on 19/04/2023
Summer is on the horizon! Easter is in the rear view mirror, Whitsun Half-Term is round the corner and the evenings are brighter than they've been in 7 months! Which means Cornwall is about to be afloat with vacationing families, each looking for the optimal entertaining/ relaxing Cornish family retreat.
Now, it is easy to just rank 5 properties by how well they fit the bill (which is something we will almost definitely be doing soon) but the bigger question that needs answered is where is the best AREA to be rooted in for your escape on the English riviera.
Cornwall is by in large a driving man's game. It is deceptively enormous and many of it's most famous attractions, such as the Lizard, Kynance Cove and the Eden Project, are exclusively accessible via road travel. This causes some to argue the individual town you book your stay in for the week is of little significance because you'll be driving everywhere anyway.
And though this 'Cornwall is Cornwall' argument is not without legs, there are still some HUGE benefits to some areas in comparison to others. The most obvious of these is that some neighbourhoods come equipt with lovely restaurants, pubs and walks to the beach - so that you can enjoy all we have to offer with a glass of wine in hand. Which is a far cry from alternating designated driver responsibilities on what is meant to be your summer holiday.
In this, our list of the best areas to stay for families considers the walkable attractions of the area, the restaurant scene, how well connected it is to other popular areas and how busy or too busy it might be in the summer months. And with that clarified, this is our list of the top 5 towns, areas and neighbourhoods to stay in Cornwall for families (in the summer).
Newquay is great if you have older children but it's also absolutely mobbed in the summer. Which is okay if you don't mind a bit of bustle with your hustle but it makes it hard to characterise the area as 'relaxing'. That being said, the entertainment factor is through the roof. Every event in the world seems to take place in Newquay in the summer including a music festival headlined by Florence and the Machine. Fistral Beach is also one of Cornwall's best for surfing, most iconic and largest - which makes it ideal for finding a spot for your troop for the day. Overall, despite dropping points for bustle, we give it a 4.5/5.
Oddly, this seems to us to be the place to go for the picture perfect Cornish holiday with the kids. There's just more room for a stroll and a sandlecastle than in St Ives. Bude has a little bit of victorian history and everything else you could want. Don't get us wrong, St Ives is still in this list and is higher than fourth, but Bude is quieter, full of delightful places to eat and drink and beautiful in it's own right. The only reason it's been knocked down the list is how far it is from the rest of Cornwall. Bude sits in the North East of Cornwall, as North and as East as you can go. Which means that attractions like the Lizard, or even St Ives, are near two hours in the car. 4.5/5.
Under-rated in our mind, is the active, coastal Falmouth. Falmouth is a beautiful coastal town right on the water that tops the list for dolphin (even whale) spotting every single year. On top of this marine life acitvity, the area has a charming arts community, a buzzing restaurant and pub scene and enough knick-knack and vintage shops to keep the antique roadshow in business for at least another few years. The town is utterly beautiful on a sunny day and it's another area that benefits in our minds from not being as busied by tourists as Newquay or St Ives. 5/5
An unexpected addiciton for many of you is Truro. The only city on this list and Cornwall's true capital is somewhere between Falmouth and St Ives both geographically and in it's look and feel. Truro is bursting with great food, shops, even escape rooms and is extremely well connected for further exploration. This bumps it up to near the top of the options on our list as it is the only one from which you can travel to all of the others very easily by train. This well-connectedness does make up for it's lack of beaches somewhat but this is still a downside. Overall we recommend Truro if you prefer to drive to your days out and walk to your evenings on the town. 5/5.
Okay this one you probably saw coming. Despite it's busyness, which might not be ideal for familieis with the smallest children - picture a toddler running into a crowd the size of a village for reference - it is without a doubt a 5/5. St Ives just has more magic in it for some reason. People visit St Ives every year for 50 years, which is something that few other places can boast. St Ives feel like somewhere people laugh and fall in love in more than in other place. It is also a tiny coastal town with it's own Tate Gallery which is incredibly cool. Overall: busy and magical.
And that's our list! Comment down below if you think we missed one of your favourites! And follow us on Facebook and Instagram to hear the latest about the best places in Cornwall for Families!
