Cornwall

Beaches are the heart of a Cornish vacation, and the range is remarkable for one county. The north coast has long, open surf beaches such as Fistral at Newquay, Watergate Bay, Polzeath and the 5km sweep of Gwithian and Godrevy. The far west has the white sand and turquoise water of Porthcurno, Pedn Vounder and Porthminster at St Ives. On the Lizard, Kynance Cove sits under serpentine cliffs, and the south coast around Falmouth and Fowey has sheltered coves that suit calmer swimming.

The catch is the water. This is the Atlantic, and even at its warmest in August and September it reaches only about 17°C, so most people swim briefly or in a wetsuit. The season for comfortable beach days runs roughly from June to September, and the best-known beaches fill up during the school summer break.

Cornish food is at its best where the fishing boats come in. Newlyn is one of the country's largest fishing ports, and crab, lobster, mackerel and hake turn up on menus along the coast, from harbour-side fish-and-chip counters to ambitious dining rooms in Padstow, Rock, St Ives, Porthleven and Falmouth. Padstow in particular has built a reputation around seafood.

The local staples are simpler: the pasty, eaten everywhere, and the cream tea, with the jam always going on before the cream. Cornish cider, local gins and the sparkling wines of the Camel Valley round out the drinking. Away from the coastal towns the choice thins quickly, and in the busiest resorts a lot of cooking is aimed at passing summer trade.

Cornwall's heritage is spread along its coast rather than gathered in one town. St Michael's Mount, a castle and priory on a tidal island reached on foot at low tide, is the best-known image, and Tintagel's clifftop castle ruins carry the Arthurian legend. The engine houses of the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site stand along the cliffs around St Just and Botallack and inland near Camborne and Redruth.

St Ives has the strongest cultural pull, with Tate St Ives and the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden reflecting the artists' colony that gathered there. Elsewhere there are Truro's Gothic Revival cathedral, Pendennis Castle and the National Maritime Museum at Falmouth, Lanhydrock's Victorian house, and the Eden Project's biomes in a former clay pit. It adds up to a good spread of single sights rather than a place dense with them.

Most of Cornwall goes to bed early, with evenings spent in harbour pubs and beach bars that wind down well before midnight. The exception is Newquay, the county's party town, where surfers, students and groups on stag and hen weekends fill the bars and a few clubs through the summer. Falmouth has a smaller, livelier scene thanks to its university, and St Ives and Padstow have good pubs and sundowner terraces rather than late nights. Outside the summer even Newquay is subdued.

The coastline is the landscape here. The South West Coast Path follows the whole Cornish shore, and its finest stretches run around the granite cliffs of Penwith from St Ives to Land's End, across the heathland of the Lizard and along the high north coast near Tintagel and Boscastle. Inland, Bodmin Moor offers open tors and moorland walking, and the Camel Trail is an easy, flat cycle route along an estuary between Padstow and Wadebridge.

Cornwall is Britain's surfing heartland, with reliable Atlantic swell at Newquay, Bude and Sennen, and coasteering, sea kayaking and sailing on the sheltered Fal estuary. Grey seals are common, dolphins and basking sharks appear offshore in summer, and choughs nest on the cliffs again. There are no mountains, and the weather turns quickly, which is part of the drama.

Day trips in Cornwall mostly mean moving from one coastal town to another, and each has its own character: the art galleries and steep lanes of St Ives, the working harbour at Newlyn, the tiny fishing villages of Mousehole and Port Isaac, the estuary towns of Fowey and Padstow, and Falmouth with its ferries across to St Mawes. Truro, the county's small cathedral city, makes a change of scene inland.

From the far west, the Isles of Scilly are a short flight or a long ferry crossing from Penzance, a full but memorable day. From east Cornwall, Plymouth's historic Barbican and the Devon towns at the edge of Dartmoor are within reach. Variety is limited: the outings are pleasant but mostly similar in kind.

Cornwall is one of Britain's classic family vacations, built on sandcastles, rock pooling, bodyboarding in the shallows and lifeguarded beaches. Sheltered spots such as Porthminster at St Ives, Gyllyngvase at Falmouth and the beaches around Padstow and Polzeath suit younger children best. Rainy days are covered by the Eden Project's tropical biomes, the seal sanctuary at Gweek, Newquay's zoo and aquarium and a small theme park near Helston, and the Camel Trail is an easy family cycle.

The drawbacks are the cold water, weather that can wash out several days in a row, and the crowds and traffic of the school summer break. Self-catering cottages and caravan parks make staying with children straightforward.

Most visitors drive, and Cornwall is not easy driving. The main roads are adequate, but the lanes to beaches and fishing villages are narrow, high-hedged and often single-track, and in summer queues build on the main routes and parking in St Ives, Padstow and Port Isaac is hard to find. The railway helps: the main line runs to Penzance, and scenic branch lines reach St Ives, Falmouth, Newquay and Looe, so a car-free stay in one of those towns works. Buses link the towns and some coastal routes but are thin in rural areas.

Shopping in Cornwall is about art and craft rather than brands. St Ives has the densest cluster of galleries, potteries and studios, carrying on its artists' colony tradition, and Falmouth, Fowey and Penzance's Chapel Street have independent shops, antiques and makers' studios. Newquay is the place for surf gear, and Truro has the county's main high street. Beyond that, the range is small and the coastal villages lean heavily on fudge, pasties and souvenirs.

Cornwall is an expensive place for a vacation in its main season. Cottages and hotels in the popular coastal towns command high prices over the school summer break, and the best places book out early. Eating out costs what it does elsewhere in England, with seafood restaurants at the upper end, and parking charges and attraction tickets add steadily to a family's bill. Pubs, pasties and self-catering soften the cost, and spring and autumn are noticeably cheaper.

The one unique stage is the Minack Theatre, an open-air amphitheatre cut into the cliffs above Porthcurno, with plays, musicals and concerts through the summer against the backdrop of the sea. Truro's Hall for Cornwall is the main indoor venue for touring theatre and music. Cornwall also has a living folk tradition, with sessions in pubs, male voice choirs and Padstow's ancient May Day celebration, and surfing and music combine each August at a large festival on the cliffs near Newquay. There is little else in the way of classical music or regular theatre.

Cornwall has no historic bathing culture, but it suits a slower stay. Spa hotels sit above beaches at Watergate Bay, Carbis Bay, St Mawes and elsewhere along the coast, and wood-fired saunas on beaches and harbours pair with cold sea swims, a habit many locals keep through winter. The real restoration comes from the pace: coastal walks, quiet estuary villages and empty beaches in spring and autumn. In the summer peak, crowds and traffic take much of that calm away.