Its famous beaches throng with visitors in the summer, but the north of the county is a delight at any time of year — and it’s possible to escape the crowds and find the best places to go if you know how, say Emma Hughes and Paula Lester.
Wild cliffs and soft sandy beaches, softly undulating moorland and the blustery Atlantic, sweetly traditional tearooms and chic new small-plates restaurants — North Cornwall is full of beguiling contrasts.
It’s synonymous with summer holidays; every year the likes of Rock are flooded with those seeking sun, surf and seafood. However, whether you’re visiting in the spring or autumn, or even the middle of winter, its sheer diversity of beauty spots is near-unmatched in Britain.
Therefore, whether you’re planning on spending a long weekend in the area or settling in for a longer, more contemplative stretch, here are some of our favourite hidden gems in North Cornwall, encompassing everything from picturesque former tin mines to fishing villages, lost gardens and legendary castles.
What to do
Walking
Exploring North Cornwall at a leisurely pace on foot is one of the most bewitching and rewarding ways to get to know the region; you never know when you might turn a corner and encounter a hidden smuggler’s cove, a deserted beach or a breathtaking view of the wild Atlantic.
The South West Coast Path is the best and most well-known starting point, which naturally incorporates sights which illuminate the region’s tin-mining heritage, such as Levant Mine and Beam Engine; self-guided tours of the Coast Path are available as well as organised trips.
North Cornwall shopping
Ignore the tourist hotspots; North Cornwall has plenty of independent hidden gems if you know where to look. For clothes, Roo’s Beach in Porth stocks a selection of stylish and quirky small brands. Vintage treasure galore, as well as handmade cushions and lampshades, can be found in St Columb Major, in Prink Vintage Interiors, and Palais Provisions in St Ives has a striking selection of ceramics, artwork and homewares, as well as delicious cocktails, ice creams and snacks.
Pick out some choice wines and ciders to take home at Trevibban Mill Vineyard’s shop, combined with a tasting and a tour. Locals also swear by The Padstow Farm Shop near Tregirls Beach, which also has its own deli, serving soups, salads and some of the best bread in the area. Similarly, the Constantine Bay Stores is also popular due to the fact that it sells almost everything and has a well-stocked wine shop.
Surfing
Ideally positioned to pick up the Atlantic swell, North Cornwall is known for its surfing beaches, from Polzeath to Newquay (above), Gwithian, Constantine Bay and Perranporth.
Wild swimming
North Cornwall is dotted with magical spots for wild swimming, one of the most delightfully idiosyncratic of which is Chapel Rock Pool on Perranporth: a natural swimming pool right in the middle of the beach in a rock formation, surrounded by sands, it’s a unique spot for a dip.
Formed naturally among the low rocks of sandy Treyarnon Bay, Treyarnon Bay Tidal Pool offers glorious and bracing wild swimming between Padstow and Mawgan Porth; check the tide times carefully before you set out.
St Ives, meanwhile, has its magical ‘Mermaid Pools’, a series of small and sheltered natural plunge pools perfect for a refreshing dip away from the crowds.
Cycling
The Camel Trail, 18 miles of mostly traffic-free and scenic cycling, takes in dappled woodland and tidal salt marshes as it follows the Camel river along a former railway line (which means very little in the way of incline) to Padstow from Bodmin. It’s a wonderful way to take in the area’s flora and fauna, and it’s easy to break down into stages, stopping off along the way.
Best country houses, gardens and places to visit
The Bedruthan Steps
A rockfall in 2019 has rendered the actual steps inaccessible by foot, but the Bedruthan Steps, a famed beauty spot between Padstow and Newquay, still offers glorious cliff top views of the Atlantic stretching ahead of you.
Carnewas Tea Room, a former mining stable, serves a delicious and traditional Cornish cream tea in the old paddock; you can walk from there back to Porthcothan.
Watergate Bay
Just to the north of Newquay, Watergate Bay is perennially popular with both families and surfers, and the breathtakingly wide, flat, golden sands are wonderful to stroll along when the tide is low. Framed by imposing cliffs, it gets breezy (kite surfers are often in evidence) but there are cafes a short walk away if there’s a nip in the air; the beach itself is also dog friendly.
Lanhydrock
Now under the auspices of the National Trust, this late-Victorian-by-way-of-Jacobean country house and wooded estate is famous for its magnolias and offers some 1,000 acres of parkland to explore, through which the River Fowey winds. Bicycle hire is available to explore the estate’s cycle trails.
Lost Gardens of Heligan
One of North Cornwall’s most romantic botanical treasures, Heligan’s story is as moving as its name suggests: once a productive Victorian masterpiece, it fell into disrepair when the staff who tended it were called up to fight in the First World War. Many of them never returned, and the house and gardens were leased in the 1920s.
Rediscovered overgrown and in disrepair, the garden was nursed back to life under the stewardship of Tim Smit and is now a transporting place to lose yourself at any time of year, with its subtropical habitats, giant ferns and full programme of events for gardeners and non-gardeners alike.
Port Isaac
This pretty-as-a-postcard fishing village (above) is something of a screen star (it featured in the 2000 Brenda Blethyn comedy Saving Grace, and is the setting for ITV’s Doc Martin starring Martin Clunes). The winding streets are a joy to explore, lined with whitewashed cottages and leading to a beautifully sheltered, greenery-fringed harbour. The village also makes an excellent point from which to explore Tintagel Castle, with its links to Arthurian legend, and the South West Coast Path.
Best hotels and places to stay
Porthcothan Mill, Porthcothan Bay, near Padstow
This typically Cornish grey slate and granite retreat — which is situated at the end of a private road in a peaceful valley and dates back to the 16th century when it started life as a working mill — is an ideal spot from which to enjoy everything that North Cornwall has to offer.
Perfect for dog owners, thanks the fact it backs on to a number of footpaths that wind their way through fields alongside a stream and only a five- minute walk along a footpath from sandy Porthcothan Bay (main image), this three-bedroom cottage is also a favourite among surfers, due to a nifty outside shower (perfect for washing muddy dog paws) and an adjacent shed housing another shower, a washer/dryer and space to hang soggy wetsuits.
Although we were lucky enough to stay in April, not long before pretty pink roses framed the stable door entrance, the Mill is cosy and inviting during the winter time, too, thanks to a big log-burning stove in the squashy sofa filled sitting room, which adjoins a large dining kitchen.
It’s also possible to experience more period charm at the owners’ other dog-friendly holiday home, Old Lanvean Cottage — a delightful, traditional lime-washed Grade II-listed thatched cottage, which has two bedrooms and dates from the 18th century — located in the pretty village of St Mawgan, only minutes from the coast at Mawgan Porth.
Three Mile Beach, Gwithian
This collection of 15 charming and well-appointed clapboard beach houses looks like a handful of iced-gem biscuits from a distance: one shocking pink (above), its neighbour violet, another turquoise. Up close and inside, each one is like the ultimate surf shack, whether you surf or not (there’s a surf school stationed at the entrance if you fancy a lesson and multiple wide breaks to choose from).
Each hut comes with a hot tub and a pizza oven, but if you don’t fancy cooking there’s an on site, al fresco restaurant that serves up a mean Sunday roast and delicious cocktails
Coombeshead Farm, Launceston
A hugely in-demand place of pilgrimage for food-lovers ever since it opened in 2016, Coombeshead Farm is part luxurious bed-and-breakfast, part restaurant and part working 66 acre estate with a regenerative focus. Wood-fire cooking is a speciality at lunch and dinner, and the on-site bakery turns out loaves that are justly coveted by chefs around the country.
Coombeshead was once the farm of the Trelaske Estate, and guests can stay in the beautifully converted outbuildings as well as the farmhouse proper; the beds are supremely comfortable and breakfast (a help-yourself feast of local produce) is included in all room rates.
The Pig-at Harlyn Bay
Lauded by Country Life’s Editor-in-Chief Mark Hedges as ‘something special on the north coast of Cornwall’ when he reviewed the hotel (or a restaurant with rooms, as the owners — who run nine such establishments around the country — prefer them to be known) for the magazine, the bedrooms at The Pig-at Harlyn exude ‘effortless rustic chic in the Stonehouse or comfortable calm in the main building, a Grade II*-listed, 15th-century house.
However, in Mr Hedges’s view, ‘best of all are the four sexy shepherd’s huts’. He and his wife Rachel also enjoyed the proximity of the golden sandy beach and the South West Coast Path, as well as the simplicity of the menu, featuring tasty starters, such as: Piggy Bits (Middle White crackling and apple sauce), Fishy Bits (ling skin puffs and spicy salt) or Garden Bits (crispy oyster mushrooms) and other seasonal fare from a 25-mile radius.
The St Tudy Inn, west of Bodmin Moor
Located in the village of the same name, the St Tudy Inn — according to our Travel and Lifestyle Editor, Rosie Paterson, is a must for short stays or guests wishing to escape the more crowded coastline. The village is delightful. It was once home to Capt Bligh, of Mutiny on the Bounty fame; the picturesque church, with salted graveyard and clink, still stands proud.
The inn itself celebrates the best of Cornish produce, including scallops and locally farmed sirloin, which will set you up for a ride or walk across a moor as wild as it was when Daphne du Maurier wrote Jamaica Inn. Rooms are bijou, but determinedly elegant. It’s a small-village triumph.
Where to eat
Four Boys, Rock
Overlooking the Estuary, this is the perfect spot for a sundowner from Wednesday to Saturday, when seasonal fare is served for dinner alongside a thoughtfully chosen wine list which includes some Camel Valley stars (above). It’s a great choice for groups of all ages; children will love the fish and chips. The kitchen turns out its own focaccia every day and hand-rolls fresh pasta.
DuchyGrub, Harlyn Bay
Tapas Cornish-style is the concept at this small, beautifully scenic coastal restaurant. Inventive small plates designed for sharing shine a spotlight on exceptional local produce, with an international twist: think Cornish bluefin tuna with sea beat and wild chamomile, and wild bass crudo with elderflower buttermilk.
St Kew Inn, Bodmin
Standing in the shadow of the statuesque parish church (which is well worth a visit) in St Kew, the village’s eponymous pub dates from the 15th century and, if walls could talk, we are sure it could tell a tale or two. With acres of flagstone floors, beams and a big, open fireplace, it’s the sort of place that’s as welcoming on a dark, mizzly winter’s evening as it is on a bright summer’s day.
There are four dining areas — as well as plenty of outdoor tables — and a locally-sourced menu that specialises in food cooked over an open fire, plus a selection of cask-drawn beers.
Sea View at Tate St Ives, St Ives
On the top floor of the world-famous gallery, Sea View (as you’d expect) has spectacular views over Porthmeor Beach. The menu is a hymn to the seasons and the bounty of the Atlantic: expect the freshest locally caught seafood and produce from producers such as the St Ives Bakery.
Prawn on the Lawn, Padstow
From Cornish sardines to whole Padstow lobster, Sri Lankan-style black curry cod and oysters galore, this stylish Padstow bistro is a must-visit for seafood lovers. The menu changes daily depending on the catch, but whatever you order make sure to save space for Coombeshead Farm sourdough with seaweed butter.
