Castle Holiday Park

Start exploring Cornwall just outside your caravan castle with a trip to the Goss Moor Nature Reserve which has a seven-mile circular trail for walking, cycling and horse-riding. Birdwatchers can see breeding species including nightjars, linnets and reed buntings, with hen harriers and great grey shrikes spottable in winter; flutterers can chase after silver-studded blue and small pearl-bordered fritillary butterflies among others. Sandy sorts visiting Castle Holiday Park will find some of Cornwall’s best beaches within a short drive: the long stretch of cliff-backed Watergate Bay, the sheltered rockpool beach of Mawgan Porth and the rugged coastline and clifftop views of Bedruthan Steps are all close at hand. The famous surfing beach of Newquay is eight miles away, and if the kids just can’t get enough wildlife at the park or Goss Moor, there’s a zoo and the Blue Reef Aquarium at Newquay too for rainy days. The Camel Creek Adventure Park is five miles from Castle, and St Columb has indoor and outdoor play areas as well as over 30 ponies to ride and groom. Not all at the same time… A twelve-mile drive north reaches the fishing port of Padstow, where fishy options abound: you can take a boat out to land some mackerel, dangle a line for some sea angling from the cliffs or go crabbing in the inner harbour (lines and bait can be had at many of the shops in the town, including the Padstow Angling Centre, where ‘Rockhopper’ Ed Schliffe can give you tips on technique). For two-wheel travellers, the Camel Trail follows 18 miles of the Padstow to Waterloo disused railway line along the Camel River, a track called the ‘the most beautiful train journey I know’ by John Betjeman – and if a poet says something’s beautiful, it’s a fairly safe bet that there’ll be some eye-watering scenery along the way. You can buy maps and trails for the Camel Trail and the other Cornwall trails at the Padstow Tourist Information Centre. Going south, the valley village of Mevagissey is within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is tucked below the ancient Heligan estate, now home to the Italian garden, wild jungle and flower gardens of the Lost Gardens of Heligan. Scoot along to Snozzle, or St Austell, five miles away, for a pit stop and visit to the China Clay Country Park two miles north of the town, before making your way to the thousands of plants and the biomes of the Eden Project. The port village of Fowey, also to the south, is where Charlie One almost got his head taken off by a shot from a musket (irony), while a good spot for big and small screen fans is Charlestown, used in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and in an episode of Doctor Who.