Padstow, Cornwall: A Family Day Out at the Rick Stein Town

Padstow sits on the Camel estuary in the north of Cornwall — a small, prosperous fishing harbour that became a national destination through Rick Stein’s restaurant empire (now four restaurants and a cookery school) and through the Camel Trail cycle route, which runs 18 flat miles from Padstow up the estuary to Bodmin. It is a proper Cornish town with a proper summer-day-out reputation.

Main things to see and do

1. The Camel Trail by bike. The 18-mile flat former-railway from Padstow to Bodmin via Wadebridge follows the estuary all the way. Hire bikes from Trail Bike Hire next to the car park; do as much as the children will tolerate.
2. Padstow harbour. Working harbour with the daily fish market on the quay. Crabbing lines from the harbour shop; ice cream from Roskilly’s; pasties everywhere. Boats run to Rock across the estuary.
3. Stein’s Fish & Chips. The original Stein restaurant and the family-friendly entry point to the empire. Queues form; arrive early.
4. Daymer Bay & Polzeath beaches. 10 minutes by car or 5 by ferry across the estuary. Daymer is the gentle option; Polzeath the surf-school option. Both are NT-managed.
5. Prideaux Place. The Prideaux family’s Elizabethan manor on the hill above the town — privately owned but opens for tours in summer.

Where to stay

If you are making a weekend of it, Cornwall has more good self-catering than is reasonable. We use Sykes Holiday Cottages for most of our family breaks here — their holiday cottages in padstow and along the camel estuary cover most of the price brackets and most of the dog-friendly properties. (Affiliate link — we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.)

Practical bits

• Postcode: PL28 (centre)
• Region: north Cornwall
• OS map: OS Explorer 106 — Newquay & PadstowBuy from OS →
• Public transport: Cornwall Transport for “First Kernow” services cover the coast; the Cornish Main Line trains stop at most major towns.