It’s been pretty quiet on here but we are back with a brand new blog post. FINALLY.
We’ve had a crazy few months with work, family and life in general. We’ve travelled, worked through a pandemic, built a Koi pond and a new home for our chickens AND we’ve started our own YouTube channel. Exciting times.
We recently went away to Cornwall for the first time for my husbands birthday. It was meant to be a surprise but unfortunately I couldn’t keep my mouth shut and gave it away a week before the trip. Oh well.
I chose Newquay because I was looking for a relaxing, easy going holiday with no crazy itinerary and that’s exactly what we got.
We chose to stay at an Airbnb and were hosted by a wonderful couple called Jen and Nick at the Gwills Countryside Retreat. The room was amazing with our own private hot tub and a lovely field view. We had a delicious homemade cream tea on arrival and breakfast was freshly made each morning and brought up to the room. We could not complain! As well as the above, Gwillls was away from the hustle and bustle of Newquay but near enough to some of the best beaches we have been to in the UK.
Newquay, a small seaside town on the north coast of Cornwall was not what I expected it to be. Yes it was scenic, relaxing, quiet but it was so hard to find a restaurant that wasn’t booked up. Most places served food only till 9.30pm. However the beaches were amazing and once we did manage to get into a restaurant the food was pretty great.
Now my husband and I aren’t too big on UK seaside holidays. We usually head over to places like Edinburgh, London or most of the time abroad so this was new to me. I organised a small, easy going itinerary that allowed us to just go with the flow and do whatever we felt like.
Have a read and use it for your next trip to Newquay. We suggest going to Newquay for a nice, relaxed, long lie ins, late breakfasts kind of weekend. A trip that will help you rejuvenate. Enjoy!
Day 1:
Get an early start! It took us nearly 6 hours on the motorway to get to Newquay. It was a Friday, we used the notorious M5 and we did stop twice.
So we arrived at our AirBnb at 6pm and were welcomed by our hosts with a lovely cream tea. Usually on the first day of our holidays we don’t tend to have anything booked that we need to be dressed and ready for. We tend to take it easy, explore our surroundings, check out the restaurants and can get a gist of the vibe around us. That is exactly what we did on our first day in Newquay.
Here is a list of the places we saw and visited on our first day:
Newquay Harbour
Cute, fun little place with lots of little sea food restaurants, cafes and ice-cream carts. Unfortunately we did arrive too late but it was nice to see what there was and obviously being a harbour it did smell like the sea.
The Fish Bar Newquay: Restaurant
This place was amazing but it did take forever to get a table. Firstly most restaurants STOP serving food at 9.30pm. Yes. Even on a Friday night. Considering we hadn’t booked anything and we really didn’t want a dominoes or MCD we waited and by chance got a table but only on the tapas side so we couldn’t order anything from the actual restaurant menu. Would still give it a 9/10 as lots of tasty seafood (obviously), good veggie options and decent dessert. Tip: BOOK IN ADVANCE!
Newquay Town Centre (near the The Fish Bar)
Okay so Newquay was pretty dead for a Friday. Not much to do except go to a bar and drink and as that’s not really our thing we we were kind of stuck. We decided to go for a walk around the town and headed to an arcade. Neither of us had been to one in nearly 15 years and so we played a few games until closing time. Felt like we were 16 again.
Day 2:
Our day started very slowly with a late breakfast prepared by our lovely hosts. We then headed out to the harbour to start our day at midday in preparation for our fishing trip. On our way we decided to stop over for some fish and chips at a local chippy. What I really liked about Newquay was the amazing variety of vegan/vegetarian options. The fish and chip shops we visited fried the fish in a completely different oil to the meat which we usually struggle to find in the Midlands and up North.
Fishing Trip
My husband is into his fish and has a Koi Pond, Marine Fish tank and a Tropical Fish tank at home so considering it was his birthday I booked us onto a fishing trip from Newquay Harbour. We did this in the Maldives and I think I was expecting the same kind of experience. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case but for an English fishing boat trip it was pretty cool. We booked with a company call Bootlegger Boat Trips. The trip cost us £35 per person, which included all the equipment. I wouldn’t recommend it if you get sea sick as it can get quite choppy. I didn’t catch anything (I’m usually pretty good at fishing) but my husband did however it wasn’t something we wanted to take back and eat.
Little Italy Newquay: Restaurant
Dinner was all planned as I had booked this restaurant a day before. We chose this place because I wanted a nice Italian style pizza and the reviews were great on this place. Its interior was cosy and very small but don’t be confused by this as the food was very tasty. We ordered 2 pizza’s; a goats cheese and caramelised onion one and a seafood pizza, a houmous starter with olives and warm bread and my husband also order a very cheesy pasta. All in all the food was great and we actually ended up ordering too much so took it back with us. Just to make you aware we weren’t allowed in without masks (which is fine as we are pro mask) but it’s a bit silly because as soon as we sat down we removed them to have our drinks and food. Again book early to avoid disappointment because they were turning away people from 9.30 as they stop serving at that time (why Newquay?!), which is a shame as I am sure they turned away 3 couples or more over the 2 hour period we were there. Probably not the best pizza I’ve had but very good for Newquay. 7/10 from me.
Day 3:
You can’t come to Cornwall and not try a Cornish Pasty and Cornish ice-cream so that was our aim for today! We also managed to book ourselves into a Circus performance by Paulos.
Jamies Pasty Shop
There are so many options for Cornish pasties and you are pretty spoilt for choice. We did a quick google search and found the one with the best reviews. We ended up at Jamies Pasty Shop as they lots of different vegan options and opted for a broccoli and cheese and a standard cheese and onion pasty. Very tasty but filling. We couldn’t finish them and they did get slightly sickening towards the end. Regardless, it’s something you have to eat if you’re in Cornwall and because of its large variety of options, I would recommend Jamies. 6/10.
Google also recommends Morris Pasties Gover but it was closed so we didn’t get a chance to try it.
As with Cornish pasties, there are many options for Cornish ice-cream. We tried a few different ones and unfortunately I don’t remember all the names apart from Kelly’s ice cream which I’ve had many times before. Sorry!
Paulos Circus
Sunday evenings entertainment was Paulos Circus which is well known in Newquay. We decided to go for the Hell Circus show, firstly because it was for over 18’s therefore no kids and secondly because I am a BIG horror fan, so this was right up my street. Now I don’t know what I was expecting but I thought it would something scary, frightening and full of blood, ghosts etc but this was more of a adult based humour show, not that many scares and more jokes and laughs. I’ve never been to a circus before so I guess I may have hyped it up more in my head but in my opinion the suspenseful music playing and scares whilst waiting for the show to begin were more frightful then the actual show. Nonetheless, the acts were very talented and I did laugh at some of the jokes!
Day 4:
As we had a long drive ahead and it was back to work the very next day, we decided to leave Newquay before lunch time.
Before heading out towards the motorway we stopped at the local farm shop and brought some of the local produce. This is something I always do, especially when abroad. I brought some cheese, fresh vegetables, baked goods and flowers.
Overall, I would give Newquay a 6/10. Lovely place, calm and relaxed but not our cup of tea.
A Doctor Writes 