So, after a flying, family holiday in Cornwall for 5 days, with our Home Education friends (old and new), we loved it so much I wanted to pop up a quick recap of what we did each day!
5 Days in Cornwall
Day 1
The drive down, National Marine Aquarium (Plymouth) & check in.
On route to Cornwall, we stopped by the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth. It was nice to give the kids a little stretch of the legs before we hit the road again!
We stayed at the Hendra holiday park, just outside of Newquay, which we booked for SUPER cheap. Obviously, as a large family this is always helpful!
There are 6 of us, and I’m happy to report the caravan we stayed in was clean, modern and had 3 bedrooms (1 double, 2 twins), which meant everyone had space!!
If you’ve followed us for a while, you’ll know that we lived in a static caravan, while attempting a barn conversion, for 3 years before we moved into our current house! Even so, this caravan didn’t dampen our spirits at all! It was a lovely one!
The Hendra site was set up well with Covid measures in place, including as minimal contact during check in as possible (you text reception when you arrive. They let you know when your keys are ready to collect. Only one person can collect etc.), mask requirements in indoor spaces, hand sanitizer dotted around, and early checkout on your final day to allow for extra cleaning time.
After we had checked in and had a cuppa, we met up with friends at the outdoor play park at Hendra, which I wish I’d taken photos of because it’s a lovely park!!
We grabbed Fish & Chips from the on-site chippy, and went back to our van for the night!
Day 2
The Eden Project & Carlyon Beach
As an avid plant/nature lover, I was extremely excited for a visit to The Eden Project!
It used to be a bit of waste land, completely barren! Now it has been restored with the power of nature, and oh my goodness, it surely is Eden!
As far as ideas go, this one is just magnificent. Creating a world that restores life to wasteland, and brings different climates into fruition here in England… it’s just incredible!
The sheer size of the Biomes that contain the Tropical and Mediterranean climates are just breathtaking! But as you walk inside it’s even more so!
As a home educator, being able to walk my children directly into the climates of other places, and being able to show them first hand bananas growing, cocoa, coffee, sugar and more! It’s so much fun! Especially while our travel to the real source is so limited.
Sadly, due to Covid, the playground was closed, or I’m sure we could have spent an entire day there without a problem.
I’m also happy to report that they had a vegan icecream (that wasn’t mango sorbet 😂😉), which meant Martin (dairy intolerance) was a very happy boy!
After our morning in Eden, we headed to the closest beach we could find on Google Maps, which happened to be Carlyon.
It was really quiet, and the sea was blissfully clear, and rather cold haha!
As a family we ALL love a wild swim, so you can bet your butt that we all headed straight for the water! Kids in pants, parents fully clothed, Scout in her TotsBots nappy! Haha!
It was a glorious afternoon of sand, sea and September sunshine.
After this, we headed back for showers, and despite me and Martin trying our hardest to get the kids to not want to leave the caravan again that evening, we were BEGGED into going to the holiday park arcades and restaurant haha! Who doesn’t love a 2p slot machine?!
Day 3
Swimming Pool & Newquay
So, by the morning of day 3 we needed a lay in and to not need to be anywhere too early!
We woke up and rolled into life in our own time, and then booked a slot (must be Pre-Booked) for the on site swimming pool, which was really great!
There are water slides, a big pool, toddler pool, baby pool…
Due to covid regs, the changing rooms are out of bounds, so you have to go with costumes ready underneath, and then figure out how you’re comfortable changing or getting back to your caravan afterwards, but this really wasn’t too stressful. You’re allowed bags on the pool side, so we just took a couple of towels, and threw clothes over our wet swimsuits after, to run back to the van,
It’s the first swimming pool we’ve been to since lockdown, and the kids had an absolute ball!!
After our morning swimming, we ventured into Newquay for the bigger arcades (which were hell on Earth with masks and 4 kids 😳😳), left the arcades swiftly, and headed down onto the beach…
Here, we accidentally bumped into a lot of our fellow Home Edders who were doing surf school!
We had a wonderful afternoon chatting, rock-pooling and playing on the beach, and enjoying some of the best hot chocolates I’ve ever had in my life! (Not quite as good as Godiva, but still AMAZING!)
Of course, despite the weather, Ridley decided to lay in the rock pools, fully clothed (including her THICK, frugi fleece!)…
That girl LOVES water.
After heading back, showering and eating, we headed for a late park play with home ed friends, and were there until it went dark!
Day 4
Lost Gardens of Heligan
If you enjoy The Eden Project, then I implore you to visit The Lost Gardens of Heligan.
Again, for a nature/plant lover like me, it’s absolute BLISS.
Heligan has obviously had years and years to grow, develop and change into the magical world it is now.
Each twist and turn is different, and I particularly loved the jungle area, with the rope bridge, and Fern Gully!
There were so many spots where I thought, wow… I could sit here all day, with a coffee and a sketch pad…
There’s also a really great play park that was open!! The kids really loved this!
Along with the magical and wild areas of the gardens, the hidden giants and woodland play, was also a more ‘groomed’ kitchen and flower garden, which were beautiful!
Oh, and animals!! There were farm animals too!
Definitely a wonderful, family day out!
Day 5
Home
We had plans to visit Padstow on our way home, but the girls all said they wanted to head straight back!
It took 9 hours due to multiple accidents!! But the kids did absolutely amazing!
The only thing I would have done differently is to stay for at least 2 weeks!! There’s a million beaches I wanted to visit that we didn’t get the chance to!
I think Cornwall is an amazing holiday destination for active, nature loving families! There’s just so much of everything!
I’d definitely recommend!
2 thoughts on “A Family Holday in Cornwall | Family Travel”