Days out in north cornwall with 4 older kids - recommendation please :)

[Ladyemem]

we're staying near Wadebridge/padstow for week end of july.
Can anyone please suggest anywhere we can go with 4 kids aged 16. 12, 10 and 8. Dont want the kids to think cornwall is boring! dont mid driving up to 45mins away. rather not do any more as already taken 7 hours to get there!
Thankyou.

Sign them up for a week of surf school :)

If that is not their cup of tea, there is always:

• Cornwall's Crealy Great Adventure Park
• St Eval Kart Circuit
• Tumbletopia, World of Stones - Wadebridge

Lanhydrock House is fantastic. (Near Bodmin)

Bodmin Jail is a bit tatty and cheapo, but full of gruesome stuff.

Hire bikes and cycle the Camel Trail.

Surfs up surf school in Polzeath is really good for older kids. coasteering, tree surfing, walking the coastal path, swimming pool at Newquay, river canoeing (fowey or fal river estuary)

Camel cycle trail from padstow to wadebridge/Bodmin.

Cardinham woods (Bodmin way)

Waves surf school (st merryn based, lessons at Porthcothan/Treyarnon/Harlyn depending on surf conditions)

I've always wanted to give coasteering a go, also kayaking. There's a place near port isaac that does both I believe.

There's a flooded quarry that has the longest zip wire in Britain I think. That's something we might do when dc3 is older.

In padstow, the sealife safari is brilliant - saw dolphins aplenty. Plus, if you try and get a weds early evening slot (I think 6pm ish) it coincides with the practice lifeboat launch from trevose head so you get to see that from the water and bump around in it's wake.

I've googled and there's a place called "adrenalin quarry" with lots of mad stuff, but can't seem to view the site on my iPad.

fab, thanks for all your suggestions. Keep them coming in. What about the beaches? Is it worth heading up to bude?

You won't find a finer beach than Polzeath

Tintagel Castle is awesome. Not the castle itself so much as the geography of the area. Trevone Bay and Harlin Bay are much nearer than Bude. You can hire surf suits and body boards in Trevone and they have lifeguards on the beach.

cool will check out polzeath, tintagel and trevone. thankyou

For beaches in North Cornwall I would recommend Daymer Bay (great for rockpooling), Watergate Bay, Polzeath is good but very busy. Constantine, Mawgan Porth, Trevone are all fantastic beaches as well.

Cycling on the Camel Trail from Wadebridge to Padstow, or Wadebridge to Bodmin is a good day out. In Padstow you can go on the speed boats which the kids will enjoy, eat pasties & ice cream, buy fudge, visit the Rick Stein Deli etc. If you follow the trail towards Bodmin you can stop at the Borough Arms en route for some refreshment or the tea rooms at Nanstallon.

Hidden Valley in Launceston is meant to be a good day out for older children.

There's a small cinema in Wadebridge ideal for the rainy days and also Waterworld in Newquay.

Other suggestions are: St Kew Golf Course, Tennis Courts & Park in Wadebridge, lots of geocaching locally, walking the coastal path, kayaking (Camel Canoe & Kayak), Crealy.

You can go mackerel fishing off of Padstow, bit of an adventure. Means you have to source mackerel recipes rather frantically but good fun.

wow what alot of great ideas. really looking forward to my holiday now :)

I can second Hidden Valley at Launceston. My two (14 & 10) love it. There are 3 different types of treasure hunts to do and then when you have collected the crystal, at the end of each, you enter The Vault where you have a certain amount of time to complete some puzzles/challenges (think crystal maze).
I've never been anywhere else like it.