Padstow

Padstow is a great example of a working port which wears a holiday hat. Hotels, guest houses and holiday cottages are never more than a seagull's cry from the waters edge. Nestling on the beautiful Camel estuary, Padstow offers unrivalled holiday opportunities. The town, with its colourful harbour surrounded by pastel-washed medieval houses, is an attraction in itself.

For the more active and adventurous, Padstow offers a range of activities including walking and cycling, the world famous Camel Trail, South West Coastal Footpath, water sports including fishing, surfing and sailing and unrivalled Golf on the seaside links of St Enodoc, Trevose and the nearby Merlin Golf Club.

It's not all action of course - watching the everyday ebb and flow of harbour life is a perfect way to spend a day in Padstow. If you find this too hectic spend the afternoon relaxing at peaceful Harbour Cove with its lovely sandy beach and fabulous views of the Camel Estuary, or take a ferry trip across to Rock and visit the hushed church of St Enodoc where Sir John Betjeman is buried. Padstow is surrounded by glorious clean sandy beaches - no less than 7 bays are within a five minute drive, as are the villages of St Merryn, St Issey, Little Petherick and St Ervan.

More recently Padstow has become a foodies paradise with our resident celebrity chef, Rick Stein, leading a brace of high quality local restaurants offering everything from fish and chips to fruits de mer. Add to this an outstanding range of designer and boutique shops, top quality accommodation and Padstow really does have it all. If Padstow had a visitors' book, it would make for interesting reading. You'd find entries from the prehistoric Beaker folk, from Romans, Celtic Saints and even Viking marauders. Later inhabitants include Sir Walter Raleigh, whose Court House stands on Riverside, and the Prideaux family, still in residence at Elizabethan Prideaux Place.

Amenities: Cinema (open school holidays only), pleasure boat cruises, fishing trips, speedboat trips, cycle hire, crazy golf, art galleries, Camel Trail - cycle and walking trail, South West coast Path, Prideaux Place - Elizabethan Manor (open May - September)

Padstow Tourist Information Centre - Open all year, tel:01841 533449 - e:padstowtic@btconnect.com web www.padstowlive.com