Nanny Pat’s been out and about again exploring Cornwall in her camper van. Her latest trip was to Godrevy, one of the top family friendly beaches in Cornwall. Here’s her low down on what it has to offer.
This spot on the north coast is one of our favourite haunts for a day out in the camper van. It offers easy access, lovely grass to park and play on with surf, golden sands and views to die for across to St Ives – who needs to go abroad?
Godrevy Lighthouse is one of Cornwall’s iconic landmarks. It was built on a rocky island just off the coast in 1859 to warn ships of the dangerous Stones reef which extends across the bay towards St Ives and is quite visible at low tide.
We love walking away from the sea and to the rear of the car park, following a mown track to a tiny little beach just before Hell’s Mouth where a seal colony lives – there are always some seals here and in the winter we have counted over 100!
We then follow the coast path back towards the lighthouse, across the cliff top, which is humming with bees and full of butterflies in the summer months. It’s a lovely spot to sit awhile to watch the sea birds wheeling and speculate about the life of the lighthouse keeper and the little house on the island and its garden, long since abandoned to modern technology.
The rocky headland close to the lighthouse is our preferred spot as it’s an easy walk down to the beach and has lots of rock pools as well as sand suitable for sandcastle building and relatively tame surf for small bodyboarders. The sands are almost completely covered at high tide so the beach gets very crowded and you need to take care to make sure you’re not cut off if you’re exploring the bottom of the cliffs.
We love taking our camper van Muriel for the day out as we can pile all our beach gear inside and have a sand-free picnic. I can even make myself a cup of tea and get changed in private without wrestling with a changing towel on the beach! Our absolute favourite thing (which we have to do every time we visit) is to buy an ice cream from the van parked near the car park. Delicious…
Useful information
Godrevy is managed by the National Trust – you can download a walk map and find out more about the area on their website.
There are two car parks at Godrevy: the first is next to the National Trust information point and the café. You can carry on past this to the second car park where we parked – the road meanders alongside the cliffs and dunes before emerging into several swathes of slightly sloping open grassland. Expect to see several camper vans on a sunny day! Parking at Godrevy is free for National Trust members; there’s a charge for non members.
There are good toilets near the car park – always helpful with little ones in tow. Godrevy Café is family friendly has excellent homemade food and views to die for!
Getting there
It takes just under an hour to reach Godrevy by car from Bosinver. Postcode for SatNavs: TR27 5ED.
To get there, take the A30 down to Hayle and then head for the town centre signed from the big roundabout with Marks and Spencer and Next adjoining it. At the next roundabout take the B3301 signposted Gwithian and Portreath. Follow this road past several campsites and through Gwithian village, over a narrow bridge, then take the first right into a narrow lane signed National Trust Godrevy.
Of course, you don’t need a camper van to enjoy Godrevy, but it adds a sense of adventure to a day out with young children. If you’ve visited this area, we’d love to hear about your day out – and whether you spotted many seals!
If there’s anywhere you think our ‘Nan in a van’ should visit in Cornwall, let us know where and why, and you could see it featured on a future blog.
