Places to visit in Cornwall with a 6 month old?

[dizzymama]

Hi all,
We go to Cornwall every year, absolutely love it, but this will be the first time we'll be going with dd. Usually we surf / read / sit and laze / walk etc, all I know is that dd will get very very bored if we do what we usually do! Has anyone got any ideas about what we could do? I know she's only little but I want to avoid just sitting outside the holiday cottage all day!

Sea Life Centres, small kids love aquariums. The Eden project, I would have taken mine at this age. The Lost Gardens Of Heligan? I would just go out on days out to places you want to visit, I am sure your babe will lap it up!

Paradise Park (sp) in Hayle, it's lovely lots of birds and animals to look at, and easy to push a pram around too

whereabouts in cornwall and how old? Flambards is good for ages up to about 12, haven't been to crealy Cornwall but that would probably be good for any age, Newquay zoo is a delight. There are some good swimming pools/ ball packs.

oops - sorry missed the age in the title. Still whereabouts as you won't want to travel too far? Babies are sometimes pretty happy to eat pebbles or play with sand Visit a boot sale or village fete in Cornwall and buy loads of cheap plastic you can dump afterwards

yes, Paradise Park is good, Dizzymama. and Flambards, if you can face it And is a good indoor pool in Camborne.

Thanks guys! Isn't it weird when you have a baby you end up visiting all the places you've avoided all the years before (The word Flambards makes DH break out in a cold sweat but did inform him last year that he was stuck in a traffic jam outside his future haunt!!)
We're going to Gweek this year (near Helston). Great ideas btw

Just saw this... I live in Helston. There's a couple more places I like and some great beaches for littlies, but got to rush off out now. Will post later if that helps.

there's a seal sanctuary around Helston somewhere which both mine loved (check when the shows are before you go)

I would second paradise park - she'll love looking at the birds

other than that, mine at around 6 months (once dd had got over the fact that she could actually tread on the sand - she was very frightened of it at first) were quite content on a beach playing with the sand so I'm sure you'll get a bit of r&r!

seal sanctuary

Bee3, yes please that would be very helpful
FiS yes, we're staying just down from there so will definitely visit.
MT, know what you mean and we're not going to do stuff for her every day iyswim. Just didn't want her to get bored and,left to our own devices, we'll just sit around! She'll come walking with us (in her very snazzy new back pack) and will sit on the beach and in the garden but she loves animals etc so am looking forward to doing that sort of thing with her too.

Dizzymama, we go to Cornwall a lot too and would have spent our holidays doing as you did before kids. At 6 months, your dd is a bit little to appreciate many of the attractions. She will hopefully love the beach though - eating the sand! You can still do all you used to do, but unfortunately, you have to take it in turns to go surfing: that is what dh and I have had to do for the last 9 years anyway! We ended up having my MIL to stay with us for some part of most of our holidays: she likes to be with the kids, and for an occasional treat, dh and I get to go surfing together as in the old days!

Yes indeedy LM! My Mom and Dad are coming with us too. I'm sure she will enjoy just being somewhere different, but animal parks really make her crack up! Nutty child finds animals and birds hysterical
Eating sand sounds....interesting if gritty! It's sand in the nappy I'm looking forward to

Oh yes! I remember taking ds2 when he was 6 mos and he couldn't yet crawl so I thought we could put him on the rug and he would be OK. But no, he would pull the rug until he exposed the sand underneath and then sit and eat it!

Right - these are some more places we regularly visit within easy reach of Helston

• Trevano Gardens, shown on the map here , is a lovely, almost sub-tropical garden estate. There are peacocks and ducks, a lake, beautiful woodlands, and they do fab homemade coffee and homemade cakes on the lawn (with highchairs, staff v baby friendly). It also houses The National Museum of Gardening, if you're interested in that sort of thing (kept my dad v happy for hours....)
• Godolphin House is a great old Tudor Mansion. You can pay to look around the house, or just wander about the grounds for free. There is a big marquee in a field behind the house selling fab cakes and coffee (noticed the theme yet )
• The Grange is a fruit farm (v near Gweek, I think), that has an outdoor cafe area where they do the best creamteas for miles. Lovely farm shop and pick your own strawberries as well (and it's just past the RNAS Culdrose viewing area if you fancy a bit of helicopter or jet spotting)

As for beaches...we like Gwithian beach (over on the North coast, just beyond Hayle), as there are huge, v shallow sand pools that get nice and warm, and are great for little ones to splash about in.
Porthleven beach is good for being close to lots of amenities, and it's v fine shingle, rather than sand, so a bit less intrusive on nappies/eyes etc.
Church Cove is lovely as well, and a bit out of the way so tends to be less packed. If you're up for walking, Kynance Cove is spectacular. Here's a link to beaches in the area.

Anything else you think of, just ask - I might be able to help. Have a great time!

Bee3 That is so kind of you, thank you. We love the gardens in the area (and the coffee and cake )so will definitely visit some of those. Have never heard of the others so will check them out. Dh is getting excited about the holiday now!! Thank you again x

I don't understand why you need things to do with a 6 month old .. they don't really do much do they? as long as you are near shade and not in a smokey / unsanitary atmosphere I would've assumed whatever you want

Agree with Twiglett. This may be your last opportunity for many years to actually choose to do things you want to so pick some more "adult" type places and activities and hike her along. She'll enjoy the changes of scene rather than specific entertainments. Also put her in a pushchair and sit on the beach doing your usual things, though you'll have to take turns with the surfing. Just sitting on the sand or dabbling in a rock pool will keep her amused between snoozes !

Yes,I know she will be happy where ever but I want to take her to a few places she will enjoy because of the animals.

Dairyland near Newquay is good for kids

(they have other animals apart from cows !)

Thanks Whizz, don't know that one,will check it out.

See cows being milked, swings etc for kids - nothing too adventurous though. Ball pool & undercover play area bit with big slides etc. , trampolines, pony rides, tractor rides, nice walks etc.

DS loved it aged 2 but its old hat since (aged 4) he discovered Flambards (out of season !) & roller coasters !

Brilliant! She loves cows, horses etc. SOunds great.

dizzymama

The seal sanctuary is in Gweek, but it does get busy in the summer, and she may not actually get to see much. I've done quite a lot of holding toddlers up over my head to see, which I don't think would work with a 6-m-o. Perhaps save that one for next year!

Paradise Park is good for littlies though, because they can see birds flying over/around them even from a pushchair. Also - if you want something on a smaller scale than Dairyland - there is a farm park place (whose name escapes me, but there are brown signs to it from Hayle) in St Erth which my dds like a lot. I wouldn't bother with Flambards till she's older. St Ives is nice, because you can go on the beach but also wander round the town, have a coffee/drink in a nice cafe/bar, even visit the Tate/Barbara Hepworth museum if you're feeling culturally inclined.

For beaches, we always go to the westernmost part of Hayle Beach (go past the church on the top of the hill on the other side of the river to the main road and just keep going till you run out of road - there's a car park at the end) where the outgoing tide leaves lots of shallow (waist height on my 5-y-o) to ultra-shallow (just an inch or two) pools. The pools are about a zillion times warmer than the sea and obviously much much safer. Your baby could happily have a little splash there. On the Helston side of things, Kynance Cove is lovely. And you can do a lovely walk from Helston to Loe Pool (and on to Porthleven if you're feeling very energetic). That path should be passable with a buggy (assuming it's a sturdy one) if you want a break from the backpack. I remember doing it when dd1 was tiny with her in the buggy.

HTH. Have a fab time.