Cornwall family holidays and breaks

Keep the family busy in Falmouth – 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. The boat-trips themselves are enough to keep youngsters happy and the ferrymen are used to lugging buggies up and down the steps. There are five main beaches round the town, with Maenporth and Swanpool popular with families with young kids as the beaches are small and the water shallow. As on lots of Cornish beaches, you’ll find watersports facilities, lifeguards in summer, and cafés to keep the little ones from flagging. Gyllingvase is popular, with a great café year-round and lovely views. The National Maritime Museum has a pool where kids can try their hand at sailing wooden boats and holiday arts and crafts (the presence of its own café plus a Pizza Express and Rick Stein’s Fish and Chips outside in the square make this a popular choice).

Falmouth and its hamlets are surrounded by gorgeous gardens, most exceptionally child friendly, though some of the terrain makes it hard going for buggy-pushers. Trebah has a private beach to stroll down to; kids will enjoy the adventure play areas and children’s trails on the way. Trevarno has a vintage toy museum and a great play area in the woods. Also worth a visit are Trellisick (catch the King Harry Ferry afterwards and head to Smugglers Cottage for a cream tea, with the kids in full view below you on the beach), Glendurgan with its maze, and Trewithen. 

You can happily spend a day at The Eden Project eco-attraction whatever the weather. The Lost Gardens of Heligan will delight kids with its woodland pathways dotted with sculptures, as well as its farm.  

Discover St Ives, an artists’ retreat with terrific galleries, a branch of the Tate and the Barbara Hepworth Museum & Sculpture Garden. With its picturesque and lively harbour and great restaurants, it gets very busy but is bearable if you are just visiting for the day. Of the beautiful beaches, Porthminster has the added bonus of its famous Porthminster Café.  

Head to the north coast for better waves for surfers – Fistral Beach at Newquay is where the surfing championships are held, and older kids love the hive of activity that surrounds the beach, full of nightclubs and entertainment. There’s the great Blue Reef Aquarium at Towan Beach. Cornwall’s Crealy Great Adventure Park and Dairyland Farmworld, both near Newquay, are good to have up your sleeve for bad weather. 

Venture to Fowey (pronounced Foy) – like other towns along the southern coast, it has a rich history. One of the most expensive towns in which to own property in the UK, it's brilliant for family holidays, with great restaurants. Fowey Regatta is 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 enter.   

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. Close by is 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 (popular with kids but make sure you’ve got the tides right!). 

Take the family to the Charlestown Shipwreck and Heritage Centre with its artefacts recovered from lost ships. Poldark Mine and Geevor Tin Mine are popular spots for learning what life was like underground for a Cornish miner. 

Experience what life was like in the Blitz at Flambards, a popular attraction that also boasts a Victorian village. Another unmissable is the Cornish Seal Sanctuary, which gives kids the chance to see seals close up as they recuperate before being released back into the wild.