Things To Do In Cornwall

Attractions & Theme Parks

Newquay Activity Centre – With over 20 years industry experience, our award-winning activities guarantee grin-inducing fun for all. Surfing, bodyboarding, coasteering, SUP, Kayaking; we do it all and more here in Cornwall’s adventure capital. New skills are gained and great memories made with Newquay Activity centre.

The Big Green Surf School – As the only surf school on the stunning Crantock Beach you can enjoy uncrowded waves all to yourself. You can also come on one of our Stand-Up-Paddleboard tours up the Gannel Estuary to really enjoy the beauty and serenity of this stunning National Trust managed area.

Holywell Bay School of Surf – Surfing made Easy – Learn to Surf at Holywell Bay School of Surf the only surf school based on the beach front. Holywell is one of Cornwalls most beautiful beaches and offer’s fantastic surfing conditions for all abilities.

Cornwall Waverunner Safaris – The UK’s official Yamaha Jet Ski experience offering a wide range of Jet Ski Sessions and Safaris aboard the latest Yamaha Waverunner’s.

The Cornish Cyder Farm – Tastings, Tractor Rides, Guided Tours, Farm Animals, Restaurant and Farm Shop

Crealy Adventure Park – Great family day out at Crealy Adventure Park

Flambards – the Best Day of the Week, whatever the weather! New attraction – Extreme Force.

Legendary Land’s End – rugged, dramatic, timeless, yet always changing with the light and weather. Land’s End is the unmissable destination

The Eden Project – is a global garden for the 21st century and beyond, a gateway to a sustainable future, and a dramatic setting in which to tell the fascinating story of man’s dependence upon plants.

DairyLand – Britain’s first, biggest and best Farmpark!

Lappa Valley Steam Railway – three railways in one! Canoes, Crazy Golf, Pedal Cards, historic tin-mine engine house and much more…

World of Model Railways – indoor and garden layouts in Mevagissey

Wildlife

Newquay Zoo – the perfect day out!

Paradise Park and the World Parrot Trust – a great day out for your family at Britain’s top bird garden

National Seal Sanctuary – Britain’s leading marine rescue centre. New otter facility.

Blue Reef Aquarium – the ultimate undersea safari

Maritime Attractions

Newquay Harbour – Newquay Harbour Boatsmen Association – fishing and angling trips, deep sea fishing.

Shipwreck Rescue & Heritage Centre – Charlestown. The all weather attraction where children go free!!

The National Maritime Museum, Falmouth – the museum is a maritime experience as exhilarating as the sea itself. This £21 million landmark on Falmouth’s historic waterfront welcomes you with a series of experiences as alive as the sea, whatever your age or nautical skill.

The Pilchard Works – Newlyn. A unique example of Cornwall’s fishing industry

Gardens and Country Houses

Pencarrow – historic house and listed gardens still family owned and lived-in.

St. Michael’s Mount – This magical island is the jewel in Cornwall’s crown, a national treasure and a must for every visitor to the far West of England. National Trust, open all year.

Lanhydrock – National Trust. One of the most fascinating late 19th-century houses in England, full of period atmosphere and the trappings of a high Victorian country house.The garden features a stunning collection of magnolias, rhododendrons and camellias, and offers fine colours right through into autumn. All this is set in a glorious estate of 900 acres of woods and parkland running down to the Fowey River. There is an extensive network of footpaths and a guide to estate walks.

Cotehele – National Trust. Cotehele was a home of the Edgcumbe family for centuries. Its granite and slatestone walls contain intimate chambers adorned with tapestries, original furniture and armour. Outside, the formal gardens overlook the richly planted valley garden below, with medieval dovecote, stewpond and Victorian summer-house, and 18th-century tower above. At the Quay there are interesting old buildings housing an art and craft gallery and an outstation of the National Maritime Museum. The restored Tamar sailing barge Shamrock is moored alongside. A network of footpaths throughout the estate provides a variety of riverside and woodland walks with a high nature conservation and industrial archaeology interest.

Trelissick Garden – National Trust. Beautifully positioned at the head of Fal estuary, the estate commands panoramic views over the area and has extensive park and woodland walks beside the river. At its heart is the tranquil garden, set on many levels and containing a superb collection of tender and exotic plants which bring colour throughout the year. The display of spring blossom is particularly delightful. The house is not open, but there is an art and craft gallery, shop, two restaurants and fine Georgian stable block.

Trerice – National Trust. This delightful small Elizabethan manor house enjoys a secluded setting and contains fine fireplaces, plaster ceilings, oak and walnut furniture, interesting clocks and Stuart portraits. The highlight of the interior is the magnificent great chamber with its splendid barrel ceiling. The attractive garden has some unusual plants and an orchard with old varieties of fruit trees, and in the barn there is an exhibition on the history of the lawnmower.

Glendurgan – National Trust. A valley garden of great beauty, created in the 1820s and running down to the tiny village of Durgan and its beach. There are many fine trees and rare and exotic plants, with outstanding spring displays of magnolias and camellias. Late in the season a glorious display of wild flowers carpets the valley slopes. The laurel maze, dating from 1833, puzzles young and old. The house is privately occupied.

Trengwainton – National Trust. A unique garden, perhaps more favoured for the cultivation of exotic trees and shrubs than any other on mainland Britain. The walled garden in particular contains many species which cannot be grown in the open anywhere else in the country. Intimate and closely linked to the stream running through its valley, the garden leads up to a terrace and summer-houses with splendid views of Mount’s Bay and The Lizard.

Trevarno Estate Gardens – Within beautiful, historic Trevarno Estate one of Cornwall’s most romantic 40 acre woodland garden is an extensive collection of rare shrubs, trees, walled gardens mysterious rookeries, grotto, enchanting lake, cascade & more.

Trebah Garden – This lovely wild sub-tropical ravine paradise winds through huge plantations of 100 year old giant tree ferns, rhododendrons, magnolias, camellias, palms and 2 acres of massed hydrangeas to a private beach on the Helford River.

The Lost Gardens of Heligan – this year are celebrating the tenth anniversary of the restoration of the Lost Gardens. For many decades rampant overgrowth had engulfed the increasingly neglected gardens until the Great Storm of 1990, which appeared to put the final, fatal seal on this mysterious estate.

Tresco Abbey Gardens – Set aside your preconceptions about what can and cannot be grown in frost-cursed, rain-soaked Britain. These Abbey Gardens in the Isles of Scilly are a glorious exception – a perennial Kew without the glass – shrugging off salt spray and Atlantic gales to host 20,000 exotic plants.

Festivals in Cornwall

Fowey Festival of Words & Music – formerly known as the Daphne du Maurier Festival, the Festival is held over ten days every May in Fowey and St. Austell Bay during May. A local initiative with the full support of the du Maurier family, it celebrates the life and works of the internationally renowned author and the association of her work with the County of Cornwall and Fowey in particular.

Padstow May Day – the biggest day in Padstow’s calendar. It is not unusual to see 30,000 people crammed into our little town. It is a day when Padstonians from all over the world return to their roots.

Art Galleries and Theatres

Tate St. Ives – displays of 20th century art, focussing on the modern tradition St. Ives is famous for.

The Minack Theatre – on the cliffs at Porthcurno. Performances from May to september. Visitor Centre open all year

Miscellaneous Links

The Ultimate Cornwall Visitor Guide – From quaint fishing villages, to jaw-dropping beaches and legends of old, Cornwall is an enchanting place to visit. Here, local tourism insiders share their 90 favourite things to do and places to go – uncovering Cornwall’s hidden gems with more than 100 stunning photos to help you plan your visit.

Flynqy – learn to fly in the South West. Flying lessons are the perfect gift. Flynqy offer pilot training for the PPL, NPPL, IMC and CPL as well as Trial flying lessons.

Whitrow Design – create innovative interiors, capturing the imagination of a brand, and express this effectively within a store.

Tickity-boo – Newquay’s Online Guide – Tickity-boo is a comprehensive online guide to Newquay Cornwall, featuring information on accommodation, entertainment, surfing, maps, what’s on, Newquay videos, local shops and services, and much more.

Winston Graham – the 30th June, 2008 was the centenary of the birth of Winston Graham – one of the most successful and prolific novelists of the twentieth century. To mark his centenary the Royal Cornwall Museum Truro is holding a Centenary Exhibition – Poldark’s Cornwall: the life and works of Winston Graham.

Images of Cornwall – Photographs of Cornwall including beaches, sunsets, flowers and abstract images available for sale as greetings cards, mounted prints, framed prints and canvasses. All prints are signed by photographer.