Tregothnan International Tea Centre

Tea gardens in Cornwall sound daft until you're actually standing in them. Tregothnan, just outside Truro, is Britain's only commercial tea estate - they've been growing the stuff since 2005 on south-facing slopes that catch proper heat. You can walk through the terraced plantations and see exactly how it works, which beats reading about it online by miles.

The centre itself feels more like a working farm than a tourist trap. There's a small shop where you taste their blends - the Cornish Gold is decent, smoky without being aggressive - and you can buy loose leaf or bags to take home. The real draw though is the guided tour through the growing areas. It takes about ninety minutes and you'll learn why a Cornish microclimate can actually produce tea worth drinking. Peak season runs spring through autumn; winter's quieter but the plants look skeletal.

It won't keep a restless eight-year-old entertained for long, but teenagers with any curiosity tend to find it interesting. Walkers might combine it with a loop around the coastal paths near Veryan, which has a solid camping site five miles away if you're basing yourself in the area. Free to wander the gardens, but the guided tour costs a few quid - worth it for the detail, honestly.

Not a day-long attraction, but a proper stop on a Cornish itinerary if you like food provenance and don't mind getting your hands dirty understanding where things come from.