Devon/Cornwall for beginners??

[TheTurn0fTheScrew]

Thinking of booking for Devon or Cornwall this summer, as we've never been, but am not sure where to start. We are city dwellers, and although I obviously get that rural communities have different resources, we would prefer to be somewhere where there is a small supermarket, and a choice of restaurants or takeaways that don't get booked up ridiculously far in advance. The DC will be 15 and 11. We are not at all sporty, but like a decent hike. Both kids swim very well and have mentioned wanting to try surfing. We also like historical sites. We'll have a car.

I have been eyeing up St Ives and wondered if anyone has any thoughts?

Take waterproofs

I love st Ives.. ..don't book a place without parking. Its beautiful.

We like North Devon round Woolacombe, Westward Ho!, Torrington. Lots of walking, a lot of the theme park style days out are aimed at younger dc but still plenty to do.

Echo recommendations for Bude...Tintagel is great for a visit and Jamaica Inn not far for the Du Maurier fan.

I see Bude keeps getting a mention, never been but think I should now!

Now my kids are older, we give them the run of st Ives in the evening. They will even book into The Hub for burgers and leave us to enjoy a more sophisticated restaurant. They’ll grab an ice cream and mess about in the arcade until we are finished.

Agree re place with parking. Impossible otherwise.

Cornish lanes are a nightmare when it is busy in the Summer.

I would go for South Devon too. Lots to do in Exeter for teens. Lovely beaches. Could drive to North Devon for the day to surf.

Bude was insanely busy last summer. We went to body board but there wasn’t a spare inch of water left. I’ve never seen so many people rammed into a small section of water.

The town was heaving constantly. It didn’t let up. Pre school hols or after. Rammed daily. Great for the shops!

We opted for south Devon last august and it was lovely but it was t nearly as nice as Cornwall. Couldnt park in Salcombe (had to leave), bigbury nice. Exeter had some good shops. Blackpool sands not comfortable on the feet! Dartmoor worth a look.

Cornish lanes not universally bad! Devon lanes on the way to Bigbury quite hairy!

I'm a local & would suggest Penzance/Marazion/Newlyn- much quieter than St.Ives but plenty of decent restaurants & takeaways. Admittedly, the beaches aren't as stunning but you won't have to fight for your 3 square feet of sand and there's no rip tides etc. Lots of easily accessible (assuming you have a car) coast & moorland walks, St. Michael's Mount on the doorstep, and Porthcurno open air theatre not too far away. And if you do want to do a day trip to St.Ives, you can get the train from Penzance - it's a short journey but the scenery along the way is stunning (& parking in St.Ives in summer is a nightmare!) Oh, and there's a few small supermarkets in town and three large ones just outside!

I love Cornwall but with your kids ages and the talk about surfing I'd really recommend Woolacombe Bay.

We went for two weeks one year and rented a beach hut for the entire two weeks. We camped nearby but there's lots of cottages and holiday accommodation available.

You can hire surf gear on the beach.

The beach hut hire cost is really reasonable too ( about £100p/w )

This was one of our best holidays when the kids were 11 and 14.

Have you thought about the Isles of Scilly? You need to get a boat/ plane over but once you are there it's paradise...

thanks for all the suggestions - I'll have a good look at everywhere mention. Sounds like between traffic and parking the ideal would be to be able to walk to the beach. I'm guessing this will be either expensive, or insanely expensive depending on the particular town, so it may be that the budget dictates where we go!

You can definitely walk to the beach in st Ives!

You can walk to the beach at St Ives- everywhere is near the beach.

Five beaches in town!

My top tip (for the North coast dont know whether its such a factor on south coast) is check the tide times before you book. A beach can be huge and spacious at low tide or almost non existent at high tide it makes a big difference.

We love Mawgan Porth. It's between Newquay and Padstow. It has a fab beach, good surf, lots to do there. It's in a good spot for exploring further afield too. I've been going there for 40 years! DS is 16 and it's his favourite place to go on holiday.

The Lizard Peninsula is much quieter than other areas of Cornwall. Has some great beaches you can surf on . Day trips to St Michael’s Mount and Falmouth, Glendurgan gardens and Helford river, paddle boarding and great walks. We went August this year never felt crowded. Had fun with kayak and body boards.

@trilbydoll

We like North Devon round Woolacombe, Westward Ho!, Torrington. Lots of walking, a lot of the theme park style days out are aimed at younger dc but still plenty to do.

Woolacombe is lovely. The beaches are beautiful. Perfect for families with young children as there is plenty to do but it isn't commercialised or tacky.

Oh and j would avoid St Ives like the plague in the summer holidays. It's insanely busy and very stressful. It's lovely out of season though

I wouldn’t go near Bude at the moment, plenty of sewage in the sea (not envy)

Croyde in north Devon might be suitable. Huge beach, popular for surfing and lots of other beach activities, nice pubs etc.

We did Dawlish last year, and it was also a nice place but really really crowded. It was also when there were lots of staff shortages, so eating out was difficult. We’re probably not going to do Devon or Cornwall again until we’re able to travel outside of school holidays.

I can totally recommend Dawlish Warren and Woolacoombe, lovely beaches and great for kids!

If you are going to attempt day trips to various beaches in high season then you need to arrive early like definitely before 9am to get a parking space, which might not be ideal with teens. I live in Newquay and have seen the huge queues for beach carparks like Crantock and this is all on narrow lanes so God knows how they turned around. I would probably pick a spot and aim to walk out mainly. Newquay has 7 beaches and is good for surfing, you could walk/bus to Crantock, Holywell, Polly Joke, Perranporth to the south or Watergate, Trevone, Treyarnon, Padstow to the north. Avoid Boardmasters week unless you are interested in it (it's a surf competition held at Fistral beach and a music festival held above Watergate beach) as that's the busiest week of the year. The Fistral end of the town is nice and the other end not so nice, although it's looking like regeneration is on the cards now. All the beaches are stunning and at low tide you can walk between many of them. There is a train station in Newquay (branch line to main at Par) as well.

If you or your kids have seen this viral Tiktok:

vm.tiktok.com/ZM8K2MAQ1/

This was filmed at the Watering Hole pub in Perranporth, lots of this person's Tiktok has videos of North Cornwall around the Newquay area.