Things to do in Newquay, 72 Hours in Newquay.
Travelling to Newquay
About 3 hours down the road from Weston Super Mare we arrive at sunny Newquay. Set on the North coast of Cornwall, this area offers ideal surfing, swimming and walking breaks.
Pentire Hotel
We booked into the Pentire Hotel, https://www.pentirehotelnewquay.co.uk/which overlooks Fistral Beach, to the South West of Newquay.
Pentire Hotel is a nice 3 Star type hotel, which appears to cater a lot for coach parties. We arrived there in October 2020 during the Covid 19 Pandemic and there, like everywhere else, everything regarding the service at the hotel was different. One thing being no coaches!!
Cleanliness of Pentire Hotel
We have been to a number of locations during the pandemic and we found that this Hotel was by far the best the best for ensuring appropriate measures were in place to keep the Covid 19 at bay. For example, bedroom doors were sealed prior to occupation, room keys were sterilised in reception. All staff had security screens, and waiter service in the bar and restaurant. Overall we felt very secure from Covid at the Pentire Hotel.
Our room overlooked Fistral Beach, and surfers could be seen from daybreak to dusk from our room, and also from the bar and restaurant.
2 Days in Newquay
We were only there for 2 full days.
Day 1 we walked into town, a walk of about 30 mins at a good pace. Obviously being a seaside town, and us being above the town, everything involves hills.
First stop was the area between Fistral Beach and The Atlantic Hotel. A fantastic look out point from a white stone building. Don’t go there if you wear a wig! Very windy.
Atlantic Hotel Newquay
From the lookout point we made out way past the Atlantic Hotel, stopping off at the war memorial, past the Huer’s Hut (Dates back to the 14th Century), and was used as a lookout point for a number of reasons over the years.
Then down into the harbour. This is still a working harbour, so be careful!
Newquay main area
Leaving the harbour, go up to the main street where there are many shops, varying from small independent Cornish Pasty food shops to large High Street shops. Get a traditional Cornish Pasty, they now do vegan and vegetarian varieties.
One iconic sight of Newquay is the Headland Hotel, set (As it says on the tin!) overlooking the whole of coast surrounding Newquay. Not cheap to stay in but well worth a visit.
House on a rock
If you get time, try to see the house perched on top of the rock (Towan Island) at the far end of the town. You cant miss it. I see it is for hire at the very reasonable rate of £1,700 for a long weekend!! Ouch!
Food and Drink
If you want to sit in a bar and watch the surfers and general people watching, you may want to go to Belushi’s Fore Street, Newquay. https://www.belushis.com/bars/newquayYou overlook the beach, fabulous. It reminded me of one of the those Ozzie youth hostels, but the beer was great, a couple of pints of Neck oil draft beer https://beavertownbrewery.co.uk/products/neck-oil-session-ipa always goes down well!
For dinner we went to the Fort Inn, https://www.fortinnnewquay.co.uk/situated just above the harbour. Great food and drink. A few pints of Tribute also goes down well. I had one of the ‘Specials Board’ meals, keep an eye out for them. Alas another 30 minute walk back to the Pentire Hotel, full of beer and food!
Pentire Bar
At the Pentire Hotel, the lounge bar was open, serving nice wine and beer. I went in the bar every evening and discovered Mena Dhu Stout and Betty Stogs Brazen Cornish bitter. Both excellent beer. I slept well on all occasions!!
Coastal Walk Padstow Newquay
Day 2 we drove along the coast to Constantine Bay, near Padstow. We parked at the ‘top’ near to the Constantine Bay Stores. It is about a 10 minute walk to the beach, there is a small car park there which tends to get rather busy. At the beach, Constantine bay is a great place for families to spend idyllic summer days body boarding and eating ice creams.
For the walkers amongst us I suggest you turn left and hug the coastline for a few miles. Fantastic rocky coves, sandy beaches and the occasional tea hut along the way.
YHA Treyarnon Bay
About 10 minutes along the way, having turned left at Constantine Bay and heading in the direction of Newquay, you come across Treyarnon Bay. Set back from the beach is a Youth Hostel where you can get all sorts of snacks, tea and coffee. Again, we were there in October 2020, at the height of the Covid 19 difficulty so snacks were restricted at the YHA Treyarnon Bay.
Porthcothan Bay
We walked along to just beyond Porthcothan Bay, a distance of about 4 miles. A handy hint is that in one directions you follow the ‘walkers’ footpath, and the other direction you will see various short cuts appearing in the form of well trodden paths used by the locals. This saved a lot of time on the return route.
Scarlet Hotel, Mawgan Porth
We returned to Newquay, but stopped off first at the Scarlet Hotel, Mawgan Porth, https://www.scarlethotel.co.uk/ for a look. Some family members had recommended the hotel for a future stay but this hotel was a bit above our ‘Pay Grade.’ Well worth a look though.
Conclusion
Our stay in Newquay, although the weather was raining, and we were in the middle of Covid 19, was a great stay and we shall visit it again.
Tomorrow we make our way to Torquay for a few nights.