The Best Places to Visit in Cornwall

Cornwall packs an extraordinary amount into a small peninsula, which is both a joy and a trap: the famous places fill up in August while the best of them sit quietly down a lane a mile away. These are the best places to visit in Cornwall as our guides see them, grouped by coast so you can plan a route rather than tick off a checklist. Most feature on a Kernara tour. We don’t run tours during August, so as to avoid the crowds and ensure each experience is a luxurious adventure.

The North Coast: Wild and Atlantic

Tintagel

Ruined castle, Arthurian legend and raw Atlantic cliff, joined by a vertigo-inducing footbridge. The north coast at its most cinematic, and the anchor of our From Coast to Castle tour.

Padstow

A pretty harbour town that became Cornwall’s food capital, with Rick Stein’s restaurants and the Camel Trail on the doorstep. Busy in summer; lovely off-season.

Port Isaac

Steep whitewashed lanes tumbling to a working harbour, better known to television as Portwenn. Arrive early to have it to yourself.

Bedruthan Steps

A run of giant sea-stacks marching out into the surf below National Trust cliffs, one of the most photographed views on the north coast.

The South Coast: Gentle and Green

Fowey

A south-coast harbour town of pastel houses and sailing boats, with Daphne du Maurier’s Cornwall on the doorstep. A highlight of our Tors to Shore adventure.

The Roseland Peninsula and St Mawes

Sheltered creeks, sub-tropical gardens and the little castle-and-harbour town of St Mawes. The waterside churchyard at St Just in Roseland is one of the most idyllic spots in the county.

Charlestown

A Georgian tall-ship port so perfectly preserved it is a permanent film set, most famously for Poldark. Walk the harbour, then a coast-path mile to the beaches beyond.

The Lost Gardens of Heligan

Near Mevagissey, a vast estate garden lost for decades and painstakingly restored, full of jungle valleys, kitchen gardens and living sculpture.

The Far West: Light and Legend

St Ives

The light that drew the artists, three beaches, a Tate gallery and a harbour full of lanes. Unmissable, and best early or late in the day.

Penzance and St Michael’s Mount

A handsome harbour town looking out to the famous tidal island of St Michael’s Mount, reached on foot at low tide or by boat when the sea returns.

Land’s End and the Minack

England’s far south-western tip, and just along the coast, the Minack Theatre carved into the cliff above the turquoise sands of Porthcurno.

Botallack and the Tin Coast

Clifftop engine houses and a UNESCO mining landscape around St Just, where industry and the Atlantic meet head-on. Raw, moving and quintessentially Cornish.

The Lizard: Britain’s Southern Tip

Kynance Cove

Serpentine cliffs, offshore stacks and impossibly turquoise water. The picture everyone knows, and still better in person.

Lizard Point

The most southerly point of mainland Britain, all wildflowers, choughs and lighthouse, with thatched fishing villages like Cadgwith tucked along the coast.

Harbour Towns, Gardens and Days Out

Falmouth

A lively harbour town on one of the world’s largest natural harbours, with the National Maritime Museum, sub-tropical gardens at Trebah and Glendurgan nearby, and boat trips up the wooded Helford River.

Newquay and the surf beaches

Cornwall’s surf capital, fringed by golden beaches: Fistral for the waves, Watergate Bay for space, and quieter Crantock and Holywell Bay just along the coast.

The Eden Project

Two vast biomes in a reclaimed clay pit near St Austell, holding the rainforest and the Mediterranean under glass. Cornwall’s most reliable wet-weather day out.

Lanhydrock

A grand Victorian country house and garden near Bodmin, with wooded estate walks and cycle trails, and one of the finest interiors in the National Trust’s care.

Porthcurno and Sennen Cove

Two of the most beautiful beaches in Britain in the far west: Porthcurno’s white sand below the Minack, and the surf and sunsets of Sennen near Land’s End.

Planning your visit

• Best time to go: May, June and September for the best light and fewest crowds. See our Cornwall vacation itinerary.
• Where to stay: split your stay across the north and south coasts. Our where to stay in Cornwall guide has the best hotels by area.
• Getting here: see travelling from London to Cornwall for trains, distances and transfers.

See the best of Cornwall with Kernara

The trick to Cornwall is seeing both its faces, the wild north and the gentle south, without spending your week in the car. Our multi-day Cornwall tours move you between two or three handpicked bases and take in the finest of these places with a local guide. Enquire to plan yours.