Sandymouth Holiday Park

The Devon and Cornwall beaches around Sandymouth Holiday Park will blow you away. Under a mile away, down a twisty-turny country lane, is Sandymouth itself, a great swathe of golden sand that stretches for three miles at low tide, with plenty of rockpools to keep the little ones amused and a National Trust café - easy to see why this one has won plaudits from the press as one of the region’s top beaches. Then there’s beautiful Bude, where you’ll find the beach huts, fishing boats and unique open air seawater pool of Summerleaze Beach, great for inflatables fun (the tides here mean it’s not safe to use them in the open sea). You can walk across the sand to Summerleaze from Sandymouth Bay, but do be careful to check the times of the tides first, so you don’t get stranded by the rising water. Next door to Summerleaze is Crooklets Beach, which is a favourite with families and surfers alike for its perfect sand and surf. For added peace of mind, all of the above beaches have lifeguards on duty from May to September. If you need some towntime, Bude itself is charming and friendly, offering interesting local shops, superb restaurants and traditional treats. Barnstaple and Bideford are good for shopping, or you can head to the bigger cities of Plymouth and Exeter, for museums, aquariums, cathedrals and plenty of other fodder for culture vultures. The area is stuffed with tourist attractions, too: animal parks starring everything from owls to otters, fun family leisure parks with rides and rollers galore, glorious gardens, cutely cobbled fishing villages, castles, dinosaurs - no chance of getting bored around these parts...