Cornwall is a fantastic region in the UK for families (as well as other types of visitors). This county offers so much to do for the little one’s, it is no surprise a lot of people come here during the summer months to relax, to explore, to check out the local culture. Cornwall has a lot of gorgeous beaches, rolling hills of the countryside, picturesque villages and a lot of history. I mean a lot! There are castles to check out, mines to explore and follow the steps of King Arthur and Merlin. There are plenty of chances to get out there and take it all in, from Lands End to the River Tamar, the Eden Project to Bude, the Lizard to St Ives, Cornwall has it all. With my family, we have visited Cornwall several times and we keep going back, always finding something new on each visit.
St Ives
I start off with the most popular area in Cornwall for holiday makers which is St Ives (ok, Newquay is also a top spot as well before someone argues with me!). I want to start off with this, a famous rhyme about the town.
As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives,
Each wife had seven sacks,
Each sack had seven cats,
Each cat had seven kits,
Kits, cats, sacks and wives,
How many were there going to St. Ives?
The answer to the riddle is one, because the narrator is the only one stated to be going to St. Ives. The riddle is a trick that assumes everyone mentioned is going to St. Ives, but the narrator is actually going in the opposite direction. Anyway, why St. Ives? Why should families go to St. Ives? The first reason has to be the beaches, and the town has quite a few of them. The main beach we visited was Porthminster Beach which is near the train station. Porthminster Beach is another favourite for families, especially with younger kids. At low tide, the shallow water is just right for paddling, there are lots of places to get food and drink and plenty of sand to play and build sand fortresses on.
The town itself is an excellent place to have a wander around, checking out the quirky shops, sit down for eating and drinking (don’t forget to check out the Sloop Inn, one of the oldest pubs in England), and for the more cultured, there is the Tate Gallery with a lot of beautiful art. For the more long distance walkers, the town is on the South West Coastal Path which runs from Minehead in Somerset, all the way along the coast through North Devon, Cornwall, South Devon and finishes in Poole, Dorset. Hopefully one day I will challenge this.
My top tip for St.Ives is, if you have a car, park at St Erth train station just off the A30 and catch a train from there to St Ives. The journey isn’t long, it takes in Carbis Bay and the views are beautiful on a sunny day. The reason I say this is that driving around St Ives is a nightmare and parking is very limited.
Godrevy Head on the other side of St Ives Bay is an excellent place to spot seals and this can be done all year around. There is a small car park which is managed by the National Trust. It is a bit of a walk but head to Mutton Cove and at the top of the cliffs, look down to the beach to see them lying there. It is an amazing sight.
Lizard Point
England’s and the United Kingdom’s mainland most southerly point where the Atlantic Ocean meets the English Channel. The peninsula is surrounded on three sides by the ocean and on one side by the Helford River. The landscape here is truly amazing. The Lizard Point also has the South West Coastal Path passing through so this is a hiker's heaven around here. The name “Lizard” is derived from the Old Cornish dialect. The word “Lys” means courtroom or fortress, and the word “Ardh” means height or high place. Thus, “Lysardh,” or Lizard, would mean a high courtroom on a high place (appropriate for the region’s cliffs). The name is not thought to have any connection to lizards.
The Lizard is a great place to explore if you are a fan of fishing villages, independent art galleries, fresh seafood and country markets. The Lizard Peninsula has been recognized as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).The Lizard Peninsula’s unusual geography, history, hiking in gorgeous landscape, and well-maintained roads make it worth visiting. Moreover, the area’s multitude of restaurants serving regional fare, shops with locally made wares, and family-run lodging makes this area appealing for families to come down to learn and explore.
Porthleven
Porthleven has one of the most impressive harbours in Cornwall which has been standing for nearly 200 years. Located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Porthleven is a perfect base for exploring this magical coastline with fantastic places to visit, local beaches and wonderful eateries to stop by. Its relaxing atmosphere and panoramic views across Mount’s Bay make it a destination that people return to again and again, I know that for sure because we want to return also! The beaches on this part of the coastline are amazing however for me, Porthleven is one of the best places to go out and eat (and drink!). Porthleven offers everything from quirky cafes to fine dining restaurants, all serving fresh, seasonal foods. With the variety of venues and menus, you’ll no doubt find something to please everyone. One of our favourites is a restaurant called Amelie’s (not just because our eldest daughter is also named Amelie), but this quirky restaurant serves fantastic fresh food, great service, the price was in our budget, and they were great with children. I highly recommend coming here. Also the pubs are great places to go and have a chat with the locals.
Perranporth
Perranporth is a small coastal town which lies south of Newquay and north of Hayle (and again lies on the South West Coastal Path). The reason why this town is on the list is because of the beach! It's amazing and one of our favourites. When its low tide, the beach is wide and golden and goes on for miles (however when the sea comes in, get back to land quickly!). The area is also great for surfing and there are a lot of rocks to climb (only do this if you know what ya doing!) and rock pools to discover. Also it has England’s only pub on a beach, ‘The Watering Hole’ which is ideal to get the drinks in or grab a bite to eat. Very child friendly.
Healey's Cornish Cyder Farm
This Cyder (that’s the Cornish word for Cider) farm is worth visiting even if you don’t like the strong fizzy alcoholic apple juice. I came here when I was a child with my folks but now I took my family. It has gone with an upgrade since I last remembered it but we still had a blast. We did a tractor tour around the orchards and spent lots of money in the shop. Olga and I love our cider. We took lots of it home with us, especially the Rattler. There is a small museum display near the shop to check out. There are tours of where the cider is made but as we were short on time and had children, we didn’t do the tour (hopefully on our next visit down these parts). The cider farm lies off A3075 road between Newquay and the A30 (Three Burrows turn off).
Tintagel Castle
This is one of the best ruins of a castle in England. Perched on top of high cliff faces, this area is known for the legend of King Arthur and Merlin. Also check out Tintagel village here as there are excellent pubs and dining options here. (Full blog post on Tintagel Castle will be online shortly).
Hidden Valley Discovery Park
Hidden Valley Discovery Park is near Launceston and we had a total blast here! The kids really enjoyed themselves. There are three main activities: the Indiana Trail; the Sherlock Holmes Trail; and Moriarty’s Missions in the Forbidden Mansion.
The Indiana Trail is the easiest out of the three and the kids enjoyed it. You have to follow a series of ropes which all lead to clues containing the shadow of a mystery character, a number and a letter. At the end of the trail you have to add up all the numbers and figure out a word from the anagram of letters that you collected as well as know all of the names of the shadows. It’s all in a relatively self contained area of the grounds and the girls had fun chasing around following the ropes and working out the answers. Then we did the Sherlock Holmes Trail. This one is meant to be for adults but having kids on the team really helped! It involves a map with grid references and fifteen clues containing a mixture of maths problems, brain teasers and physics challenges.
The final activity was Moriarty’s Missions in the Forbidden Mansion. There were upside down rooms, rooms that got smaller and tiny spaces to crawl through. For this activity you get a keycard loaded with eighteen minutes of time. Within the mansion there are six missions to complete in various different rooms and each mission challenges your memory, dexterity, visual responses, sequencing and ability to solve brain teasers. You get three minutes maximum per mission and a countdown clock ticking away that adds to the sense of urgency and pressure as you’re trying to solve the challenge. If you solve the problem in less than three minutes it’s a bonus, you can see how much time you have left at the end of all six missions. Olga really enjoyed solving Moriarty’s missions, however Amelie thought it was a little bit scary in some places.
Once you’ve completed all three activities, you can go back to the reception area and input your answers into a giant machine on the wall and for every correct answer you get it lights up a lightbulb!
Bude
Bude is Cornwall’s most northerly town and has been a popular seaside resort since Victorian times. This stretch of coastline has long been known for its shipwrecks, excellent surfing and outstanding natural beauty. Today Bude is a lovely get-away which is often missed on the usual tourist trail as people bypass it heading to the more well-known places further south.
As well as checking out the sea pool and parts of the South West Coastal Path, the kids really enjoyed checking out the Bude canal, which was built in 1823 and used to run for thirty-five miles transporting goods to the nearby town of Launceston. These days just a few miles are navigable but you can hire boats and pedalos for an hour or two from the centre of Bude. We had so much fun going up and down the canal.
Looe
Looe which lies on the southern shores in South-Eastern Cornwall is a massive holiday destination throughout the year with thousands of people either staying in the area or taking a day trip to Looe. For most of the season the car parks are usually overflowing with visitors and coach trips so you may find the best way to visit is via the local trains. There’s a wonderful stretch of branch line which follows Looe valley from Liskeard.
Like the rest of Cornwall, Looe is built on a steep incline and in a valley so the views are unique and amazing. Looe is split down the middle by a river bed with steep sides to both East and West Looe. The rolling Cornish countryside can be seen stretching inland with the town and beach found right at the bottom of the valley. A lot of hikers come here to walk the route to Polperro and back (about five miles each way and quite hilly) and is also part of the South West Coastal Path.
In East Looe we took in the quirky shops, got some amazing ice cream, saw the boats go out towards the nearby Looe Island and of course, we took in the beach which is one of the best in this area. The pubs looked awesome as well and wanted to check them out (shame I had the kids with me).
Polperro
Not far from Looe is Polperro, a fishing village which has to be checked out. There are buses which go here from Looe but if you have a car, as soon as you enter the village, you must park the car in the car park at the roundabout (it is signposted). The village is not designed for cars, they are very narrow and there will probably be thousands of people walking around. Do not drive into the village!
With rule number one out of the way, rule number two, enjoy it! It is such a beautiful village. As a photographer, I love taking photos of the pretty white houses from different angles. I could have spent another day doing this if I wanted to. I also love the fact that Polperro was once a smuggling haven. However and historically, the village thrived as a centre for the pilchard fishing industry (we also had lunch at The Three Pilchards which I highly recommend). In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, secret tunnels and hidden coves around the village were used to transport goods with no tax being paid on them. These days, fishing is still a big part of the villager’s lifestyle but also relies on artists and tourists to bring in the extra income. Polperro has a lot of that Cornish charm which is waiting for you to discover.
So there you have it. These are the top places we found that are really ideal for families when visiting Cornwall. We are regular visitors to the region and always go to different places each time, so hopefully I will be adding extras onto this post very soon.
Post updated: February 2025.
Essential information on Cornwall
How to get to Cornwall: There are plenty of airports in South England, ranging from Cardiff, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Newquay, however most visitors to the UK will pass through one of London’s airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, City, Southend and then take public transport of drive a rental car to Cornwall. The first place I would go to find airline tickets to the city is using (I would recommend) Skyscanner to find flights as that is my first point of call. Then if necessary use the airlines directly to find a good deal. I sometimes use Momondo as well to compare prices before booking.
By train from London, visitors will need Great Western trains out of London Paddington station and will stop at various Cornish stations such as St Austell, Truro, Penzance. However with Cornwall away from the main train line, it is best to get a car rental as Cornwall is very rural and public transport with buses is limited.
Car Rentals - as I do a lot of road trips around the world, I use Rentalcars.com which is very reliable for booking car hire in advance. I also use Turo (the airbnb of car rentals) and never had a problem with them. The cars are insured, owners vetted and never had an issue.
Accommodation: There are a lot of accommodation options and a lot of websites which can do some great deals. My first point of call is always Booking.com and can offer a range of hostels, hotels, campsites, apartments, guesthouses and bed and breakfasts.. After that I always have a look through AirBnb and Vrbo for great deals on apartments and other lodgings especially when traveling as a family.
Currency: England uses the British Pound. Currency can be exchanged at the airports and train stations (for a huge fee) so I would recommend either going to a currency exchange place downtown, to a bank (if they have good rates) or if you got a good bank account with fantastic exchange rates, then use an ATM machine (may incur a small fee but I always do this option as I got good bank accounts). A great website I use to compare currency exchange rates is XE, which gives people up to date information.
Language: England uses the English language and is used all over the country. Just to point out there are many dialects and other languages like Cornish-Gaelic used in the country but everyone who speaks English will understand other dialects from other regions.
Travel insurance: This is essential to anywhere you go in the world. I always carry travel insurance. Having travel insurance will cover you from theft, illness and those annoying cancellations which can happen on the road. Safety Wing offers coverage for a lot of adventure activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and so forth.
Need a visa for the UK? Always check if you need a visa when coming to the United Kingdom. Since leaving the European Union because of BrExit in January 2020, visa rules apply for those coming from the European Union.
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