth? Any suggestions? Is Taunton nice?
Taunton isnt great. What sort of lunch do you want, we had good pub food in a pub called the Farmers Arms just off the motorway on the opposite side to Taunton, probably just as quick as getting into Taunton though.
re. stuff for kids, my next door neighbours just been down with his four year old and raved about Dairyland (from the kids perspective not his!)
Looking for a nice lunch spot, somewhere we can let the kids work off a bit of energy. Taunton was picked out the blue as a mid point, we would travel off the main route a bit for something ideal.
Cheers for the dairyland suggestion.
Can fully recommended Porthcurno, Porthminster & Lelant beaches.
Dairyland is good, except when we went the rain was of biblical proportions, the heaviest rain I've ever seen in the UK. They don't call them cornish stair rods for nothing.
Head east and go to Dorset, nothing but rain when I've been
Taunton can be a bit of a traffic nightmare. Head 45min on and stop at haldon forest. Lots for the kids to do and cafe isn't bad.
Turf Locks near exeter would be a good spot if you're prepared to stroll for 20mins each way. depends how much time you have. cracking spot if the weather is good. big garden for the kids to run around in.
Sennen is a good shout. Bit of surf, nice beach cafe, pub and you can climb up and down the rocks to the platform from where people do rock climbing. I've had many good experiences on that beach.
You could take the kids for a cycle down the Camel trail, which is undemanding and scenic, visit the Barbara Hepworth Gallery in St Ives, visit the Eden project.
And you can cycle directly from the trail to the Camel Valley vineyard, to do some wine tasting. Hic!
There's a good maritime museum in Falmouth.
Liked Minack theatre, Cape Cornwall and Lost gardens of Heligan, Devils fryin pan ans path too.
Turf Locks near exeter would be a good spot if you're prepared to stroll for 20mins each way. depends how much time you have. cracking spot if the weather is good. big garden for the kids to run around in.
this.
Exeter much nicer than Taunton imo.
My tip for holiday places, don't drive too much
If the weather is great then local beaches. Building a sea wall on a rsing tide is ace for all ages. Crab fishing of a harbour wall could be good with that age groups will rock pooling. I'd buy them wetsuites. They'll stop sunburn and or hypothermia. Sports pursuit were doing them for £13. They'll be cheaper there but I'd rather not shop on holiday
Camel Trail looks like a good bet. Loads of hire places including trailers for little ones
Make sure you try a proper pasty from a local shop, freshly baked and massive.
None of this Ginsters mass produced bland service station grub rubbish.
Years back I worked in Hayle for a couple of years, fantastic pasty shop that I forget the name of. Also the cod you'd get in a chippy was fresh, huge and peanuts price. Though I bet they're not any more.
Best pastys are from West Of Truro imo.
Horse & Jockey in Helston/Porthleven are the standard by which all others are judged.
deadkenny - Hayle would either be Hansons (shredded veg, not my thing, but good) or Philps, best of the big bakeries.
Rowes are fine for a widely available pasty, Warrens are only useful for filling landfill.
On the Lizard, Anne's and Gear Farm are good.
Small bakery in StIves fairly good but forget it's name.
Worst thing about moving away from Cornwall is the lack of proper pasty shops.
Hayle bowls
We've had a great time so far. Mawgan Porth is fantastic, the beach is excellent and the coastal trails leading off it are very good too. The weather has also been very kind to us so staying local has the order of the day though we have been along some of the Camel Trail and spent days in Padstow and StIves. Only tried the Steins Patisserie but I'll get a chippy at some point. Had a cracking burger at Blas Burger in StIves much recommended. Dairyland was a good shout as well, not much to look at tbh but the kids have loved it, tickets let you back in for 7 days and we've been twice and will go again.
The weather has turned a wee bit so Cardinham Woods and Tintagel CAstle are on the agenda for the next couple of days.
And I've been very impressed with the local ale, all have been excellent.
If you fancy a cool-off after Tintagel head a mile or so upcoast on the coastal rd, park by the public conveniences, walk down the track to waterfall and swim/bathe in the cove at Bossiney. It's stunning, and a safe bet when the tide's in. kids love spotting the elephant rock.
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I'm from Hayle, but live in Bristol now and whenever friends go on holiday to Cornwall I always get them to bring back with them some frozen Philps pasties for me! Nom.
If you're out west, go to Porthcurno. The Minack theatre should be on everyone's list, the beach is one of the most stunning in the county, and if it's wet go to the Telegraph Museum. (Actually, go to the Telegraph Museum anyway - sounds dull as ditch-water but is one the best day's out you'll have. And the kids will love it...).
All in one small, quiet village.