Four Places To Stop On The North Cornish Coast For A Fantastic View

While the Southern tip of Cornwall has lots of gardens to explore and tin mines to get lost around, I found it much harder to plan out things to do between meals in North Cornwall (yes we planned a holiday based pretty exclusively around where we could eat!) and while there are a few stately homes to hit up, if the weather is good I think the best thing you can do is take a drive down the coastal roads or find a good hiking trail and enjoy the beautiful rugged coastline, sandy beaches and impossibly turquoise, clear blue water. If you’ve got the car, here are four beautiful places we stopped off worth marking on your map on the North Cornwall Coast.

Bedruthan Steps

The view atop the cliffs at the Beduthan Steps, located just North of Newquay was easily the best view we enjoyed during our trip. You can climb down to the beach, but we just rambled across the cliff top paths, taking in the dramatic, rugged rocks that gave way into little coves. It’s looked after by the National Trust, so you’ll need to pay £2.50 to use their car park, but it is more than worth it for the breathtaking views (and there are clean toilets if you’ve been on the go for a few hours!) – it is free if you’re a National Trust member.

You can find the Bedruthan Steps on Google Maps here.

Trevose Head Lighthouse

Trevose Head Lighthouse was a little gem we stumbled across just clicking and zooming around Google Maps while we were in the car. A former mine, if you’re a walker there is an hour loop you can do around the bit of coastline around the lighthouse (it’s hidden by the rocks if you’re trying to see it from further down the coast, so it is a bit of a surprise when you finally catch sight of it!) and Padstow Lifeboat Station. It used to be part of a mine,  but the area now makes up part of the Stinking Cove (great name!) national reserve. There are great views down the coast as you’re out on a spit, and still lots to amble around even if you don’t want to do the long walk. Also, if like us you’re visiting at the beginning of the season, it will be practically deserted. Another National Trust property it is £1 to park, but there are none of the facilities as at Bedruthan, but I think it is nicer for it.

You can find Trevose Head Lighthouse on Google Maps here.

Boscastle

We did not go to Boscastle for the coastline, but that was a happy discovery. We went for the Museum of Witchcraft, an incredible collection that maps the history of witchcraft in Britain back to Roman times. It is the largest collection of its kind in Britain and, if, like me, you’re into that sort of thing I promise it will be a trip highlight (speaking of highlights, as lots of you asked about the museum I put together an Instagram highlight of my best snaps!) Boscastle is best known for the devastating flood that ripped through and pretty much destroyed lots of this pretty valley village, but now it is a great place to have a walk about, enjoy an ice cream or a Cornish cream tea, and walk down the water towards the sea where you can climb out onto the craggy cliffs and enjoy the view out to sea. As with all the stops on this list, but particularly here, proper grippy walking boots are essential!

Polzeath Beach

By day a small sandy surfers beach, when it empties out at night Polzeath is a lovely spot to catch the sunset, popular with local photographers and dog walkers. After a bright and sunny day some of the sunsets we saw were quiet spectacular, so if you’re having dinner nearby, mark this on the map to stop off at on the way home.

You can find all of my posts so far to help you plan your next trip to North Cornwall here.

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