Three bedrooms: 1 x double with en-suite walk-in shower, basin and WC, 1 x double (ziplink can be a twin on request), 1 x adult bunk. Bathroom with bath, shower over, basin and WC. Kitchen. Living/dining room
A visit to Bude is a once-in-a-lifetime experience you’ll never forget. Bude’s beaches are perfect for lazing around and creating sandcastles, and its rockpools are perfect for exploring at low tide. There are also cafes where you can take in all of this and more. Surfing the swells is possible year-round, and walking along the reconstructed canal or the North Cornwall coastal path is a wonderful way to take in the area’s breathtaking scenery while doing so. With a top-notch golf course, an indoor pool, a bowling alley, and the Bude Castle’s Heritage Center, Bude has a lot to offer visitors.
As well as all of these amenities, there is a first-rate Visitors Center and a wide array of small businesses and supermarkets nearby. Nearby are the ruins of Warbstow Bury, a massive iron-age hill fort from which visitors can enjoy panoramic views. When looking for a day trip, take the coastal road north to Hartland Point or walk or ride a donkey down the steep and cobblestone village street (no automobiles permitted) to the harbour and the bar deep below in lovely Clovelly, England. If you go the opposite way along the coast, you’ll come across Crackington Haven, Boscastle, Tintagel, Doc Martin’s Port Wenn, and Polzeath, which are all fantastic surfing spots.
With its sweeping beaches, rugged moorlands, hidden woodlands, and rolling countryside estates, Cornwall is a superb destination if you want to spend some time bird watching on holiday.
One of the best spots is Hayle Estuary Nature Reserve, managed by the RSPB. This rich wetland habitat attracts a variety of birdlife, including teals, wigeons, and goosanders. While winter offers the highest numbers, spring and early summer also bring migrant waders such as oystercatchers, dunlins, and whimbrels to the tidal pools and marshes.
Marazion Marsh, also managed by the RSPB and overlooking the iconic St Michael’s Mount near Penzance, boasts Cornwall’s largest reedbed. It’s a haven for species like chiffchaffs, Cetti’s warblers, little egrets, and grey herons. Bitterns are regularly recorded here, and birds of prey, including sparrowhawks and buzzards, are often spotted too.
For a variety of songbirds and raptors, head to the Rame Peninsula near Cawsand. This beautiful area of tidal creeks, sandy beaches, and peaceful farmland attracts goldcrests, firecrests, warblers, and buntings. You may also glimpse birds of prey such as hobbies, merlins, peregrine falcons, and, if you’re lucky, the rare hen harrier.
At Stithians Lake, a large reservoir, breeding birds like little grebes, coots, and moorhens are common. Waders such as greenshanks, ruffs, and curlew sandpipers can also be seen foraging along the muddy banks.
Not far from St Ives, St Ives Island, actually a headland between Porthmeor and Porthgwidden beaches, is a top spot for seabird watching, especially in autumn. Huge flocks of skuas, terns, gannets, fulmars, and auks pass by, alongside waders like purple sandpipers, whimbrels, and turnstones.
Finally, no trip to Cornwall would be complete without exploring Bodmin Moor. This dramatic granite moorland, scattered with ancient ruins and rich in wildlife, is especially rewarding in spring and summer, when skylarks, stonechats, wheatears, and sedge warblers arrive to breed. In autumn and winter, the moor plays host to thousands of golden plovers, along with snipes and the more elusive jack snipe.
