The summer of the Staycation. The summer of 2020 will be forever etched in our memory – for the right reasons!
With our annual camping trip to Spain cancelled we settled on a week in a (hopefully!) sunny Cornwall. I’m ashamed to say that I hadn’t been to Cornwall since I was 7 (and this is a little longer than I care to remember!).
After much googling we booked a week at the Trevalgan Touring Park, near St Ives. It looked to offer us everything we wanted (top of the list was fresh croissants!). We couldn’t have been happier. As fairly seasoned campers we have experienced all sorts. This campsite had the nicest washblock we have ever used. It was immaculate! The play park was wonderful and the little onsite shop stocked a great selection of local specialities as well as the all important ice cream (from Moomaid of Zennor!). The biggest highlight was that we could order a selection of delicious freshly cooked croissants and breads each morning. A major highlight of the trip. Whilst the campsite was a little way out of the beautiful town of St Ives there was a regular bus service (which is a real bonus given the difficultly you have parking in the town).
You can never predict the weather on a British holiday (that’s partly why I go away so often!) but we were blessed with remarkably good weather. Here is what we did…
Day 1
A Beach day in St Ives. We parked up at the Leisure Centre and walked down (little legs would struggle especially on the way back!). We settled on St Ives Harbour Beach and enjoyed a few hours creating sandcastles and paddling in the sea. Once the tide started coming in we popped to get an ice cream before heading back to the campsite for an afternoon of playing.
Day 2
Another glorious day. This time we settled on a trip out to Carbis Bay. We arrived early and parked at the train station. In order to park there you have to buy a train ticket. The train line runs along the coast to and from St Ives and is stunning. Anyway, the train station is a short (but steep!) walk down to the beach. We took our croissants and coffee and enjoyed a lovely breakfast on the beach! We spent the whole day at the beach. There are toilets, a lovely cafe and you can hire deck chairs and windbreaks.
Day 3
We’d booked tickets for St Michaels Mount (It’s free for National Trust members). St Michael’s Mount is a historic castle, garden and island community found off the coast of Marazion in Cornwall. It’s well worth a visit. Opening times vary depending on the tide so do check the website in advance. After walking over the causeway to the island you can soak up the stunning views (there’s also a little cafe etc), you can explore the incredible gardens and if you choose you can also go into the castle. After spending a few hours on the island we crossed back over and enjoyed some fish and chips on the beach (does a British summer holiday get any better!).
Day 4
Our first proper soggy day (not bad!). We’d checked the forecast so had booked to go to Tate Modern in St Ives. Not my usual cup of tea but interesting (and dry!). The staff were so wonderful – explaining the art to the children (and us!) and bringing it all to life.
Day 5
The sun was back so we returned to Carbis Bay. This time we paid the premium to park down at the hotel (so right on the beachfront). Expensive but so worth it! Another day spent playing on the beach! I never imagined that a British summer holiday would be so warm! That evening we returned to the campsite for delicious pizza from the touring pizza company, Flour Power Pizza. They pizzas were incredible – such unique flavour combinations and all using the very best local ingredients.
Day 6
Ever since seeing an article in a travel magazine I’ve been desperate to visit the Minach Theatre – an incredible open air theatre perched on the cliffs high above the Atlantic ocean. We had booked a family friendly story telling session. The production involved just one actor…but was engaging and kept the attention of us all. After this production (with some incredible views!) we popped down to Porthcurno Beach – located in the far west of Cornwall (it’s won many awards and it’s easy to see why!). Poldark fans will recognise the beach as Nampara Cove. There’s a large carpark a short walk from the beach and a lovely little beach cafe selling ice cream and delicious Cornish pasties – that was lunch sorted!).
On route home we stopped to walk some of the coast parth at Lands End (a trip this far West wouldn’t be complete without it!). We didn’t make it quite as far as Lands End but had some good views!
All in all a wonderful family holiday with lots of memories made. I’m sure that when Covid restrictions allow we’ll quickly return to holiday’s overseas but we’ve been reminded of how lovely our own country is!
MummyandMe 