Cornwall holiday advice

stumac

stumac

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Hello everyone ,

This August I plan to try Cornwall , a change from the highlands of Scotland .

Never been anywhere near Cornwall so don't have a clue where to go. It will be myself , wife and 3 kids (5,9,12) we don't mind driving distances as the kids are used to it and plan on camping and/or b&bs .

We plan to go for a week or so and its not a photography holiday but the camera will be with me , can any of you fine people throw some ideas and locations at me :-)
 
Don't travel there or back at the weekend. You will find it much easier during the week
 
watching this thread too, wife wants to holiday there this year too, wants to fly down to newquay from edinburgh. is it worth hiring a car or will local transport suffice?
 
Alan Clogwyn said:
Cornwall and August spells hell to me! Going to be absolutely rammed wherever you go.
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Scotland it might be again then :-) defiantly don't want to be going somewhere there's no room to breath
 
Went a few years ago for summer instead of abroad, unfortunately rained every day. Lovely place, enjoyed walking along the pier and looking at all the craft.
Food in hotel was fantastic which made a big difference.
Not any cheaper than abroad though and it did rain every day ...
 
stumac said:
Scotland it might be again then :) defiantly don't want to be going somewhere there's no room to breath
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Come to wales!

Come over on the ferry.
 
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rjbell said:
Come to wales!

Come over on the ferry.
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The plan was to stop in Wales on the way there and back , I go to the dragon motorcycle rally every year in Wales , great place !
 
Cornwall is lovely - been 3 times in the past 6 years and off there this August too. Last 3 times we stayed at Tredethick Farm Cottages which was fantastic, in school holidays its pricey but better outside of that and is perfect for families, especially if kids are 2-7 as they feed lambs every day etc... a link to their beach guide is here - http://tredethick.co.uk/toddling-around-brilliant-cornish-beaches-for-families/

So much to do in Cornwall:

- Lostwithiel - the farm is a mile or 2 from here and its a nice small town with Restromel Castle there, just a ruined castle but kids liked it, in the town there is a few places to eat, a nice bridge and stream to wade in.
- Padstow - some great food, great scenery and a boat ride to Rock, nice shops too.
- Lizard - Good for pics and the best cornish pasty there (seemed to be from someones garage!
- Polkerris - (as per link)
- Polperro - nice quaint fishing village, boat trip is fun
- Tintagel - Home of King Arthur, great fun for kids and for pictures!
 
frank said:
watching this thread too, wife wants to holiday there this year too, wants to fly down to newquay from edinburgh. is it worth hiring a car or will local transport suffice?
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I don't know for sure, but I certainly wouldn't rely on public transport to get you where you want to go, and back again, at the right times. If you build the trip round public transport offerings, that's a different matter, likewise if you plan to stay in the one place (which many people do).

The trouble with hiring a car is that parking is often a nightmare...
 
testbloke said:
Went a few years ago for summer instead of abroad, unfortunately rained every day
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I've been there twice, once for a holiday and once for work, yep you guessed it, it didn't stop raining the whole time(s)
Holiday aborted after a few days too.
 
Funnily enough it rained every day I was there last too! Can't wait to go back but I can't be doing with tourists, I get enough of them at work!
 
I think yous have well and truly put me off LOL

Campfires, Ale and midges it is then
 
We often go down towards St Ives for some surfing but we tend to go the first wek in September - the water is warm, the weather is usually good, all the businesses are still ramped up from summer holidays but it's infinitely quieter than the last week of August.

We've only had 1 trip with rain on most days
 
While Cornwall is lovely it's not the only place to go don't forget there's Devon and Dorset as well ,any place in school holidays is going to be busy even Scotland ,the weather again is in the lap of the gods ,so go with your original plans and enjoy .
We are off to west bay ,Dorset next week simply love the place worth a visit if you that end of the world
 
I was bought up in Redruth - it rains two days out of three and can rain continually for days on end. August will be much less rainy, of course, but expect some.

In August, the county is wall to wall emmets so don't expect much in the way of solitude.
 
We stayed in Looe for a week a couple of years back, visited Polperro, Eden project, Lostwithiel and a few other bits. It rained a lot, and TBH I wouldn't go again - there's nothing there that isn't represented elsewhere & often a little less crowded. That's not to say it hasn't got lovely parts, but they aren't lovelier than less cool, wet & crowded places.
 
Been to Cornwall many times. Sennen cove, near lands end is lovely, hood beach and not as busy or 'blackpoolish' as places like St Ives and Newquay. Menack theatre is good too but book early. IMHO West Coast of Scotland is more beautiful but more to do for kids in Cornwall. Cornwall is not cheap!
 
BBR said:
Been to Cornwall many times. Sennen cove, near lands end is lovely, hood beach and not as busy or 'blackpoolish' as places like St Ives and Newquay. Menack theatre is good too but book early. IMHO West Coast of Scotland is more beautiful but more to do for kids in Cornwall. Cornwall is not cheap!
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Agree that Sennen is gorgeous.
The Minack also looks great from the sea.
There are some great coastal boat trips out of Penzance and Mousehole.
 
Cornwall can be good for photography if you are lucky with the weather. It may look like a small place but you will easily spend hours driving if it involves leaving the main highway.

Personal favourites:

Bedruthan steps
St Just and St Agnes tin mines (mostly sunset)
Land's end (sunset + wildlife)
Hartland quay (high tide stormy sunset)
Porthcurno bay (winter sunrise or just go and enjoy it in the summer)
Polperro harbour (sunrise and morning)

However I will go as far as saying that I would definitely pick Scotland given equally good light and weather.
 
Cornwall is a great place but I wouldn't recommend it during school holidays, traffic is potentially a nightmare. September is usually perfect, still great weather, the sea is at its warmest (still cold though) nowhere near as busy and a bit cheaper. I moved away about 30years ago but still go down at least 6 times a year. There are so many great places to photograph as well. The north and west are beautiful but rugged and the south is very pretty.
 
The Kennall Vale gunpowder mills and nature reserve just outside of Ponsanooth is a real hidden gem and not likely to be too busy. Plenty of space for the kids to run around and play, lots of abandoned moss covered mills, streams and waterfalls, and all set in amazing woodland.

Kennall%20Vale-001_zpsfmmlgdd0.jpg
 
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Been to Cornwall at least a dozen times in the last 20 years often in July/August with the kids, it's not as bad as people think as long as you don't try to go up or down the A30 mid-day on a Saturday. For us it's a 7 hour drive and we normally set off about about 2:30am (you would get up at that time for an early flight) and then get a whole extra day on the beach. Coming back we usually do something close to where we are staying, beach, attraction, whatever, during the day and then set off about 4:00pm, again another day's holiday.

Area wise there are lots of lovely places but we usually go to the far-end, St Ives area is great and further west, as others have said above, has fantastic coastline and beaches
 
john.margetts said:
I was bought up in Redruth - it rains two days out of three and can rain continually for days on end. August will be much less rainy, of course, but expect some.

In August, the county is wall to wall emmets so don't expect much in the way of solitude.
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John, I was brought up in Stithians so not far from Redruth. The problem is not so much that it rains for days on end, but that the cloud base of those depressions coming in off the Atlantic is at 200 to 300 feet. On our farm the 500 foot contour ran smack through the yard, it wasn't so much that it was raining, more like that we were actually sat in the bloody cloud.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Cornish dialect and wonder why visitors are called Emmets, the answer is that Emmet is the dialect word for an ant.
 
Another good location is the church at St. Just in Roseland which stands at the side of a bay. Good place for reflections but check the tide times before going. If you contact them beforehand, they will also illuminate it at night for you for a small donation (£5 for us) for some great night time photography.
 
Hi there ....as I live in Cornwall I'm slightly biased as I love it here and it really doesn't rain all the time :)

A great idea to fly down @frank but I definitely wouldn't recommend public transport .....it's very sparse if you intend to travel about.

The beaches where I live near Newquay are stunning, in fact the whole coastline from Padstow to Holywell Bay is beautiful. Personally I don't find Newquay town centre inspiring at all, I much prefer Padstow or St Ives, or Falmouth on the other side of the coast. There are quite a lot of attractions for the kids but they can be pricey ...although many offer free return within seven days so it may pay to do a bit of research on Google prior to your holiday to get the best value for money.

I'm sure if you do come down here you will love it.
 
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