Views of Eden project, Beach at Portreath from hill just above Harbour and view of the Harbour from Cottage window.
Just come back from holiday in Cornwall. We stayed in a Holiday cottage in Portreath which was well equipped, clean and located right on the harbour and about 100 yards from the beach. Portreath is a small village on the very scenic coast and has a nice beach, 3 pubs which all serve nice food, 2 additional restaurants, fish and chip shop, convenience store and a lovely bakery. The weather was blazing hot sunshine all week, so what more do you need for a refreshing, relaxing holiday ! The only small problem was that at low tide the smell from the Harbour was horrendous. Luckily it just meant we kept the doors and windows closed so didn't cause any great issue for us.
There is lots to do and see down in Cornwall so we only scratched the surface of what Cornwall has to offer. We did plan out our week and ended up more or less sticking to what we decided to do.
Saturday
Sat nav tells me it is 255 miles to destination. We take it easy, stopping a couple of times and end up taking about 5.5 hours, which didn't seem a bad time.
Once we settled into the 3 bedroom cottage we take a walk around the small village and soon find ourselves on the beach taking in the late afternoon sun. A short walk around the cliffs is enough after such a hectic day, so go the 20 yards across the road from the cottage to the most local of locals (Portreath Arms Hotel) for nice evening meal and a drink or two...
Sunday
Previously planned for going on the Beach all day, which is probably just as well. Te sea is blooming freezing so end up paddling rather than swimming when the sun bathing gets too much effort. In the evening, decide to go for the tourist option of takeaway Fish and Chips by the sea front. No better start to a holiday.
Monday
Went for country walk round the coastal path to the next town (Porthtowen) Took about 2 hours to do the 4 miles, but was fascinating walk, looking out to the craggy coast and going up and down steep inclines..... also went around a RAF base, so had an armed army guard patrolling alongside us for a while. Reaching our destination, find there is a nice beach, restaurant and pub in the village (is there any other kind of Cornish village ?)
After the walk back, we decide to go to a different pub for our evening meal The "Bassetts Pantry" but actually was quite disappointed that it was "ordinary" pub food rather than the excellent home cooked from the first night.
Tuesday
Went to Lands End which was only about 20 miles away. Satnav took us down some great country roads to get there. Despite it being £3 to park and lots of rip off tourist activities it was fantastic to see the views and wildlife around that area and is well worth a trip (but don't bother with their cornish pasty as it was horrible) As we was close by we went into Penzance for the afternoon. A nice place to visit, very picturesque, the Art Deco swimming pool was very stylish and a fantastic coffee shop serving cream teas. There was also a good view of St Michaels Mount across the bay, so we decided to have a closer look on the way home. The car parking was rip off so only stopped to take a picture in the end. On the way back to the cottage we stopped in the town of Redruth, but as it was 5:30pm by now, everything was shut and it was like a ghost town. We did find a nice cafe attached to the cinema that was open, so ended up eating there. They served a nice sized meal, so much so that I didn't order any dessert ! Large portions of nice food seems to be the order of the day in Cornwall :-)
Wednesday
Another visiting day planned, with the Eden Project first on the list. I wasn't really looking forward to going, but once we got in, was surprisingly fascinating, especially the Biome of course (the great big dome things) In the end we were there about 5 hours, so having had only a short lunch rest were feeling knackered. After all that walking we had to stop at the Cornish Cyder Farm on the way back... with the Satnav again making excellent tiny back road choices, even driving around the area is exciting. There was free tasting at the Cyder Farm, but only had a very small drop as had to drive back, but ended up buying couple of bottles to get stuck into taker... In the evening we hobbled over the road to the Portreath Arms Hotel again for our meal, again having a smashing meal for small amount of money
Thursday
The day that Lynn had been looking forward to the most... where we had decided to go to the Cornish Goldsmiths just up the road. Once there we also found there was other shops selling Pearls, Cornish Silver and Bears amongst some other smaller shops, so Lynn had a great time looking around. I was surprised to spend 2 hours there, but Lynn "only" bought two items of gold jewellery so the holiday budget was just about intact
Then went to Godrevy (owned by National Trust) for another coastal walk. Great (uncrowded) beach, big cliffs, spectacular views and strategically located Ice Cream van made it a very pleasant afternoon spend walking around.
In the evening, decided to go to the Pub for our meal, but for a change went to the Waterfront Inn. The pub looks a bit rough round the edges and although the menu was a bit basic, had a decent selection. The home cooked food was great and for the first time I can remember, I didn't manage to finish my pudding ! (it was a HUGE slice of Bannoffee Pie, with extra cream)
Friday
Our final day, so wanting a "rest" day went to the beach again. Unfortunately, although it was hot and sunny it was very windy, but managed to find a reasonable spot out of the wind to get some R&R
As it was so windy we ended up back at the cottage earlier than normal, so watched some of the German game on TV, before getting ready for the Portreath Arms Hotel for our final meal in Cornwall.
Saturday
Lynn had refused to get up earlier than 8am (to get home before the footy) so just get up, pack and left about 9:20. Luckily for me, we manage to still get home at around 1:50pm (4.5 hour journey) just in time to unload then sit in front of TV to watch England game :-) As luck would have it, noticed a local pub reopened today after a refit, so went there for a nice meal... not quite the same views as Cornwall, but good meal and good beer.
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