Cornwall: Plymouth to Land's End and the North Coast

Editor's note

Two nights between Looe and Mevagissey. Walk down into Polperro, a fishing village packed into a cleft, whose harbour can be shut against the sea by a gate; the Heritage Museum on the quay tells how openly it ran contraband in the 18th century. Take the coast path over to Talland Bay, and watch the fishing boats land at Looe. Give a day to the Eden Project in a worked-out china clay pit, where the Rainforest Biome is the largest indoor rainforest in the world. At Heligan, find the pineapple pit heated by rotting manure and the tree ferns of the Jungle, then walk down to Mevagissey harbour.

Editor's note

Two nights on the Lizard. Lizard Point is the most southerly point of mainland Britain, and Kynance Cove lies a mile and a half north: go at low tide to walk round the stacks, which the tide cuts off. Watch serpentine being turned in a village workshop and look at the dishes on Goonhilly Downs. Henry VIII built Pendennis Castle above Falmouth in 1540–42, paired with St Mawes across Carrick Roads; tour its Tudor gun room, then the National Maritime Museum Cornwall on the quay. In Truro, stand under the cathedral's three spires and find the old St Mary's aisle built into its south side.

Editor's note

Three nights in Penwith, the granite far west. Walk the South West Coast Path from the Crowns engine houses at Botallack south to Land's End, the westernmost point of mainland England. At Geevor, which worked until 1990, go underground and walk the dressing floors, then watch the 1840 beam engine at Levant run under steam. See a play at the Minack, the theatre Rowena Cade began building into the cliff at Porthcurno in 1931. In Penzance, swim in the Jubilee Pool, the Art Deco lido heated from a well 410m down. After dark, find Men-an-Tol on the moor; October to March gives the darkest skies.

Editor's note

One night by Newquay. Fistral faces west into the Atlantic and is the most consistent beach break in Britain, home of the British Surfing Association; take a lesson or hire a board, and see the surf museum at North Fistral. On a big swell, walk out to the headland to watch the Cribbar reef break. Down the coast, the three engine houses of Wheal Coates stand on the cliff near St Agnes, a tin mine that closed in 1889 when the price collapsed. Walk out to the Towanroath pumping house above the sea, follow the coast path to Chapel Porth and climb St Agnes Beacon.

Editor's note

Two nights between Padstow and Tintagel. Cycle the Camel Trail from Padstow's quay to Wadebridge along the old railway, flat and traffic-free, and take the ferry across the estuary to Rock. At Tintagel, cross the 2019 footbridge to the island half of the 13th-century castle, on the headland where Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote that Arthur was conceived; Merlin's Cave below is reached at low tide. Inland, Jamaica Inn stands alone on the Bodmin Moor road at Bolventor, with a smugglers' museum. Walk out to Dozmary Pool, where one story says Excalibur went back into the water, and up Brown Willy, the highest ground in Cornwall.