Trebarwith Strand – A personal favourite of ours.
Park the car and take a walk down the the road to the rocks leading to the beach (preferably at low tide), but on the way take note of the stream running down to the sea on the left (see picture). Remember that at high tide and depending on the time of year, the sea comes all the way up the rocks almost to the road, so check the tide times before you visit.
As you reach the beach, you’ll be greeted by the rock pools, and out to sea Gull Rock and to both sides a wide expanse of golden sand. It’s an ideal place to visit with the kids and/or the dog or if you just fancy a stroll, it’s ideal for that as well.
It’s also a well know attraction for the local and visiting surfers (boarders and body boarders) and latterly kite surfers. If you are not careful, you can end up watching the surfers etc for ages.
Tides in North Cornwall come in very quickly especially at Trebarwith Strand, so much so that one minute you are standing in the dry and the next a huge wave comes in and you’ll be ankle or knee deep. So, keep a wary eye out for them.
Once you’ve had your fill of the beach, why not make your way up to The Port William (Port Willy) via the steps leading up the cliff (part of the coast path I believe), where you can order a St Austell beer, wine or a spirit of your choice and a sandwich or maybe something more substantial from their all-day menu or something off the restaurant menu.
If the pub isn’t to your choice, then there’s a café, gift shop, an art gallery, and other things to see and most importantly The Ice Cream Parlour that serves delicious Cornish Ice Cream, you can’t beat it.
For the walkers of you who might want to make a longer day of it, park up at and pay a visit to Tintagel Church just off the coast path or somewhere close by and then walk the coast path until you reach Trebarwith Strand. I’m told the sights on the way are a delight and the fresh air exhilarating. I’ve walked part way myself taking photographs but left it to friends and family to do the whole stretch. If you don’t want to walk back, then as has been the case with other visitors, they’ve used two cars, one to go to Tintagel and the second to ferry the driver of first back to their car. However, if like us, you have a Land Rover or similar then you only need to drop off at the church and then make you way to Trebarwith. That of course does mean one of you can’t do the walk, what a shame some might say, there’s usually one in the group.
Be warned that during the summer and other high season times (Easter and half term), Trebarwith Strand is a very popular tourist destination, so parking can be an issue. But saying that there is a big council carpark on the right as you come down the hill to the Strand, so you ought to be able to find a space.
Again, for those of you who enjoy a tipple and didn’t fancy The Port Willy, then you can always call into The Tintagel Brewery on the way back to the cottage, where they have a superb bar and restaurant area or an outside area with seating so the kids can run about. The beers are superb, and they give you the choice of picking your own (Merlin’s Muddle,, Arthur’s Ale, Castle Gold etc) or pay for a taster that give you a short measure of each of the beers for you to choose from.. Don’t worry they also have a Lager and I think Cider along with the usual spirits, teas, and coffee. Please check the closing times as they can vary.
