Cornwall, UK.
I have always wanted to visit Cornwall properly in Summer as I had previously spent New Years in Newquay and the weather was absolutely rubbish. G's birthday is in August, so last year I used this as an excuse to book us a surf and camping trip.
Stay Here.
Researching locations for surfing in Cornwall, I found Gwithian. Located about a 20 minute drive from St Ives, Gwithian is a beautiful beach town with rolling sand dunes and cliffs to explore. I managed to find a fantastic camp site located right on the dunes of the beach. Churchtown Farm Caravan & Camping Site has clean facilities, loads of showers/toilets and is in a perfect location to not only the beach, but also to the local pubs and surf school.
Visit Here.
Gwithian Academy of Surf.
Surfing may be one of the main reasons you will visit. The waves are perfect for beginners through to the more experienced but if you do want a lesson or two to brush up on some skills, check these guys out. The instructor we had was great and they let you keep the board for a couple of hours after.
Godrevy Coast + Seal Cove.
There is a path along the beautiful coastline towards Godrevy Island where you will see a lighthouse. As you walk along the cliffs you are also taken to what is called "Secret" Seal Cove (Mutton Cove). It's not really a secret but here you will indeed find seals. We saw a few bobbing theirs heads up in the water. Super cute.
St Ives.
Being so close, you can't not visit here. Unfortunately, the weather was not great the day we came but it still had throngs of Summer tourists weaving through the streets.
We walked around The Island which was nice but it would have been even better had the sun been out. Tate St Ives was closed at the time due to refurbishment however we stumbled across the St Ives Brewery that has Cornish wares and beer tasting much to G's delight.
Land's End.
So I'm not sure what I was really expecting but how this is set up was not really it. Entry costs £6 per car and it's more of a family day out with some weird 4D / interactive attractions.
You have to pay to get a picture taken with the iconic sign where they can change the city to wherever you are from. Pass. The day we went it was super windy and foggy but still, we can now say we have been to the most Western part of the UK, and the First and Last Inn.
Eat Here.
Porthminster Kitchen, St Ives.
A friend of mine was the (extremely talented) head chef of the Porthminster Kitchen so I took G here for his birthday. It was one of the best meals we have ever had. Everything on the menu was delicious but the stand outs were the Ponzue Mackerel Pate and the unique take on the Bloody Mary where it was made into a consomme. I could have just drunk that all night if I wasn't driving (no hangovers apparently if you do).
Whilst in St Ives we also had coffee at The Yellow Canary Cafe (which was recommended to us by a local at Down The Line surf shop in Hayle) and a cornish pasty from St Ives Bakery where you definitely need to get there early to grab one.
The Rockpool, Gwithian.
I was really craving a fish finger sandwich after our first day of surfing and this was thankfully on their menu. The food here is delicious and well priced. Plus they serve Cornish Orchards Alcoholic Ginger Beer which went down a treat whilst basking on their large sun deck (this has been updated in my second post of Cornwall as there were no longer fish finger sandwiches or the yummy Ginger Beer available! Gutted.)
Sunset Cafe, Gwithian.
This is a decent cafe over-looking the beach that offers a good little breakfast at a good price. It is a little further away to the campsite we were at but you could easily walk there along the beach. There is a surf hire shop with lessons offered underneath the cafe too.
We have decided to make this an annual occurrence as we loved this patch of coast and there is so much more exploring to do... plus I now forever crave the fish finger sandwiches at The Rockpool.
We took a train from London Paddington to Penzance where we picked up a car. I recommend setting an alert on Trainline for when the cheap train tickets are released. We managed to secure tickets for around £80 each, return. You can also fly to Newquay but as we were camping, we had a bit of luggage to bring along.
Car hire was through Europcar which cost around £155 for four days (automatic transmission). Check our comparison websites to get the best deal.
Churchtown Farm Caravan & Camping Site was £30 a night for a tent site, high season. Facilities were fantastic.
Surf lessons with Gwithian Surf Academy were really reasonably priced at £35 for a two hour lesson (which covers 1.5 hours of hire after the lesson) and the surf hire prices are cheap too. Really nice team.
