Cornwall- suggestions please

[ameliagrey]

North or south coast?

Thinking of out of season before the school hols begin- like a bit of sea, some walking and general pottering.

St Ives, gorgeous!

yes was thinking of that as I love to collect art- rather an expensive hobby.

Love North Cornwall, Padstow is my favourite especially out of season. Boscastle is also pretty.

what's the difference between Padstow and st ives in terms of beaches? hoping the weather might be warm enough at some point to get out of thermal vest.

oh- and when to go?
Not tied to school hols so thinking either late June or early- mid Sept.

any ideas on this re, weather /crowds?

There's a great beach at Polzeath on the North Coast. Lots of parking, wide flat beach and shallow sea plus lots of rock pools when the tide is out. It is hideous there in high season and does turn into a bit of a Kensignton-on-Sea.

My preference is South Coast. I particularly like it around Veryan and also St Mawes.

If you are thinking of renting a cottage, we have stayed in several National Trust ones in Cornwall and they have all been great.

Something else to think about, it is generally warmer and more sheltered on the South Coast. Even at the height of summer it can be very, very windly round Polzeath (obv great for surfing though).

Never been to St. Ives. There are lots of beaches near Padstow. If you are a foodie its great. Love Paul Ainsworth's No.6 and Jamie Oliver's fifteen has the most amazing views over Watergate Bay which is a lovely beach. The great thing about Padstow are the shops and atmosphere around the harbour. It gets busy during May half term and August its a no go as its heaving with crowds all trying to spot Rick Stein!!! June or September would both be lovely, weather should be good but you never know in the UK!

Also never been but if you like art I hear Falmouth is meant to be really good for galleries etc.

st ives st ives st ives - spent a few years at Trevone near Padstow, but once we found st ives and its 5 (or more?!) beaches we stayed with it (for a decade now, fab place). Harbour beach for chilling with little ones, secret beach coves - although with cafes, and huge surfing beach by the tate st ives. Fab food, amazing art. I miss it!

Crowded during main holiday times, but you get used to it and once on the beaches ..... ahhhhhh. watch out for the evil seagulls, and also for the wild seals swimming in the harbour.

and the art .... running out of wall space here now!

Mousehole - just a beautiful little fishing village on the south coast near Lands End and within an hour,s drive of most attractions.

we stayed here in Mousehole

Mousehole, Mevaggisy (sp), Kananace on the lizard is beautiful.
Sennen right at the end of the north coast is lovely.
St Ives is beautiful, but outrageously busy.
Next bay along, below Tate Modern is stunning.

Everyone goes to the north coast (as you can see from all the answers above!) so why not be different and visit our favourite spots in South East Cornwall. you go along the A38 avoiding the A30 car park road, Eden project 30 mins away, from Looe to Bodmin Moor in 25 mins, some brilliant walks along the coastal path - our fav is Looe to Polperro, pub lunch then boat back. Remember though that out of season in Cornwall means April/May or October. i have been to St Ives in June and it has been heaving. we are tied to school hols now and always find the Looe area a bit quieter.

We stayed just outside Penzance 3 years running. From there you can get down to the lizard peninsular easily (Kynance etc), out in the Lands End direction (porthcurno, minack, sennan) and (if you must) its not far to St Ives on the North coast. Lots of good gardens, which I would imagine will be esp lovely in early summer.

Before that St Austell - mummymeister has outlined that area (Lost Gardens of Heligan in that neck of the wood too)

oooooh ladies- what a dilemma!

North, south and everywhere in between.

so is June out? looking at cottages to rent I see that June is v popular and many places booked already.

I wonder if mid Sept is better for quietness and weather- May might be chilly?

My cousin lives in Cornwall and she says the best time to visit is June. Unfortunately we have to take holidays during the school holidays and we stayed just outside Padstow a couple of years ago one August. Our holiday cottage was brilliant and well tucked away, but Padstow really is a no go area in August. OH didn't like Padstow at all because he couldn't see it for people. I'm sure it is lovely out of season.

Boscatle is gorgeous. Tintagel was a brilliant place to visit and St Michael's Mount is awesome. The south coast is milder and more sheltered and if we could be bothered to drive down to Cornwall again (it took 9 hours last time) we would stay on the south coast. But it is just too far and such a horrible drive that we won't bother.

Thanks ladies.

My friend and neighbour suggests areas around Fowey- but to me that is still quite a way east- are there any benefits going further west towards penzance?

I'd like a trip to st ives for the day and possibly Padstow but can't bear crowds, so would give both a miss if there were pros of staying further west.

Amelia - really you need to do both - so, go somewhere near Fowey this year and then Penzance another year. There's lots of different things to do in each area.

I don't think you've said if you've got kids - if so pre-school age presumably. Some of the good things further west are better for older kids - better surf for body boarding (IME); minack theatre; porthcurno telegraph museum; goonhilly down (if its still worth visiting now they're dismantling it)

Fowey is a little piece of heaven. Love, love, love it.

Thanks- my kids are adults now so we can holiday alone

we are more or less decided on a place near Falmouth which would appear to give us the opportunity to go further west or north for a day out.