The north coast of Cornwall is spectacular and dramatic. Towering cliffs interspersed with beautiful sandy beaches. West of Padstow, the ‘seven bays for seven days’ of Trevone, Harlyn, Mother Ivey’s, Booby’s, Constantine, Treyarnon and Porthcothan are understandably popular with surfers and beach lovers alike. Mawgan Porth is home to the iconic Scarlet Hotel, which would surely make a great Bond film set! 

A little further down the coast, Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Cornwall is an award winning restaurant and social enterprise project, which sits next door to the Ashworth family’s Watergate Bay Hotel and Extreme Academy. Going north of the Camel Estuary, the coastline and landscape opens out. There are fewer coves and harbours, and the cliffs grow even taller. The traditional fishing village of Port Isaac looks an almost familiar sight with small cottages and boats resting on the beach, but it is also home to one of the best restaurants in the UK, headed up by the eponymous chef Nathan Outlaw.

Further up the coast is Trebarwith with its excellent surf break, The Strangles, and then Boscastle with possibly the most dramatic harbour entrance of all. The surfing resort of Bude just clings on to the north corner of Cornwall and has seen much regeneration in recent years.