Penhale Caravan and Camping Park

As with much of Cornwall, Penhale is in a Site of Special Scientific Interest, so look out for all sorts of species such as seabirds and seals, dolphins and basking sharks, and – with luck – a whale or two around Fowey's estuary. Wildlife safari trips can be booked nearby; ask for info at the Fowey tourist office. The nearest beach, Polkerris, is a 20-minute walk away, in a sheltered harbour overlooking St Austell bay. From Polkerris, it's a couple of miles to Fowey and about six to St Austell: don your walking boots and a hardy expression to take the South West Coast Path to either town, along the 10 and a half-mile stretch from Mevagissey to Par, via an Iron Age castle at Black Head, the 'Cornish Alps' of the china clay works and the comely little harbour of Charleston. If you need a pitstop in Charleston (you should, it's mighty pretty), drop into the Charlestown Shipwreck and Heritage Centre, for exhibitions about ships, shipwrecks and the history of the village. Then potter along to the harbour, to see a fab collection of old ships so famed and pretty they're used in film projects all over the world.