Cornwall Family Holiday House Trevone Bay near Padstow
Once you have arrived you could be forgiven for parking the car and not picking up the keys until you have to leave! You could fill everyday enjoying being outdoors whatever the weather. We have picked out a number of places to visit to give you just a taster of what there is to do for families. At the house we have put together a really comprehensive guide that includes our favourite places to eat, best beaches, walks, cycle tracks, and only the best quality attractions geared towards families. There is so much to do, not just during the summer months but all year round.
Trevone Bay has two beaches. Sandy beach is 100 metres from the house. Set in a cove, it is perfect for families. Lots of sand, great waves, dog free between Easter and October, and lifeguard patrolled. Rocky beach a very short stroll away, and is the perfect spot for rock pooling and a sunset bbqs. Rocky Beach has about a square mile of rock pools and a semi natural swimming pool, which is re-filled with every tide.
The coastal path above Rocky beach leads to Harlyn Bay, a long stretch of sandy beach with great surf, surrounded by cliffs. It has a large car park, surf school, and other usual beach amenities. From the sandy beach you can walk up to the blow hole known as the Round Hole. The coastal scenery is breathtaking and on a clear day you can see for miles.
Padstow, is only a five minute drive away. It has narrow streets lined with old cottages that run down to a bustling waterfront where fishing boats rub gunnels with cabin cruisers, amongst the hubbub of harbour life. Take a tour of the Lobster Hatchery, visit the National Trust’s Prideaux Place, and take a boat trip (cruise or speed boat) from the harbour. Padstow has a number of great places to eat including Rick Steins Seafood Restaurant. You can hire bikes and cycle the Camel Trail, a cycle path that runs alongside the Camel estuary on the old railway line that once brought steam trains to Padstow from Waterloo. It’s a great activity for families with safe, level cycling. You can hire bikes including children’s bikes, and children’s pod seats which can fit babies and toddlers in snuggly behind mum and dad. You can take the short foot ferry across to Rock. Visit the St Enodoc Church where John Betjeman is buried, or simply sit on the beach, eat an ice cream and watch the boats sail by.
Other nearby beaches include Boobys Bay, where you can seek out your own private rocky cove if you get there before all the best spots are gone!! This was always our favourite hideaway beach when we lived on the north coast. And if its one of those really hot days, stay and watch the sun go down and have a BBQ. You can walk from Boobys, to Constantine, a huge sandy beach, backed by large sand dunes.
Watergate Bay is situated along the coast road about half way between Padstow and Newquay. It is a great surfing beach, 2 miles wide and all sand. There is parking adjacent to the beach and there are beach facilities including a beach shop. For energetic mums or dads there is “The Extreme Academy” a sand and watersport school, where you can have a go at a wide range of beach and water activities. Watergate Bay is home to Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant.
The Blue Reef aquarium is situated in the heart of Newquay on Towan Promenade, and is worth a trip especially with young children. Displays are from the Cornish coast to the tropics and there is an underwater tunnel. Talks and feeding demonstrations are often held, and children are encouraged to participate. You could combine this with a trip to Newquay Zoo or the boating lake and there is a leisure centre with indoor pool next to the zoo.
Dairyland Farm World, was the winner of the National Farm Attraction 2002/3, and several others since. It has an animal park, bottle feeding lambs, “pat a pet”, pony rides and an assortment of birds and animals. There is also a children’s play area, outdoor and indoor. There is a museum of Cornish heritage, a nature trail and a Hay Ride. You can see milking first hand everyday at 3.30pm and 5.30pm in the best milking parlour you are ever likely to see – it has a domed roof with music and star show!! There is a basic café where you can buy sandwiches etc and eat in or out, and also there are baby changing facilities. A great attraction for families with young children.
The Eden Project – which by now needs almost no introduction!! It is situated about a 40 minute drive away. There are two huge biomes charting the relationship between man and plants. A must if you have never been and if you have been before, it’s ever changing so a return visit is not wasted. The Eden Project often opens late so you can see the biomes lit up at night, and during the summer it occasionally hosts events such as opera and jazz evenings. From the end of July to the beginning of September it is Jungle Season at Eden, and they are open late three nights a week, with story telling, trails, performances and a carnival parade. And, from October to February they even build an ice skating rink.
Take a day trip to Falmouth, and we recommend you go by boat up the river from Truro. The children will love the river trip. You can wonder the streets of Falmouth, but a must is to visit the National Maritime Museum. It is within walking distance of where the boat stops and is well signposted. Just follow the brown anchor signs. It is a great museum with lots of interactive displays. The museum houses the national small boat collection, on permanent loan from the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. It was voted Cornwall’s Family Attraction of 2003 by “The Good Britain Guide”, and has also been described as “The Equatic Eden”.
Fowey is situated on the south coast and good to combine with a trip to The Eden Project. It’s a popular sailing destination set on the River Fowey, and famous as the home of author Daphne Du Maurier. Park at the top of the town and wonder through the narrow streets. There are some lovely small boutiques and a small aquarium that will interest younger children. The town beach which is a short stroll away, is called Readymoney Cove. It’s a very small part sand/part shingle beach but very sheltered and looks straight out to sea.