Here’s How to Spend a Girls’ Weekend Away in Cornwall

Posted on 23rd Apr 2020. In , , ,

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For a simple girls’ weekend away, Cornwall out of season is a sensible move. Once the summer throngs trickle away, the roads unclog, the beaches empty, the multitude of attractions and things to do in Cornwall relax – and even the air seems less stressed than before.

To test out Cornwall’s off-peak delights, I recently took a bunch of my besties to North Cornwall’s Mawgan Porth, courtesy of Classic Cottages. We found the region renewed with ease; the strain of the in-season rush no longer detectable in the eyes of the locals.

This wonderful sense of Cornish calm helped our own heartbeats return to a resting pace. And the relaxed cafes and restaurants gave us plenty of chances to bond over good food and quiet coffees – we even managed to catch a breaking wave or two.


Your Girls’ Weekend Away Itinerary


Saturday

Explore Padstow

Start here:

Cornwall’s Chic Corner

Padstow is no longer the simple fishing town it once was. Synonymous with Rick Stein (who owns a restaurant, hotel, fish and chip shop, and a seafood school here), it has more glitz than lobster pots these days. Today Padstow boasts some of the best seafood restaurants in the county, as well as boutique shops and art galleries that look like they’re fresh in from London.

Alongside the glamour, the town still retains some of its fishing-port charms: traditional fisherman’s cottages encircle the small harbour and there are a number of down-to-earth pubs and pasty shops standing fast against all-out gentrification.

The best way to get to know Padstow is slowly: wind its twists of little streets, which are thankfully less crowded in the autumn months, nose in shop windows, walk the harbour, shelter in doorways from the rain, and exchange smiles with the other weekenders who love the off-peak pace.


Find Places to Stay in Padstow


Do this: 

Enjoy exceptional views over the Camel Estuary

Padstow sits on the west flank of the Camel Estuary, a vast inlet of calm water running five miles up to Wadebridge.

To get good views across the estuary and out towards the Atlantic, follow the South West Coast path just around the corner from Padstow harbour until you reach the WWI memorial at St. Saviours Point.

There are benches for you to sit on, but there’s no shelter so you’ll need to break out the emergency waterproof if the elements close in.

Aside from this quick stroll up the hill, there are plenty more walks to follow from Padstow should you want more sweat on your girls’ weekend.

Including Steeper Point – a headland walk that offers stunning views over the River Camel – and the Doom Bar (the great sandbank that guards the mouth of the Camel Estuary).


Visit this:

The wired and wonderful Drang Gallery

Like a pistol pop in a chic corner of town, the Drang Gallery is proof Padstow is no longer a local town for local people.

Hanging on the walls is contemporary art that demands your attention, including works from Andy Warhol, Banksy, Damien Hirst and, my newfound favourites, The Connor Brothers.

As you’d expect, the price tags are weighty but the art is worth a slice of your time if you can spare it. For more grounded art that showcases homegrown Cornish talent, try the Padstow Gallery or Beyond the Sea.

The Drang Gallery Interior Padstow

Outside Rick Steins Cafe Padstow

Lunch here:

Affordably at Rick Stein’s Café

For seafood bounty without paying top dollar, head to the Rick Stein Café on Middle Street in the heart of Padstow. You won’t find the man himself there, but his friendly team give a 5-star experience for your weekend with the girls even if you’re just after coffee and cake.

We booked ahead (it’s notorious for being full) and settled in for a girls’ weekend lunch in the pleasant, if bijou, white and blue surroundings. Strangely, there was less fish on the menu than we expected – whether that’s a good or bad thing we weren’t sure.

Despite the varied choice, almost all of us plunged headfirst into the Moules Frites, cooked with black bean sauce and ginger.

The mains were generous on taste, although not substantial on portion size, but the small shared bill at the end made up for it. And we left happily able to brace the fine sheet of rain that had just descended.

You may also want to try Michelin-Starred Paul Ainsworth at No. 6


Sunday

Explore Mawgan Porth

 

Do this:

Take on the waves at Mawgan Porth Beach

Give your eyes time to adjust when you arrive at Mawgan Porth beach. This vast soft gold channel of sand rushes towards you leaving the Atlantic Ocean way behind; the only thing stopping it careering inland is the road, beach shops and eateries that stare it down.

Yes, this is one impressive wedge of Cornwall’s coast, sandwiched in-between pea-green cliffs ready for you to take a bite.

So, get into your wetsuit, grab your bodyboard (or surfboard) and head to the sea to play in the waves – a must on a Cornish girls’ short break. Facing west and exposed to Atlantic swells, the beach is popular with surfers. There is seasonal lifeguard cover and flags usually mark the sections that are safe for body boarders and surfers.


Find Places to Stay in Mawgan Porth


Lunch here:

Beach Box Cafe

Serving some of the best coffee and food concoctions in Mawgan Porth, the Beach Box Café is just the spot to go to warm up after a dip.

The building used to be the public toilet block until it was saved from destruction and the top half turned into a funky café complete with surf soul (the bottom half still houses the original working toilets).

Now clad in wood, the Blue Box Cafe has an imaginative menu of coffees, teas, smoothies and light bites.

Make sure you try the Blue Magik Rainbow Latte made from Spirulina algae – even if you don’t dig the taste, it looks excellent in photos.

Beach Box Cafe Mawgan Porth Cornwall
Blue Magik Rainbow Latte at Beach Box Cafe Cornwall
Beach Box Cafe Mawgan Porth Cornwall

Go here:

Bedruthan Steps

Swap wetsuits for walking boots and stroll the 20 minutes from Skiber-an-Fenton to Bedruthen Steps. The hulking granite sea stacks that make up Bedruthan Steps were, as legend tells it, stepping stones for the Giant Bedruthan. Their colossal size certainly adds merit to the story and it’s easy to see why people flood here during summer.

Luckily, out-of-season the coast is clearer and you can make it down to the tidal beach at the bottom without too much hassle.

The steps that take you down to the beach, however, are not for the faint-hearted: narrow, slippy and only worth trying if you’re  able or accompanied by Steve Backshall.    

If you do have to stay at the top, there’s plenty to feast your eyes on. The views over the cliffs and across the Atlantic take your breath away, and the stories of smugglers and shipwrecks (not to mention the allure of Poldark) just make it all the more irresistible.


The Headlnad Hotel in Newquay

Visit this:

Explore the Witches’ hotel

Clamped to a crop of melancholic rock, The Headland Hotel in Newquay has stood watchfully on the same spot since the 1900s.

An imposing Victorian stack of red brick and grey, it’s famous for being the setting for the movie adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches. And is still proud of the association to this day.

Indeed, ask one of the members of staff and they’ll delight in retelling how Rowan Atkinson (who played the hotel manager in the movie) flooded his room by overfilling the bath.

And how Angelica Houston (who played the Grand High Witch) would often get large bouquets of flowers delivered to her from her boyfriend at the time, Jack Nicholson.


Find Places to Stay in Newquay


Finish here:

Watergate Bay Hotel

With its sweeping views over the glistening sea and sand of Watergate Bay, Watergate Bay hotel is the perfect spot to end a girls’ weekend in Cornwall. Watergate Bay is the part of Cornwall comes closest to the surf scene of California whilst the hotel rides the waves of foodie excellence.

The draw of this spot is the view: outside the hotel Watergate Bay glistens back at you whilst kite surfers acrobat the waves and families dig holes on the beach.

Choose from the hotel’s four restaurants that, between them, satisfy whatever you hunger for whether it’s sandwiches post-surf or fresh seafood and cocktails to say farewell to Cornwall.

Head to Zarcy’s for sit-down dinners and stay-up-late cocktails. Try The Living Space for simple sharing boards and post-beach coffee. Pull up a chair at The Beach Hut for steaks, burgers, and seafood. Or detour to Emily Scott for no-fuss, delicious meals, including plant-based dishes.

Pic credit: Watergate Bay Hotel


Where we stayed

Skiber-an-Fenten Cottage, Mawgan Porth

Sleeps: 4 + 2 cots        Cost: £416 for 3 nights               Features: Free WIFI, family-sized living room, bedrooms and bathroom, parking

With its salt-and-pepper good looks, Skiber-an-Fenten cottage is a Cornish hideaway fitting for a laid-back girls’ weekend.

Find it hugging the coastal road between Mawgan Porth and Porthcothan, patiently waiting for life to swing by, like a doorman with a ready-to-serve glint in his eye.

Once upon a time, the cottage was part of a large barn but has since been immaculately converted into two self-catering boltholes: Skiber-an-Fenten being the larger of the two.

You can book the cottage via Classic Cottages. They hand-select holiday cottages from around the South and West and help you pick the right one for your short break. For the purposes of this review, they kindly gifted Skiber-an-Fenten cottage to me for the weekend.


The Lounge and Kitchen

Inside, Skiber-an-Fenten is as fresh as Cornish cream, with a daisy-white open plan downstairs that accentuates space and brightens any dark night or cloudy day.

The living room and kitchen roll softly into one without losing any space: we were able to cook and clean and laze and laugh (and dance) without tripping over each another.

We were also appreciative of the short hop from the sofa to the fridge when the G&Ts ran out, and the underfloor heating after climbing out of wet socks.

The kitchen is stocked with everything you need to eat in (as we did on two occasions), and the housekeepers kindly left cookies, milk and tea for us when we arrived. Although there’s no dining table, the large island comes a close second place thanks to its four stools.

Should you want a more formal dinner setting, there’s a large wooden garden table outside on the veranda, which is delightful when the sun shines and is sheltered by a glass awning that’s perfect for when it doesn’t.


The Bedrooms

Upstairs, you’ll find two bedrooms (one twin and one double), spotlessly clean and impeccably made up.

Refreshingly white again, they are good-sized rooms for such a seemingly small cottage and have Tardis-like storage for bags and luggage. The double room also has a shelf full of books left by other guests so if you’re looking for feet-up distraction, you’ve plenty of choice.

We all slept well here on our girls’ weekend, although the only downside of the twin room at the back of the cottage was the hum from the road whenever a car swept by.  Bring a pair of ear plugs and you’ll be fine, however.


The Location

Skiber-an-Fenten isn’t as centrally located as it could be, but this actually gives you an advantage during a quiet girls’ weekend away.

It hugs the B3276 between two Cornish beauty spots, south of Padstow and north of Mawgan Porth, and is just far enough outside of each to allow you to discreetly retreat when you’re done being seen.

Its remoteness allows you to recharge without interruption (forget noisy neighbours) and because of the road outside, you still feel connected to society and perfectly safe.

Plus, you’re only five minutes’ walk from the magnificent coastal path so civilisation, as well as North Cornwall’s finest beaches, are but a whisker away. Ding dong.


More Places to Stay in Cornwall

Booking.com

My Open and Honest Policy:

This post has been sponsored by Classic Cottages. I was kindly invited by them to spend a girls’ weekend in Skiber-an-Fenten in order to produce a review of the cottage and my time in Cornwall.

As always, this review reflects my honest feelings of the experience and I was in full editorial control of the content I produced for Classic Cottages at all times, including this article and my social media content.


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Comments
I've still never been to Cornwall, must sort that out soon. I hadn't heard of Mawgan Porth but it sounds like exactly the kind of place that I'd love to visit, and the cottage is absolutely gorgeous!
Sally Akins on 2019-10-17 08:59:39
Great minds think alike - I took an off-season break in COrnwall this time last year, to the same area and I I loved it. There's so much to do that I don't know how I would have coped if I had gone when it was hot and sunny, and I found the beach scenes in the rain or fog really enthralling. I am keen to go back and will keep your post handy for more ideas of things to see!
Jaillan Yehia on 2019-10-17 12:27:16
I adore Cornwall but haven't made it to Padstow yet. Looks like it's one to add to the wish list!
Suzanne Jones on 2019-10-17 14:29:59

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Claire Robinson Founder of Weekend Candy
Short Breaks for Fabulous Females
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