Around Boscastle

So often your holiday destination has one main road, one route and few alternative ventures. Not so in Boscastle.

Boscastle itself is like a step back in time, mostly unspoilt and with cottages and tiny lanes full of interest. There are so many places to explore it could take you a week to discover even half. Just a short stroll from us is the 16th century Napoleon Inn and from there it is an "old world" walk to the harbour.

The churches of Forrabury, St.Juliot’s, Lesnewth and Minster all have a unique attraction. The Valency Valley walk links the latter three and is delightful, especially in springtime, when there is a mass of daffodils.

The cliff activities and walks via Pentargon Waterfall take you higher towards Crackington Haven. High Cliff is the highest in Cornwall at 735 ft and can be seen from Trerosewill. There are also panoramic views of the Bristol Channel and Lundy Island.

Behind Forrabury church are the ancient "stitches", a relic of the medieval system of farming large open fields communally. The silent tower of Forrabury, echoed by the white 19th century disused lookout tower, originally a "summer house" perched upon Willpark, lends itself to a legend. A bell, lost at sea on transit, may be heard tolling on stormy nights.

The harbour mouth has a mass of under-sea caves which seals are known to frequent and you can hear the famous "blow-hole" at certain tides. The fishermen of Boscastle are some of Cornwall's best navigators due to the skills needed to negotiate the treacherous harbour entrance.

Around North Cornwall

This is the land which inspired the writings of Hardy and Tennyson – Beeny Cliff, Valency Valley, mythical Tintagel. It still inspires today, with Port Isaac the setting for hit films such as Saving Grace plus TV’s Doc Martin. Here you can watch the fishing fleet set sail at dawn, and find the day’s catch on restaurant menus that night!

There are superb sandy beaches, too – Bossiney, Crackington Haven and Trebarwith Strand – all suntraps sheltered by the dramatic cliff curtain. But whether you're soaking up the sun or hiking the coastpath, the sheer beauty and grandeur of the scenery is guaranteed to leave you awe-struck.

Every part of this landscape has a story to tell – of wrecking and smuggling at Boscastle, legend and romance at Tintagel and industrial heritage at Delabole Slate Quarry.

Watching the kittiwakes soar above Bounds Cliff, rambling over the Iron Age ramparts of Rumps Point, wandering beside the waterfalls of Rocky Valley or making a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Nectan's Glen... wherever you go, take your time, and let the spirit and atmosphere of this beguiling place work its spell on you.

Betjeman Country – the landscape lovingly evoked by the Poet Laureate in Old Friends, Summoned by Bells, and Seaside Golf. Hear his poetry recited on summer evenings on Brae Hill, overlooking St Enodoc Church where the poet is buried, and see his personal artifacts at the Betjeman Centre, Wadebridge.

Walkers will take the coast path in their stride, heading north to Sandy Mouth and stormlaced Morwenstow, home of the legendary poet, Parson Hawker.

Just 45 minutes’ drive from Boscastle is the Eden Project. It recreates the tropics and Mediterranean in domes so huge that one even includes a 75 foot waterfall. Combine this with visiting Lanhydrock, the Lost Gardens of Heligan and Pencarrow and you are in horticultural heaven.

North Cornwall's wild flowers put even skilled Victorian plantsmen to shame, with cliff top carpets of squill, sea-campion and thrift, hedgerows of wild gladioli and meadowsweet and woodland glades of ramsons and anemones.

Bodmin Moor – totally unspoilt, rolling moors, bewitching at any time of the year with solid, granite villages such as St. Breward, Blisland and Alternun perched above the surrounding countryside.

Towns of interest

Camelford – A busy thoroughfare with some delightful shops retaining the air of yesteryear.

Bodmin – Once the administrative centre for the Country, stacked full of historic buildings. Also in the town is the Bodmin and Wenford Steam Railway.

Launceston – The only medieval walled town in Cornwall of which the castle still provides ample evidence. One of the most unspoilt towns in England, an architectural and historic gem.

Wadebridge – One of the finest market towns in Cornwall sited on the head of the Camel Estuary. It is the start of the Camel Trail, an 18 mile traffic free cycle track on a disused railway line running alongside the Camel River and estuary.

Bude – One of the districts premier resorts, with tremendous beaches ideal for surfing, a canal for more sedate water sports and a fine shopping centre.