My Last Four Weeks in Cornwall: Favourites Spots and Bucket List Destinations

I still can’t quite believe that I’ve now been in Cornwall for nearly a year. When I first moved down it was for a 3 month course and I hadn’t yet decided if I was going to stay after or not. I quickly fell in love with the lifestyle and the people and after a not so pretty break up, I decided to stay a bit longer. 6 months turned into a year and here we are. It seemed silly to move away before experiencing a full Cornish summer!

Looking back on my time here, there are so many things that I thought I would do but just haven’t seemed to get around to. I thought I would share a list of some of my favourite places I’ve been and a few that are at the top of my list of things I want to do before I head back up North!

My Favourite Spots

I have been lucky enough to find some pretty beautiful places to explore whilst being down here. Having issues with my knee and then surgery meant that I had to take quite a bit of time out from exploring as I could barely walk or swim and definitely couldn’t drive. Thankfully I’d managed to get out a fair bit before being stuck at home. I wanted to share some of my favourites:

• Trevose Head – This is easily one of my most visited places down here. Free parking (for NT members), beautiful walks, so many swim spots to choose from..what’s not to love! At low tide there are so many rock pools all the way along the path. From here you can also walk to both Trevone and Treyarnon pools which are both beautiful for dips.

• Tintagel and Rocky Valley – I was pretty disappointed when I first got to Tintagel as we wanted to visit the castle but it was closed. It was also incredibly expensive, so even if it had been open I think I probably would have given it a miss. However, instead we went on a hike from the castle up rocky valley and to St Nectens Glen (another disappointment as I wasn’t paying to see a waterfall). Aside from all the disappointments of the day, the walk along the coast and up through Rocky Valley was pretty spectacular. Had I had more time I would definitely have taken a dip, maybe that’s one for me to go back for!

• Gold Diggings Quarry – I stopped here for a dip with my friend Lauren after a pretty epic hike on Bodmin Moor. It was such a beautiful day and by the time we got to the quarry we were pretty hot. Safe to say the water felt absolutely incredible and was so clear. There are three seperate little pools and the water was so clear when we were there. There are some great hikes close by and plenty of free parking.

• Portscatho to Pendower Beach (7km loop) – This has definitely been one of my favourite hikes since being here. There was a little bit of everything scenery wise, beautiful beaches for dips and a coffee shop at the end. I’m not sure if it was also enhanced by the fact that my knee is healing enough for me to finally get back out again properly, but I’ll take it. We roughly followed the 10 adventures route found here.

• Newquay Harbour – This is a bit of a contravestial one (especially for Newquay locals). It seems to be seen as very much a tourist spot and often avoided. Yes sometimes it may smell like fish and if you go on a sunny afternoon at low tide it’s going to be absolutely heaving. However, it has recently become one of my favourite spots. At 7am on a morning, when there is barely anyone around it’s like a little oasis. Throw in a high tide and it feels like a little slice of paradise.

My South West Bucket List

There are still a lot of places I haven’t yet had the chance to visit, so here are the top few on my bucket list to try and tick off over the next four weeks. Let me know in the comments if there is anywhere else you’d recommend me trying to squeeze in!

• Kynance Cove – Described as one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in the South West, this one is definitely a place I want to check out before I leave.

• Bude Sea Pool – I’m pretty intrigued by this semi-natural dipping spot and definitely wasn’t to go check it out whilst I’m down this way. I’d had such a lovely experience at the Jubilee Pool and feel this is somewhere in-between their salt water pool and the sea.

• Dartmoor Wild Camp – This is something I’ve been wanting to do since I first moved down here, but it just hasn’t seemed to have happened yet. Fingers crossed I’ll finally be ticking this one off next week though.

• Nanjizal – I’ve seen photos from this spot everywhere and it looks like a beauty for a dip. It’s just a case for waiting for the right tides at the right time!

• Holywell Cave – Considering this one is on my doorstep, I’m amazed I still haven’t been to see it.

What’s Next?

My plan is to head back up North at the start of September. I’m going to stay with my parents for a few weeks whilst I sort my things out and have a good clear out (they have kindly been looking after half the contents of my old house). I’ve then got a family trip to Scotland, swiftly followed by a long awaited holiday to Portugal with my best friend. I’m then planning to head to the Lake District in October and will hopefully have figured out some kind of a job! I have a feeling everything will work out though, so right now I’m not worrying about it and just going to focus on enjoying my time down here.

Happy adventuring x