Pentire Point

The walk out to Pentire Point rewards you with one of those views that makes the effort genuinely worthwhile. You're standing on a proper headland, the kind with actual drama - sheer drops, the sea churning below, and that sense of being genuinely far from anywhere. The point juts out between two beaches and the coastal path takes you right along the spine of it.

It's not a long walk from New Polzeath, maybe twenty minutes or so depending on your pace, and the trail is well-maintained enough. You'll pass through gorse and coastal scrub, nothing too taxing. The real appeal here is the vantage point itself. On a clear day you can see for miles along the north Cornwall coast, and when the Atlantic's up, there's proper swell action below if you're into that sort of thing.

Families with older kids will get the most from this - younger ones might find the walk a bit dull without the drama at the end to keep them going. Walkers definitely. History types less so, unless you count the geology of the cliffs themselves. It's free, as these headland walks tend to be, and you can spend as long as you like up there just watching the light change and the waves roll in.

If you're staying at one of the nearby parks like Porthilly Beach or St Minver, this is the sort of outing that fills a morning properly. You could combine it with a swim or a pint back in New Polzeath afterwards. Best in decent weather - windy days are atmospheric but you'll want to be careful near the edge.