Cornwall family holidays and breaks

Take the Family is a travel agency specialising in active, adventure and luxury holidays. Your personal travel advisor will create the perfect Cornwall holiday for your family, with expert advice and dedicated support throughout.

Cornwall for family holidays

No longer just about the pasties and the fish and chips (though it does these brilliantly!), Cornwall has oodles to offer families: mile on mile of gorgeous coastline (both spectacular beaches and cute coves and creeks for shrimping and crabbing), a thriving watersports community allowing kids to try their hand at swimming, surfing, sailing, body-boarding and so on, fantastic gardens, museums and a thriving arts centre based around St Ives.

Book a Cornwall family holiday with Take the Family and discover that, due to the shape of Cornwall, nothing’s too far away – it’s possible to visit a garden in the morning, have lunch in a pub and spend the afternoon on a beach before returning home for some crabbing if you’re lucky enough to be near a seaside wall and a shop that sells bacon.

As a specialist family travel agency, we can tailor-make the perfect family break in Cornwall, perhaps combining two or more destinations. Contact one of our travel advisors now and let's discuss your dream trip.

For more about Cornwall family holidays, scroll down.

Things to do with kids in Cornwall

Falmouth with Kids

• Enjoy the views from Pendennis Castle or take a boat-trip in the bay. Ferries operate year round and can take you over to St Mawes with its castle or up the Malpas River to Truro.

• Seek out a spot on one of the five main beaches around town. Maenporth and Swanpool are among the best Cornwall beaches with young kids – small, with shallow water. As on lots of Cornish beaches, you’ll find watersports facilities, lifeguards in summer, and cafés. Gyllingvase is also popular, with a great café year-round and lovely views.

• Spend a day at the fascinating National Maritime Museum, which includes a pool where kids can try their hand at sailing wooden boats.

Newquay with Kids

• Head to the north coast for waves for surfers. Fistral Beach at Newquay is where the English National Surfing Championships are held, and older kids love the hive of activity that surrounds the beach, with lots of nightclubs and entertainment.

• Enjoy days out at the Camel Creek Adventure Park near Newquay, which includes the Morgawr rollercoaster, high-drop Vertigo tower and Raging Rivers water slides

St Ives with Kids

• Discover this artists’ town in a former pilchard-fishing port, with terrific galleries including a branch of the iconic Tate art music and the Barbara Hepworth Museum & Sculpture Garden.

• Enjoy St Ives’ pretty, busy harbour and its great restaurants.

• Pick from St Ives’ beautiful beaches – Blue Flag Porthminster has the added bonus of its famous Porthminster Café.
Penwith Peninsula with Kids

• Pack a picnic and head to the Minack Theatre for an unforgettable experience in this amphitheatre hewn out of the rock (bring cushions and blankets). There are daytime and evening performances.

• Head to nearby St Michael's Mount, which you get to by boat if the tide is in, or by foot along the causeway when it’s out.

• Take the family to the Geevor Tin Mine to learn what life was like underground for a Cornish miner.

• Don’t miss the Cornish Seal Sanctuary, where you can see rescued seals close up as they recuperate before being released back into the wild.

Best Cornwall Gardens with Kids

• Spend a day at The Eden Project, a vast global garden housed in massive geodesic domes inside a reclaimed clay pit, showcasing plant life from around the world and investigating how humans being interact with nature.

• Be delighted by the Lost Gardens of Heligan with its woodland pathways dotted with sculptures, and its farm.

• Explore Trebah Garden, which has a private beach to stroll down to, with adventure play areas and children’s trails on the way.

• Also try out Trellisick Garden, Glendurgan Garden with its maze, and Trewithen House, Gardens and Estate.

Watergate Bay

Eating in Cornwall

The best food in Cornwall makes use of super-fresh fish and other great local produce; you can savour everything from pasties from the local corner shop to Michelin-starred restaurants. Rodda’s is famous for its clotted cream, ice cream and fudge, and a famous Cornish cream tea is a must – Roskillys does a great one on its organic farm on the Lizard Peninsula.

An historical re-enactment at Pendennis Castle

When to go to Cornwall

The best time to visit Cornwall is summer, when there are no end of regattas and carnivals, including Falmouth Week (boat races, family activities, music, markets and carnivals) and Fowey Regatta – the latter very popular for the spectacle of the giant pasty being rowed from Polruan to Fowey, the Red Arrows making a daredevil appearance and the Carnival Parade, which kids can take part in.

But if you’re after a quieter break, take advantage of the fact that the Gulf Stream means autumn, winter and spring in Cornwall are milder than anywhere else in the UK. The beaches will often be empty and accommodation will be cheaper.

May half term in Cornwall can be wonderful, especially around Falmouth with its annual Fal River Festival of live music, art exhibitions, theatre, walking trails and water sports including gig racing and open-water swimming
Cornwall now has excellent road, rail and air links from all around the country. London to Falmouth is about 450km (5 hours) by road, or about 5.5 hours by train, with a change at Truro.

Swanpool Beach, Falmouth

How to get to Cornwall

If you’re coming from northern England or Scotland, you might want to check out flights to Newquay Airport from Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast, some seasonal. There are also flights from London Gatwick and London Stansted.

Cornwall

Bedruthan Hotel & Spa

Polurrian on the Lizard

Lodges at The Cornwall Hotel & Spa

Retallack Resort and Spa

Piran Meadows Resort and Spa