Nanjizal or Mill Bay

Getting down to Nanjizal takes proper effort - there's a steep coastal path from the car park near Land's End, and you'll lose a good twenty minutes of daylight descending those switchbacks. But once you round the final bend, it clicks why people make the journey. This is a proper Cornish cove, with golden sand backed by towering cliffs that glow amber in late afternoon light. The beach itself is sheltered and intimate, nothing like the sprawling strands near Penzance. In summer the swimming is decent enough, though the Atlantic still has teeth.

It's a walker's beach rather than a sunbather's one. The rock formations at either end are worth exploring at low tide - you'll find pools and the odd cave mouth - and there's a real sense of being somewhere remote, even though Land's End itself is barely two miles away. Families with younger kids might find the climb back up grim, especially if the weather turns. Give yourself three hours minimum if you're actually going to spend time here rather than just photographing the vista.

Stay at Lands End Camping & Glamping less than a mile away and you could walk to this place easily enough, though the path is steep. Roselands Caravan Camping Park, further inland near Penzance, works too if you're basing yourself more centrally. Go off-season if you can - the crowds thin out dramatically after summer, and the autumn light is genuinely better.