7 Cornish Seaside Towns To Visit On Your Next UK Staycation

The UK Staycation is becoming ever more popular as the list of countries with no quarantine restrictions for the UK becomes increasingly smaller and today’s post is all about the Cornish seaside towns I would highly recommend if you can get yourself there this year.

My husband and I took a trip to Cornwall in mid-September (with our 7-month-old puppy in tow) and were blessed with our usual Indian Summer in England, and luckily it was bright shining sun for 4 days straight. Cornwall isn’t the easiest place to get to but my word is it worth it! We separated the 5-hour drive up with a stop in Bristol for the day which I would highly recommend if you are coming from the Manchester or the North West – Bath would also be high on my list too for a day visit.

Who said you have to go abroad to get amazing beaches and weather? I certainly think the UK has a lot to offer and discovering these new places has made me want to explore more of what’s on my doorstep. For reference, we stayed up near Bude, and the furthest away place we visited was around an hours drive, so bear that in mind if you want to visit any of these places. I’ve heard the train system isn’t great in Cornwall either, so things are much more accessible with a car.

It’s also worth mentioning that everywhere we went seemed to be dog friendly, although strangely not all the beaches were, or only allowed dogs at certain times, so I would have a look before you go.

Today’s post is all about the seven seaside towns I would recommend for a visit to beautiful Cornwall on a UK Staycation. View more ideas in this Cornish Guide.

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Fowey

I’m going to start with the town that we actually spent the least amount of time in, but it was my favourite. We parked on top of a hill and walked down to the harbour past rows and rows of pastel-painted houses, and it was stunning. It was also home to one of the best meals we had during our trip, at a tapas restaurant called Pintxos – be warned, you might have to queue, but it is worth it.

Fowey’s harbour was lined with colourful boats, beer gardens and stunning views from up the hill. It definitely reminded me of Sorrento, and if you get the chance, I would highly recommend going, even just for a couple of hours.

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Polperro

Polperro to me felt like a dream – it was the most adorable little place, but still had loads to do there. There is only one car park (unless you’re staying at a hotel) which means the walk down to the village and the village itself is mainly pedestrianised. It again reminded me of a quaint Italian village and all the roads meandered through to the harbour.

There is also a lovely stone beach right at the end which gets the sun for most of the day. We also had the best pasty of our trip here (beef and stilton) and believe me we tried a few!

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Looe

Looe was similar to Polperro but on a much bigger scale. To make things confusing, the area with all the bars, restaurants and the beach is actually East Looe so bear this in mind if you’re making your way there!

There’s loads to do and see in Looe, and if we’d had more time I would have definitely gone on a boat trip! It was probably the biggest town that we visited too, but that also meant it was the busiest.

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Polzeath

If you’re a surfer or looking to learn, then Polzeath is definitely a place to go. When we arrived, it was around 5pm and the beach was still packed with people and there were so many in the water too. It’s not the biggest of places but had enough for us to spend a couple of hours wandering about. If you fancy a drink or some food, I would recommend heading to Surfside, which is a bar right on the seafront, which did amazing food too.

The one thing we didn’t realise was that the beach didn’t allow dogs until after 6pm, but nobody said anything to us and we weren’t the only ones with a furry friend with us.

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Port Issac

we stumbled across Port Issac by accident, but funnily enough, when I’d put an Instagram story up, two of my friends had recently been and said how beautiful it was. If you have time, definitely head to the Star Gazy Inn for a drink and look out over the mountains.

In all fairness it was beautiful and the views were incredible – but one thing I would be wary of is that there are only about 5 restaurants in the whole village so booking beforehand is necessary. We found this out the hard way which resulted in takeaway fish and chips eaten by the harbour – not that I was complaining!

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Wadebridge

We passed through Wadebridge on our way from Padstow to Polzeath, but it was very cute and worth a visit on your UK Staycation. We had a delicious Cornish cream tea there too, with the world’s most amount of clotted cream and jam given to us – so much so that we had to order another scone each!

There are lots of cute independent cafes and shops here and also a cool industrial-style pizza and beer jaunt that reminded me of Box Park in London!

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Padst0w

I’ve added Padstow to the list as I do think it is worth a visit, but as it was the second time I had been there, I do wish we’d chosen somewhere else to go as it was so busy the day that we got there, which meant we had to park about a 25-minute walk away.

If you’re a fan of Rick Stein, there is also 4 of his restaurants here including a chippy, an a-la-carte, patisserie and bakery – there were queues outside all of them, and definitely better places to go in my opinion, but he must be doing something right!

There isn’t a beach outright to go to in Padstow, and you’d need to wander for a bit to find one, but if you’re in the area, it’s a sweet little place to visit.

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I hope this post has inspired you to visit beautiful Cornwall on your next UK Staycation!