Hundreds of sandy beaches along the way culminate at the end of the UK at the promontory of Land’s End. So, for a sociable seaside family escape, a romantic retreat, a magical mystery tour, an adrenaline-packed break, or a scenery-spotting short-stay, charming Cornwall really does have it all.

North Cornwall

Adventurers who love extreme sports, crashing waves, huge surf, craggy cliffs and spectacular scenery tend to head to the north coast, which was surely carved by the ocean.

It is an awesome place to visit all year round, and not just for its dazzling coastline. The villages and towns are attractive, too. Atlantic waves for surfing and coasteering are a massive attraction in the north of Cornwall, where steep cliffs and granite steps cradle the sandy coves.

For others, the majestic scenery is simply soul-stirring. Said to be Sir john Betjeman’s favourite stretch of Cornwall, looking out to sea in the fresh natural ozone of the morning is mesmerising and revitalising, the seascape constantly changing in nature’s own spa. Take a deep breath and slowly exhale to feel the wonder.

While here, don’t miss: Bedruthan Steps, Boscastle, Bude, Chapel Porth, Padstow, Port Isaac, St Nectan’s Glen and Tintagel.

South Cornwall

Lovers of the picturesque will be drawn to the scenic south coast. If you wander the winding roads down to the characterful tiny fishing villages, with their tales of smuggling and romance, you will find the south coast full of surprises, characterised by hidden rocky coves and prettily wooded valleys.

Whitewashed fishermen’s cottages take you back in time along the Cornish waterfront of quaint harbours, while inland, world-renowned sub-tropical gardens and the lush tranquil scenery along the Helford River is calming and relaxing.

While here, don’t miss: Charlestown, Eden Project, Falmouth, Fowey, Looe, Mevagissey, Polperro (which has the smallest shop in Britain) and the Roseland Peninsula.

West Cornwall

West Cornwall juts out into the Atlantic, giving it a sense of an untamed wilderness. This narrow strip of land has links to both stretches of coastline. If you stand on the summit of Trencrom Hill or Chapel Carn Brea, you can see to both sides. The moorlands are semi-barren here, with some believing inland is the ‘real Cornwall’, with its tin-mining heritage. Maybe, and it is certainly worth a visit, but by contrast to the industrial heritage, the coastline is an artist’s delight. There is something special about the light in West Cornwall. Its soft romantic glow is Mediterranean, of the type needing no filter. A place to bathe in creativity.

While here, don’t miss: Botallack, Kynance Cove, Mousehole (Mouzel), Minack, Penwith Moors, Penzance, Porthcurno, St Michael’s Mount and of course St Ives.

Places to visit

Did you know that the influential writer D.H. Lawrence lived in Zennor during World War I with his wife, Frieda?

To be fair, the locals were rather suspicious of Lawrence, a pacifist, and his German wife, yet still he described Zennor poetically:

“One sees infinite Atlantic, all peacock mingled colours, and the gorse is sunshine itself. Zennor is a most beautiful place.” See it for yourself.

Meanwhile, the satirical Poet Laureate, Sir John Betjeman was inspired by the beauty of Daymer Bay, a beautiful golden sandy beach at the head of the Camel Estuary. He lived at Trebetherick and is buried near there at St Enodoc Church, so you can visit his final resting place in a land of “oil-lit farms” and “golden unpeopled bays”. A walk across Greenaway – the cliff-top stretch between Polzeath and Trebetherick Point – takes in many of the poet’s old haunts.

The Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas, was married in Cornwall and went on honeymoon to Mousehole in the 1930s; he was a great fan of the Ship Inn on the harbour. Did Mousehole provide inspiration for the village in Under Milk Wood? See what you think as the real identity of his fictional ‘Welsh’ fishing village of Llareggub remains unknown.

Cornwall’s very own poet, Charles Causley, was born and died in Launceston. He made many references to Cornwall and its legends, but also wrote poems for children. His house, Cyprus Well, in Launceston is mainly used for ‘writers in residence’ but look out for occasional open days. Meanwhile, there are guided walks along The Causley Way and a July annual festival held in historic Launceston, home to a Norman castle, and once the ancient capital of the duchy.

Meanwhile, the children’s classic, Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame was thought to be inspired by the village of Lerryn, near Lostwithiel, so look out for Ratty, Moley or Badger if you go there. Godrevy Lighthouse, exposed to the full fury of the Atlantic, was said to have been often ‘gazed upon’ during childhood summers, said to have inspired Virginia Woolf in To The Lighthouse. Novelist Mary Wesley’s The Camomile Lawn is also based in a setting stretching down to the Cornish cliffs.

How enchanting to take a cultural tour of Cornwall, all easily accessible by road from anywhere in the county.

To more modern times, the well-loved author, Daphne du Maurier, is synonymous with Cornwall, where a festival in her honour takes place annually in her hometown of Fowey. She is perhaps best known for her tale of smuggling, wreckers and rogues in the Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor. The Inn, once a coaching house, has expanded but the old building remains with a fine collection of smuggling memorabilia.

Meanwhile, the west of Cornwall is known for its artist-inspired communities at St Ives, where hands, hearts and minds come together. Here you can visit the awesome Tate Gallery and the impressive Barbara Hepworth Studio, or the Leach Pottery. Newlyn has its own art gallery, well worth a visit, associated with the Lamorna colony of British artists. Nearby, Penzance has the Penlee House art gallery, St Just is home to lots of individual galleries, while Truro is awash with creatives, museums and galleries.

J M W Turner visited Cornwall between 1811 and 1813, capturing the region’s wonderful light in his watercolours in his own special way. It might be said that he encouraged a whole raft of artists to discover the creative vibe that is Cornwall. If you enjoy painting yourself, you will have plenty of inspiration, so bring your easel or a sketchpad. A few books have been written about walking the south-west coast path, such as The Salt Path, so again there are plenty of recommendations for you within contemporary literature, too.

It is not just the landscape, however, as contemporary singer-songwriter Tori Amos explained: “I know people sometimes have this fantasy about Cornwall. But the Cornish are so grounded”. Cornish community-spirit is renowned, and you will find it wherever you go.

For visitors today there is so much to see, whether you are a walker/beach lover, a food and drink aficionado or simply here on a family holiday keen to check out the local attractions in Cornwall.

These are served with a contemporary Cornish twist alongside vegetables grown in the mild local climate, from asparagus to potatoes, cauliflower to wild garlic. For foraged foods, meat from grass-fed cattle, organic produce and as environmentally friendly food as possible, Cornwall leads the way.

Bringing the chef to you

What many people do not know is that they can book their own private chef when on holiday in Cornwall, such as Craig Barrett in St Austell, Haydn Treneary in Truro, Martin Davies in Newquay, Dave Sargent in Bude and the talented Dan, The Cornish Chef. If you want to bring the restaurant to you and your party for a special occasion, with rustic but hearty home cooking, then this might be a friendly and cost-effective option.

The perfect pubs in Cornwall

Pubs recommended by our visitors as something just a little different include The Barrel at Bude, the Sloop Inn at St Ives, Beerwolf at Falmouth and the Watering Hole at Perranporth, among others (see the guide).

Some pubs have a long history of smuggling and local legends; others are newer but equally characterful. Cornwall’s favourite lager is Korev, just the ticket on a hot day, while ales, craft-keg beers, ciders and now homegrown gins and rums are available in most Cornish pubs.

Some pubs still provide the ‘honeymoon drink’ Cornish Mead, sweet and potent but very Cornish (or try Blackberry Wine, which is, be warned, equally potent).

It was used to accompany the finger food of yore eaten in a meadery, an olde-worlde style eating-house where children are usually welcome. Here, there is no china or cutlery but atmosphere by the bucketload.

There is a busy one at Newlyn, one near Falmouth and one at Penzance. On the north coast, the locations of meaderies are St Agnes and slightly inland, Redruth. Newlyn, by the way, is also well known for its crab, which is said to be better than any other crab. Try it and let us know what you think.

If a cream tea is too rich for you, why not try Saffron Buns? They are a little like tea cakes but traditionally contain currants and saffron (a rather expensive spice, so modern versions probably don’t!)

Hevva Cake is another alternative, rather like Lardy Cake, named after the cry from the cliffs when the shoals of pilchards were spotted. Hevva cakes were baked when the pilchards were landed. It can also be a pudding, but avoid if you are vegetarian. For biscuits, Cornish fairings are a little like gingernuts. They are quite widespread in supermarkets.

Cornish Pasties

Going savoury, traditional pasties call for shortcrust pastry encasing beef, potatoes, swede and onion, but there are now, of course, updated vegetarian versions. Some are far, far better than others, so be guided by experience.

The pasty was the fayre of tin miners cooked by their wives or mothers, but also farmers and fishermen – a pasty would be popped in the pocket and taken down the tin mine. A thick crust was used as a handle to hold the pasty to keep it clean and palatable, away from the arsenic on many miners’ hands. A highly efficient food, it was filling, calorific and self-insulated. The saying goes that the pasty must be made in Cornwall to be a proper one.

“It is said that the Devil never crossed the Tamar into Cornwall on

account of the well-known habit of Cornish women of putting everything

into a pasty, and that he was not sufficiently courageous to risk such a fate!”

Other Cornish specialities include Stargazy Pie, which has the heads of oily pilchards sticking out admiring the stars. This was created in Mousehole, legend has it, to celebrate a fisherman, Tom Bawcock, who heroically braved ferocious seas to feed his starving village. Pilchards were once the backbone of Cornish industry, and the reason why fishing villages like Mevagissey, Polperro, Mousehole and St Ives grew. Now known as the Cornish sardine, you will find them at food festivals around the county and even in supermarkets in Cornwall.

Rather more palatable for many is traditional mild Cornish Yarg cheese (a little like Caerphilly), which makes a lovely addition to a Cornish Ploughman’s lunch. This lemony cheese wrapped in non-stingy (removed by freezing) nettles is named after a Cornish farmer, lan Gray (Yarg is Gray spelled backwards). It is exclusively produced from their herd of Ayrshires, by Lynher Dairies near Truro.

Check our guide to best tea/coffee houses in Cornwall, great places to find beach food, cafes and perfect pub food, all of which have their own best-kept secrets.

Of course, you will not want to miss St Michael’s Mount, the spectacular backdrop to many a photo, with free rock pooling events on the causeway for children in summer, plus sub-tropical gardens and a historic castle to visit on the island. It feels like you are crossing to another land, so for children especially, it feels magical whether walking the causeway (low tide) or taking the boat.

If World War II absorbs you, then Glendurgan Garden, Falmouth, on the North Helford coastline was where American troops departed for Normandy on D-Day. Many wartime relics remain in place. Check out the famous cherry laurel maze. The Lost Gardens of Heligan also tell a tale. For they suffered badly when the gardeners were sent off to the Great War in 1914, only to be rediscovered in 1990 and restored by Tim Smit of the Eden Project. Find the much-photographed Giant’s Head or Mud Maid, visit the outdoor jungle area with its Burmese rope bridge, or youngsters might especially like the Rare Breed Farm Centre.

While you’re here – fancy a beach clean?

While at the beach, why not be like a local and do a 2 minute beach clean? The 2 Minute Foundation was started in Bude by writer and surfer, Martin Dorey, whose campaign began in 2013 after furious Atlantic storms battered the beaches of his hometown, Bude. The first #2minutebeachclean stations were placed on 8 Cornish beaches in 2014. There are now over 800 in the UK and Ireland.

It costs nothing to do your bit for the environment and to keep Cornish beaches as plastic-free as possible.