Things to Do

Worth getting out of bed for!

We hope you enjoy your stay in North Cornwall and if this is your very first visit then there is a lot to see and do! To help you we have put together the “owners recommendations”; a few ideas of what you can enjoy whether it’s beautiful sunshine or a cloudy wet day, whether you are an outdoors kind of person or just here to enjoy some of the delicious tastes of the South West.

beach

Places to Eat

Restaurants - Celebrity Chefs

Please book ahead especially for bookings at weekends and busy holiday times.

Paul Ainsworth 

  • No 6 - Padstow
  • Rojanos - Padstow
  • The Mariners - Rock

Rick Stein 

  • The Sea Food Restaurant - Padstow
  • St Petrocs Bistro - Padstow
  • Rick Steins Café - Padstow
  • Fish & Chips Restaurant & Takeaway - Padstow

Rick Toogood 

  • Prawn on the Lawn - Padstow

Nathan Outlaw

  • Outlaws New Road - Port Isaac

Port Isaac

Pubs - also serving food

  • The Rising Sun – Carne, 5 mins drive. PL15 7SN Tel: 01566 86636
  • The St Tudy Inn – St Tudy village, 20 mins drive. PL30 3NN Tel: 01208 850656
  • Jamaica Inn – Daphne du Maurier – Bolventor, 20 minutes drive. Tel: 01566 86250
  • The St Kew Inn – St Kew village, 30 mins drive,  PL30 3HB Tel: 01208 841259
  • The Malsters Arms – Chapel Amble, 35 mins drive, PL27 6EU Tel: 01208 812473
  • The Mariners (Paul Ainsworth) – Rock, 40 mins drive, PL27 6LD Tel: 01841 532093
  • Port Gaverne Pub - Near Port Isaac, 30 mins, PL29 3SQ Tel: 01208 880244
  • The Dartmoor Inn - Lydford Nr Okehampton, 35 mins, EX20 4AY Tel:01822 820221

 

Cafes / Farmshops

  • St Kew Farmshop - St Kew
  • Strong Adolfos Café - Hawksfield (plus shops) near Wadebridge
  • Four Boys Café - Rock Beach
  • Boscastle Farmshop - Boscastle - great walks from the café
  • Delicia - Wadebridge
  • Tre Pol Pen Farmshop & Cafe-Lezant, near Launceston
  • The Mowhay café - Daymer Bay
  • TJs café - Polzeath Beach
  • Lusty Glaze beach café, bar & restaurant - near Newquay
  • Healeys Cyder Farm - Penhallow, Truro
  • Cardinham Woods Café - Near Bodmin
  • The Duchy Nursery - Shop & Café - Near Lostwithiel

Other good restaurants nearby

  • Tiny Thai - Wadebridge
  • Stepping Stones - Wadebridge
  • The Rocket Store - Boscastle
  • Appleton’s - Fowey
  • Bufala Pizza - Fowey
  • Pintxo Tapas - Fowey
  • Pilchards - Port Gaverne

Takeaways, Ready meals & Private dining

  • Pizzas on Polzeath Beach
  • Tiny Thai - Wadebridge
  • Fish & Chips - Peckfish - Camelford, Seasmiths Wadebridge, Rock Fish & Chips, Rock.
  • Fees Food - Rock - Frozen Ready meals
  • Malcolm Barnecutt - Rock - Frozen Ready meals
  • Dave Sargent Chef Service - Private dining
  • Angels in your kitchen - Private chef  / Ready meals to order

Places to visit

Historical Towns & Villages

  • Port Isaac with nearby Port Gaverne (try the hotel for food and drinks), Port Quin, Padstow, Fowey, Boscastle, Tintagel, Polperro, Looe, Falmouth
  • St Ives – Tate Gallery
  • St Michaels Mount – Marazion – check opening times
  • Charlestown – St Austell – Try The Longstore for food.
  • The Minack Theatre - Porthcurno - check opening times / book tickets for outside performances.

 

Sandy Beaches / Pebbles

  • Daymer Bay – Near Polzeath
  • Rock Beach – Rock
  • Polzeath
  • Harbour Cove & Hawkers Cove – Padstow
  • Harlyn /Constantine Bay
  • Lusty Glaze
  • Trebarwith Strand
  • Crackington Haven
  • Widemouth Bay – Bude

Coastal Walks

  • Pentire point over to the Rumps and beyond
  • Daymer bay to Polzeath
  • Daymer bay to Rock over Brea Hill via St Enodoc church
  • Boscastle to Tintagel
  • Boscastle to Pentargon waterfall
  • Padstow to Stepper Point.
  • See Southwestcoastpath.org.uk for ideas.

National Trust & Historic England

  • Lanhydrock House & Gardens – near Bodmin
  • Pencarrow – House & Gardens near Wadebridge
  • Prideux Place – House & Gardens - Padstow
  • Pentire Point & The Rumps – Near New Polzeath
  • Bedruthen Steps – Between Padstow & Newquay

Churches:

  • St Nonnas - Altarnun
  • St Cleer – St Cleer
  • St Enodoc – Trebetherick
  • St Breoke - Wadebridge
  • St James – St Kew village
  • St Julittas – Lanteglos near Camelford

Other Gardens:

  • Lost gardens of Heligan – Saint Austell PL26 6EN
  • Eden Project – Bodelva Par – PL24 2SG

Sporting Activities

Surfing etc:

  • Best beaches for water sports – Polzeath, Watergate, Daymer & Fistral.
  • Hire a board / Wet Suit
  • Surf Lessons
  • Sea Safari
  • Kayaking
  • Sailing & Paddle boarding - Rock

For hiring equipment and experiences try:

Cycling, bike hire and Horse Riding

  • Camel trail – Bike Hire at Wadebridge & Padstow
  • Cardinham Woods – Tracks only
  • Hallagenna - Horse riding & Pony trekking across Bodmin Moor - book in advance.

Fishing & Bird watching

  • Unique fishing and bird watching experiences can be arranged with Chris Ogborne, England’s most capped International angler.
  • Day trips can be organised along remote parts of the River Camel or in the Atlantic Ocean. 
  • Fly fishing for Bass on the Doom Bar.
  • Light rock / lure fishing in the Camel estuary.
  • Rock hopping fishing  - tide and weather permitting.
  • Bird watching along the estuary, salt marshes and areas of the North Cornwall coastline looking for Choughs, Oyster Catchers, Cormorants or even a Peregrine Falcon!

 Yoga

  • Private Yoga class - Enjoy some tranquil downtime with some yoga and meditation in the cottage grounds, on the moor or down at the beach -to be booked in advance -subject to weather and instructor availability.

Local walks & TV  Dramas

  • Bodmin Moor
  • Roughtor
  • Brown Willy
  • Collingford Lake
  • Things to look out for: Starling Murmurations (November to January only)
  • Cardinham Woods & Café – ideal for walking, dogs and cycling.

Poldark

  • Charlestown -Truro City, Church Cove - The Shipwreck
  • Porthgwarra – Poldark Swimming
  • St Agnes Head - Nampara Valley
  • Bodmin Moor, Botallack Mine- Wheal Leisure
  • Porthcothan / Porthurno – Nampara Cove
  • Holywell Bay – Beach scenery
  • Kyanance Cove – Nampara
  • Predannack Wollas – Poldark on horseback

Doc Martin

  • Port Isaac & Port Gaverne

Rosamunde Pilcher

  • Lands End, Lizard Penisula, Mounts Bay & Penzance

Wine Tasting & Tours

Please always check the opening times as they can vary according to season.

Lakes in Cornwall

Siblyback Lake 

Set against the striking backdrop of Cornwall’s Bodmin Moor, Siblyback Lake is another of the county’s hidden gems. With a 5km circular walk, great children’s facilities and a café serving artisan coffee and homemade food, you can easily spend an afternoon on the shores here.

Colliford Lake

Colliford is Cornwall’s largest inland body of water, roughly the same size as 682 football pitches! Boasting ample car parking, lovely picnic areas and lakeside walks, this pretty lake is also just a couple miles south of Jamaica Inn – the renowned smugglers’ haunt made (in)famous by Daphne du Maurier.  There is a maze currently under construction at Colliford Lake, it’s called Kedroya, a 56 metre diameter Cornish stone hedge celebrating 60 years of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. If you didn’t know, Cornish hedges can be very old, perhaps 4000 years. Try and find an old one.

Explore Bodmin Moor and its Bronze Age history

Bodmin Moor, the largest of the Cornish granite uplands, has long been recognised to have exceptional preservation of archaeological remains; it forms one of the best recorded upland landscapes in England. The extensive relict landscapes of Prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval date which provide direct evidence for human exploitation of the moor from the earliest Prehistoric period onwards. A short walk from The Lambing Shed, the monument on Carne Down has a range of incorporated, well preserved, contemporary settlement features and is associated with funerary monuments on Carne Down summit and other Prehistoric settlement sites and co-axial field systems on the West slope. Bray Down is also a nice walk from the cottage with its Bronze Age funerary monument. 

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