24 of the best things to do in Cornwall

Times

16-07-2025

On a cliff overlooking a surging sea, a bronze knight with wind-tattered robes rests his huge hands on his sword and gazes south. The Gallos statue, inspired by the legend of King Arthur, is at Tintagel Castle, a key attraction in what has long been one of the top UK holiday destinations.
The statue stands on the northeast end of a spectacular coastline that sweeps west towards Land's End before doubling back along the more sheltered southern shore. Along its 422 miles are jagged headlands, placid creeks, immaculate beaches and dozens of cove-sheltered fishing villages, connected by dramatic stretches of coastal path. These shores mesmerise most visitors, but Cornwall has inland attractions too, from megalithic burial chambers to Victorian manor houses with subtropical walled gardens.
The air here is as crisp as champagne, the light is of a brilliance that has inspired generations of artists and the land and the sea are providers of unique food and drink. It's no surprise that Arthur liked it so much. Here are the best things to do in Cornwall.
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The King Arthur legend is woven into all our childhoods, and Tintagel Castle up on the north coast of Cornwall, is ready to fire your imagination. The ruin is on a bridge-connected headland — known as Tintagel Island — that fits the bill perfectly for Arthur and his support team of Lancelot, Percival, Merlin, Guinevere and the rest. It's well worth heading up to the highest point, where the bronze Gallos statue by Rubin Eynon has been placed, suitably insubstantial and unlabelled, given that Arthur may never have existed. Nevertheless, this wind-battered place attracts a whimsical cross-section of enthusiasts hungry for witches' brews, plastic swords and powerful crystals, if the village shops are anything to go by.
From afar, those huge glass domes (aka 'biomes') in a former quarry just outside St Austell look like some kind of alien settlement, and in a way they are. The Eden Project takes you on a journey to other worlds, but without the flight or environmental costs: to the Rainforest, with birdlife and waterfalls, and to the Mediterranean, fragrant with herbs and olive trees. The project has also been developed as a hub for gigs, courses, gastronomy celebrations and various cycling and running competitions — and there's also a zip wire for a bird's-eye view of this exotic paradise.
• Discover our full guide to Cornwall
The Roseland peninsula, on the south coast, across the creek from Falmouth, is Cornwall at its best. Sumptuous rolling countryside, fishing villages, superlative stretches of coast path, tangles of woodland grizzled with lichen and estate manor houses with walled gardens, many of which are open to the public. It knows its value, however, so hotels such as the upmarket Tresanton in St Mawes and the Nare along the coast, presiding over Carne beach, are some of the priciest in Cornwall. Alternatively, stay at Roseland Porth Farm House, a National Trust property that is a five-minute walk from pretty Sandy Towan beach.
Read our full review of Hotel Tresanton
The southwest coast has played a big role in defending the UK against invaders, and one of its most historic fortresses guards the entrance to the first safe haven, Carrick Roads in Falmouth. Pendennis Castle was built by King Henry VIII, and Tudor, Napoleonic, Victorian and 20th-century guns have all been placed here. During the Second World War the battery had a staff of 99 and the observation post provided a round-the-clock watch. Climb the spiral staircase to the roof to enjoy unparalleled views out to sea.
Cornwall's rich artistic heritage can be attributed to its picturesque seascapes and old fishermen's and miners' cottages. The centre of the artistic community is St Ives, where narrow lanes behind the harbour brim with galleries. Overlooking Porthmeor beach, Tate St Ives — despite resembling a municipal swimming pool from the outside — reveals an interior architectural design that complements its seaside setting. The gallery houses works by artists including Matisse and Picasso alongside local luminaries such as Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth, who put St Ives on the map.
In the days before tourism, mining of tin and copper was the mainstay of the Cornish economy, and it was back-breaking work. Ruined chimneys and engine houses from old mines are a feature of the northern coastline, and to get a snapshot of what life was like head for St Agnes, which is surrounded by ruins and has a small museum. Miners would walk from here to Wheal Coates, its 19th-century chimney and now a gesture of single-fingered defiance amid the heather and gorse of the wind-seared shore.
The more exposed northern shores of Cornwall may be windier than the sheltered south, but that also means waves, rolling in from the Atlantic. Accordingly, the cheerful resort town of Newquay has cut its cloth to match the conditions, with surf hire and lessons on Towan and Fistral beaches and accompanying inexpensive accommodation. It's a slightly different story just up the coast at Watergate Bay, where the smarter surfing dudes hang out, do their yoga and watch for the waves from the hotel pool.
With one of the largest natural harbours in the country, it's not surprising that Falmouth has a long history of naval engagements. These days its shipyard is busy with luxury yachts, but there is still a good chance of catching a glimpse of naval hulls, especially if you jump on the ferry that saunters across the Carrick Roads to St Mawes. Alternatively, climb up to where Pendennis Castle lords it over the comings and goings in the harbour. The town has a surprisingly good beach and some classic Victorian seaside hotels.
falmouth.co.uk
Mining has a long history in Cornwall and local miners were once much in demand overseas, but the only excavations in the county these days are the giant pits created for the extraction of China clay around St Austell. Some of these are defunct (including the one that hosts the biomes of the Eden Project) and are viewable from walking trails. But occasionally the industry intersects with the holiday world, as when the clay freighters nose their way up the creek at Fowey, dwarfing all the waterside houses and striking fear into the hearts of any small boat owners in their path.
explorecornwall.org
Ask a dozen people which is their favourite Cornish beach and you'll get a dozen answers. Broadly, the north coast beaches are more golden, bigger and wilder, so better for dog-walking (Perranporth ) and surfing (Watergate Bay), while the southern shores are intimate, sheltered and great for families who need access to shops and facilities (Looe) or those who don't mind a steep descent from the coast path (Lantic Bay). Fistral is a headline attraction, but the great thing about Cornwall is that there'll always be a beach around the corner that is just right for you.
visitcornwall.com
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The humble Cornish pasty is at the heart of a £300 million industry. Fleets of lorries leave Cornwall at dawn to distribute them nationwide, and you can't legally call a pasty 'Cornish' unless it was made west of the Devon border. Within the county, nearly every high street boasts a pasty shop, each proud of its offerings. Noteworthy shops include Portreath Bakery in Portreath, Chough Bakery by the quay in Padstow and Sarah's Pasty Shop in Looe.
cornishpastyassociation.co.uk
The most southwesterly points on the UK mainland have very different profiles despite being just 30 miles apart. Land's End has family attractions such as 4D pirate films and a Wallace and Gromit experience, and its visitor crowds are sprinkled with excited or dazed end-to-end cyclists either setting out for or arriving from John o' Groats. Lizard Point, the most southerly landfall, is basically a lonely lighthouse backed by a small settlement, where you should seek out the bright yellow Ann's Pasties bakery shop.
landsend-landmark.co.uk
The South West Coast Path throws a spectacular lasso around Cornwall, with every other step producing a new outlook over gorse-topped headlands and into clearwater coves. If you like it wild there is lots of choice, but for a meander through fern-filled woodland and across creeks that mixes still green waters, a couple of ferry glides and striking views of a typical Cornish fishing village, try the National Trust's circular (and signposted) Fowey Hall Walk.
nationaltrust.org.uk
Less well known than its mirror image, Mont St Michel in Normandy, but nevertheless spiritually, topographically and historically fascinating, this island sits in Mount's Bay, at the end of a tidal causeway leading out from the small, salty town of Marazion. Unlike Mont St Michel, its harbour village still has a year-round population (of around 30), while the fortified priory above has been home to the St Aubyn family since the mid-1600s. Access to the island is strictly by ticket only from April to September, with boat crossings at high tide; visitors can walk across the causeway at low tide. National Trust members are required to pay boat fares when booking, but not island admission fees. In winter access to the island is free for trust members.
stmichaelsmount.co.uk
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Until 1975 the best of Cornish cuisine was nothing to write home about. But then Rick Stein settled into the pretty estuarine port of Padstow and made it a personal crusade to show the nation the wonderful things that can be done with fish. His seafood restaurant serves showpiece dishes such as lobster thermidor and turbot hollandaise, but he also has a variety of other outlets, including a delicatessen, a bistro, a café, various forms of accommodation and a chippie. His cookery school, on the quay along from the National Lobster Hatchery (which his enterprises support), attracts foodies of all sizes.
rickstein.com
Eden Project apart, there's a choice of tourist attractions worth a full day when you need a break from the beach. In Falmouth, the National Maritime Museum Cornwall does a good job of telling stories about seafaring adventures, with five floors of boats, including one below the waterline. For youngsters, the RNLI Rescue Zone has ride-on rescue vehicles, a dressing-up area and information about sea safety. Alongside its permanent collection, the museum hosts exhibitions and events that dive deep into watery goings-on from surfing to smuggling.
nmmc.co.uk
Overshadowed by neighbouring Dartmoor, Cornwall has its own rugged moorland, with rock stacks, or tors, bronze age burial chambers and stone circles. Even in peak season it feels as though there is practically nobody here. Bodmin Moor rises to 420m (1,378ft) above sea level at a peak called Brown Willy (possibly derived from Cornish words meaning 'highest hill'). Traditionally a place of tin and copper mines, of which many ruins remain, this was also a smugglers' hideout, as celebrated in Daphne du Maurier's Jamaica Inn — the building immortalised in the book title is still a landmark of hospitality in the centre of the moor.
cornwalls.co.uk/bodmin
Most of the Cornish road network is too hilly and busy for bikes, but this traffic-free trail follows the route of an old railway line for 18 miles from Bodmin via Wadebridge to Padstow, ending up alongside the picturesque Camel estuary. Inland there's a chance of spotting otters and kingfishers, while the sandbanked estuary can look like a slice of the Caribbean when the sun shines. On the far bank is the village of Rock, which hit the headlines in the late 1990s when sixth-formers came here to party, in the footsteps of two blokes called William and Harry.
padstowcyclehire.com/the-camel-trail
The Gulf Stream-warmed air of Cornwall means that spring comes early to these shores. Some of the region's aristocratic gardens, such as Caerhays, open in February, while the likes of Trebah and the Lost Gardens of Heligan are open year-round. The Lost Gardens of Heligan is the subject of a heartwarming story: rediscovered in the 1990s, it is effectively an open-air museum of 19th-century horticulture that spent the interim slumbering undisturbed in the woods — like its Mud Maid plant and rock sculpture.
heligan.com
Frenchman's Creek, on the Helford River, is one of those placid, serene blades of water lined with ancient oaks and the bones of old boats that lends itself to storytelling. At its mouth, a little foot ferry scampers back and forth between two characterful pubs; in its narrows, at the village of Gweek, a traditional boatyard recreates old wooden sailing boats. Voyage upriver by kayak or paddleboard, watched by hungry herons, with the jolly operator Koru Kayaking.
korukayaking.co.uk
The creeks and bays of the south Cornish coast are ideal for sailing boats, with plenty of anchorages and shelter when it cuts up rough. And there's a long tradition of handsome classic wooden yachts in the region, particularly pilot cutters, often seen anchored in elegant St Mawes or historic Charlestown, with its film-set good looks, or up the creek in Fowey. Several of these beauties, such as Twister, Tallulah and Moosk, do multiday mooching along the shore and across to the Isles of Scilly, with great camaraderie and food.
classic-sailing.com
The village of Looe, on the south coast, not far from the Devon border, used to be overlooked in the holiday stampede westwards. But this beach resort and fishing port that lines the banks of the Looe River is now reaching a new audience thanks to Beyond Paradise, a supposedly Devon-based spinoff of the long-running Caribbean-based Death in Paradise that is actually filmed in Cornwall. Its storylines are based around a wide range of whimsical, larger-than-life characters, and as a result Looe's web of narrow lanes housing pasty bakeries and fudge pantries is getting ever busier.
visitcornwall.com/looe
Cornwall's relatively mild winters mean that the flower we most associate with the arrival of spring, the daffodil, blooms here as early as Christmas. Commercially grown daffodils colour the Cornish hills in screaming stripes, although if there's too much yellow that suggests that it's been too warm and the flowers have outrun the pickers. This means that winter visitors to the county can return upcountry bearing bunches of daffs as beacons of hope. Farms such as Fentongollan, near Truro, are happy to receive visitors and sell you a bunch or two.
flowerfarm.co.uk
It must be one of the most extraordinary settings in the world — the open-air Minack Theatre carved into the granite cliffs above Porthcurno beach, near Land's End. Here the challenge for those on stage is getting the audience to concentrate on their performance, rather than on passing dolphins. This creation of the eccentric, theatre-loving Rowena Cade, who started to build it with her gardener and others in 1929, hosts everything from comedy to string quartets, and some Shakespeare too.
minack.com
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What is your favourite activity when you visit Cornwall? Please share your thoughts in the comments below