Why is everyone obsessed with Cornwall?

[thefoggiest]

Disclaimer: I've never actually been!

But why traditionally cornwall and not say the isle of wight, or sussex, or east Anglia?

I guess I can understand flocking to the southernmost tip back in the 60s when there would be washout summers but (thanks global warming!) isn't it time to branch out a bit now?

Are you the worst type of tourist who thinks that they are almost a local as they like holidaying there often but like to go to non-tourist places on non-tourist days with all of the other non-tourist tourists who clog up life for the locals?

They don't need them in Schengen though, I don't think? Just their national ID card.

I was in Shetland last week, and it was just stunningly beautiful, with beaches that looked very like Cornwall. But they were deserted. I kept thinking that if this had been in Cornwall, it would have been jam packed with people. I suppose the distance and the weather is the difference though.

Have you ever been to Jersey? Laughing at the idea that it never ‘took off’! 😂

DH and I feel like freaks for not understanding the hype of Cornwall. We went last year, not by choice. It was nice, very busy but if you're not beach goers like us, there's not much else. I prefer the Lakes and Scotland.

Dunno. I went once, 20 years ago. Was nice enough. Haven’t been back.

Well, yes, that's pretty clear.

Just the one?

Instagram effect

My friend lives in Cornwall but prefers to visit me during the summer because;

1. You don’t get stuck in constant traffic jams
2. Our beaches are far nicer and
3. We have much more interesting and varied scenery. 😆

I don’t get it either. I’ve been once; we had a nice enough time, and parts of it were very pretty, but it took an eternity to get there (we travelled by train from London to Penzance and I was sure we were ‘nearly there’ around Exeter - cue about another 5 hours of travel time!) it rained for about half our time there, and everywhere we visited - roads, beaches, attractions - was ridiculously overcrowded.

We’ve had far more relaxing and equally scenic holidays in Dorset, Norfolk and Northumberland. And yet it seemed that half our friendship circle dutifully did the pilgrimage down to Cornwall again this summer - there just seems to be some kind of mythical quality about it that I’m somehow not getting!

I think it's a specific FOMO for the middle classes who live in SE England. Londoners in particular seem obsessed with Cornwall.

Up here, people tend to go to Northumberland, or the Lakes.

This, although parts of the Lakes can get hideously touristy as well. It has equally dreadful roads.

Cornwall takes forever to get to and forever to leave (we went many years ago to see the eclipse and lived in Wiltshire at the time and were horrified at how long it took to get to Cornwall). Nice people but not that fussed about going back. North Wales though is fabulous and there was so much to do. One of my top holiday destinations (and I'm Scottish so it takes a good landscape to impress me). Ireland (both NI and Éire) is also very beautiful and the whole of the NE coast is wonderful (I'm closer to Saltburn than Bamburgh though).

It is funny why certain areas become so ridiculously popular and other equally beautiful and accessible areas don't. Cornwall is a longer drive from London than the Lake District or the N Yorkshire coast and comparable to Anglesey. So why go to a place that is a bit of a nightmare to get to rather than somewhere closer (anywhere on the south coast and most of the (much drier) east coast.

I love Cornwall but I am a bit biased because I live here.

However I don’t really get the obsession as there are many just as nice places like Devon, the new forest, the Cotswolds etc.

Maybe because I live here I don’t fully appreciate it as I love going to places like London and Manchester and I’m always so envious of people who live there.

Dp is cornish and I spent 3 weeks there and I definitely don't see the attraction. I live on the wild Atlantic way in Ireland and its far nicer , the people are nicer and I'm only an hour from a major city. There's a lot of poverty in Cornwall, stable employment for people who live there is quite hard to come by. Might be nice for a few days but it's certainly not somewhere I'd be desperate to go and I'd certainly never live there.

No idea. Been several times and seems overrated. Too busy. Not a patch on Norfolk or Wales. I think people just go where they're told is cool.

Living on the edge of the Northumberland countryside and being 80 mins drive to The Lakes I've never felt the need to go to Cornwall. I was on a boat on Ullswater yesterday. Is Cornwall more beautiful than that?

Don't tell anyone but Co Durham has miles of unspoilt unpopulated countryside too. So lucky in the NE.

We holidayed in Cornwall for 20+ years but in the last 5 years we've noticed the locals becoming quite hostile to visitors.

Then there's the cost. The last few times we've gone to book anything in Cornwall it's easily been £2,000 more than the equivalent accommodation in equally lovely places so we're not bothering again. This summer we had a fortnight in an amazing cottage in Northumberland for £2.5k. A week in an apartment in Cornwall £3.6k for the same time - so £1,000 more for half ghe holiday time. No hot tubs, pools or anything super luxurious either.

Pembrokeshire, Anglesey and Northumberland are equally lovely, less crowded and better value for money.

Currently in Cornwall.
The county is beautiful, the locals are solid, the second home owners/regular visitors/"my family actually originally came from Cornwall-ers" are unbearable (and pretentious).

Bloody hell, that’s aggressive, aggressive and presumptious.

We went to Jersey on our honeymoon, it was beautiful and if not for the cost I’d go again in a heartbeat!

It's beautiful. And I think it feels quite different to other parts of the country (the Gower and Brittany are very similar).

I went every year as a child (80s) so it has special memories for me. It was much quieter then and quite run down, definitely not the middle class enclave parts of it are today.

I knew I should be a Northerner. I live in London and in recent years have been to the lakes, Northumberland and Yorkshire. I have no desire to go to Cornwall. It's too far, too busy and very very expensive, I did it as a kid years ago and didn't really enjoy it.

It's entirely different to the lakes. Lakes are beautiful, Cornwall is beautiful. I live far nearer to Devon and Cornwall but wanted to see what the Lake District is like because I like visiting nice places.

Down south does have the added bonus of much milder weather, though.

I’m not a fan totally overrated if you live more than a few hours drive. Used to go when I was younger and yes it’s nice. Moved further north and it’s not worth the 6 plus hours to get there. Norfolk is much much better in my opinion

I don't think Cornwall is as beautiful as some places in the UK (E Anglia, Northumbria, Cumbria) and its not cheap, but there is something about it. Something very different and in some ways almost like a different country. Plus there are certain things you can do there (such as surfing) which its hard to do in most other parts of the UK.

I can totally understand why people could fall in love with it.