Sights in North Cornwall
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Town Beaches
The town beaches of Great Western, Tolcarne and Towan are nearly always crammed to capacity with windbreaks and beach tents thanks to their proximity to town. Things are usually quieter along the coastline at Lusty Glaze and Porth, while surfers haunt the ever-reliable waves of Fistral, England's most famous surfing beach, and the location for the annual Rip Curl Boardmasters surfing festival.
Despite the summer crowds, all the town beaches offer decent facilities and great swimming, plus beach lifeguards throughout the season.
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Newquay Zoo
Red pandas, sloths, penguins, great horned owls and a python called Monty (get it?) are some of the wild inhabitants at this popular zoo, ten minutes walk from the town centre.
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Bedruthan Steps
A few miles east of Watergate Bay are the stately rock towers of Bedruthan Steps (sometimes called Carnewas), a haven for sea birds and an irresistible challenge for the county's rock climbers. Though the beach practically disappears at high tide, Bedruthan is always a spectacular spot for a clifftop stroll, and there's a small National Trust café where you can seek shelter when the Atlantic wind gets up.
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Spirit of the West
Newquay is surrounded by several other family-friendly attractions that'll entertain the kids and have the parents reaching for the hipflask. Weirdest of all, at Spirit of the West near St Columb, dodgily dressed Cornish gunslingers shoot it out around a gin-u-wine Wild West theme park, stables, saloon and all. Yee-ha, pardner. Weird.
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Huer's House
On the headland between Towan and Fistral stands the 14th-century Huer's House, a lookout once used for spotting approaching pilchard shoals. Until they were fished out in the 20th century, these shoals were enormous: one catch of 1868 netted a record 16.5 million fish.
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Crantock
If the town beaches are too hectic, you'll find more elbow-room further afield. Three miles southwest is Crantock, sandwiched between the twin headlands of East and West Pentire, and backed by grassy dunes and the fast-flowing River Gannel.
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Blue Reef Aquarium
On Towan Beach, Newquay's aquarium displays a selection of weird and wonderful aquatic characters, including jellyfish, seahorses, octopi and rays. Touch-pools allow you to get up close and personal with the residents.
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Dairyland Farm World
Newquay is surrounded by several other family-friendly attractions that'll entertain the kids and have the parents reaching for the hipflask. Pony rides, billy goats and cow milking are on offer at Dairyland Farm World.
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Watergate Bay
East of Newquay is the broad, flat beach of Watergate Bay, home to the latest branch of Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant and a fast-growing centre for adventure sports.
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Holywell Bay
West of the town is the family favourite Holywell Bay, with powder-soft sand and rockpools and caves to explore at low tide.
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Lappa Valla Steam Railway
Ride the rails aboard Ronnie Corbett-sized steam trains at Lappa Valla Steam Railway.
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World in Miniature
See the world (in plastic Brobdingnagian form) at the World in Miniature.
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Old Post Office
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Museum of Witchcraft
Among Boscastle's renovated buildings, this quirky museum rather improbably houses the world's largest collection of witchy memorabilia, from haunted skulls to hags' bridles and voodoo dolls.
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Beaches
Newquay is set amid some of the finest beaches on the North Coast. Fistral, west of Towan Head, is England's best-known surfing beach and the venue for the annual Boardmasters surfing festival. Below town are Great Western and Towan; a little further up the coast you'll find Tolcarne, Lusty Glaze, Porth and Watergate Bay. All these beaches are good for swimming and supervised by lifeguards in summer.
The stately rock towers of Bedruthan Steps, are a few miles further east towards Padstow; Crantock lies 3 miles to the southwest. Further west again is family-friendly Holywell Bay.
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