Things to Do in Cornwall

Porthcurno beach at low tide

When the tide drops, a crescent of white sand appears that looks almost Caribbean until you dip your toe in. The cliffs funnel sound so you hear every pebble rattle, and there's a freshwater stream that cuts across the beach - cold enough to make your ankles ache. Bring a mask. The water's clear enough to watch sand eels flicker between your legs.

Geevor Tin Mine underground tour

You'll don a hard hat and descend the slippery concrete ramps shaft where the air tastes metallic and your voice echoes off 18th-century walls. The guide cuts the lights at one point - total darkness that makes your eyes invent colours. Above ground, the clanging dressing floor still smells of diesel and the greasy pasties miners heated on engine blocks.

St Agnes Head coastal foraging walk

You'll scramble down gorse-lined paths to find rock samphire that pops with seaside juice and peppery sea rocket that locals once used instead of horseradish. The guide keeps an old fishing knife for cutting laver, the seaweed that tastes like truffles when fried. Atlantic spray mists your face while kittiwakes heckle from ledges above.

Falmouth harbour kayaking at dusk

Paddle past bobbling dinghies that clink like wind chimes, then cut through the smell of diesel and fried hake drifting from waterside pubs. As the sun drops, the water turns molten copper and you might hear the soft puff of a visiting seal by the docks. The town lights start to flicker on, reflected in ripples that rock your kayak gently.

Mousehole Christmas lights (December only)

Tiny coloured bulbs trace slate roofs and fishing nets until the whole village feels like it's been dunked in mulled wine. You'll smell cinnamon doughnuts and briny pilchards grilling over coke fires. Choir voices drift from the harbour wall, mixed with the creak of masts and the slap of swell against granite steps polished smooth by generations of来者.

St Ives warren of fishermen's cottages - expect gulls at 5 am and the smell of bakery saffron every morning

Falmouth's Georgian townhouses near the harbour where rigging clinks and student pubs spill onto cobbles

Mousehole for lantern-lit lanes in winter, though summer crowds can feel like queueing for a pasty

Penzance's backstreets off Chapel Street - grittier, cheaper, with record shops that smell of old vinyl

Truro if you want a proper small city base: cathedral bells, indie cinemas, and trains to beaches in 20 minutes

Bodmin Moor for the moor - farmhouse B&Bs where breakfast eggs arrive still warm and the silence is borderline spooky