Penpol
Sleeps 8-12
Mevagissey, Cornwall
Sand, seals and sharks
Get sand between your toes at Portmellon, Portloe, or Polstreath, or wild-swim Talland Bay. Watch for seals and dolphins on the ferry to Fowey. Go sharking on the Bessie Vee, bouldering at Tide, and pigeon-popping at Cruggan Farm. See Europe’s largest garden-restoration project. End the day with cocktails at The Sharksfin.
Kids Ahoy!
Cornwall is Beach Central and you can get sand between your toes at Portmellon, Portloe, Polstreath, and Gorren Haven, and wild-swim Talland Bay. Leave with a new skill – taming the waves with The Cornwall Surf Academy. Or take the ferry to Fowey and keep an eye out for seals and dolphins.
Ever wondered what happened to the gold bars and copper ingots recovered from the Titanic? You’ll find many artefacts on display at the Shipwreck Treasure Museum, plus 8,000 other bits and bobs from 150 different shipwrecks. Or take a mackerel-fishing trip and bring your catch home for supper.
Lace up your boots to soak up some vitamin D on the South West Coast Path between King’s Wood and Pentewan Valley, or Mevagissey to Portmellon. Head underground at Carnglaze Caverns to see the crystal-clear lake. And marvel at the biodomes and catch the entertainment at The Eden Project.
Unearth a dark past at Bodmin Jail Museum and see the mysteries of the deep at Mevagissey Aquarium. Steam along the Bodmin and Wenford Railway or feel like a giant at Polperro Model Village. Get up close to wildlife at Screech Owl Sanctuary. Or see 30 trains chug through tiny landscapes at World of Model Railways.
For the grown ups
Catch some culture at the clifftop Minack Theatre or St Ives Tate Gallery. Explore the coast on two wheels with a bike from Pentewan Valley Cycle Centre or Mevagissey Museum, full of donated local artefacts. Enjoy a lovely country walk with the bonus of 18 holes of golf at James Braid-designed St Austell Golf Course.
Take a trip on the Bessie Vee for angling and sharking. Challenge yourself to make it out alive at Twilight Escape Rooms. Enjoy bouldering and rope climbing under one roof at The Tide Climbing Centre. Keep the clay pigeon population down at Cruggan Farm. Or paddleboard, kayak, windsurf or hire boats from Cornwall Watersports.
Book a pedicure or manicure at home in Penpol with Glo Pamper. Or head out for pampering at Carlyon Bay Spa or The Clearing Spa. Learn all about beer-making from grain to glass at St Austell Brewery or try a tipple in Tarquin’s tasting rooms and leave with some lovely gin.
Plenty of history around here, so make sure you see National Trust homes and gardens such as Trerice and Lanhydrock, the castle at Caerhays and the Lost Gardens of Heligan, Europe’s largest garden-restoration project. Shop the fascinating independents of Mevagissey and Truro and end the day with cocktails at The Sharksfin.
