Newquay, GB

A small seafood spot just above Fistral Beach run by a chef who spent years with Rick Stein, cooking locally landed fish and shellfish straight from Newquay Harbour. Rustic, simple plates with the Atlantic in front of you; it tends to top the town's restaurant lists.

Adam Handling's Michelin-starred dining room inside the Headland Hotel, looking out over Fistral, with a sustainability-driven modern British menu of tasting and a la carte. This is the destination dinner in town when you want an occasion.

A family-run restaurant-with-rooms perched on the cliffs of Pentire Headland, doing modern British plates and fresh seafood with full-width Atlantic views. It works equally for a lazy clifftop lunch or a sundowner dinner.

A relaxed independent coffeehouse on the way to Fistral, doing creative brunch plates, bowls and burritos with coffee many locals rate as the best in town. Sandy feet and dogs welcome; it is the morning-after-a-surf crowd's spot.

A beachside cafe and bar literally a few steps above the Fistral sand, taken over by its current owners in 2021 and run with a laid-back surf-culture feel. Coffee, brunch and cake by day, locally brewed beers and cocktails as the sun drops.

A bakery and brunch spot in a converted lifeboat house directly above the harbour, doing slow-fermented breads, pastries and an English and Sri Lankan brunch with serious coffee. Small, bright and minimalist, with one of the best buildings in town.

A husband-and-wife pan-Asian restaurant near the train station spanning Thai, Vietnamese and beyond, with Cornish produce meeting spices sourced direct from Asia. Nathan Outlaw called it the best pan-Asian food in Cornwall, and the room buzzes with red lanterns.

A Basque-style pintxos and small-plates bar on Beach Parade, a 2026 Michelin Bib Gourmand and named the Good Food Guide's best in the South West. Counter seating, no bookings, inventive plates and a tight drinks list; it is the foodie evening in town.

A long-running Indian restaurant going since 1980 in a clifftop spot with sea views, serving traditional curries to a loyal crowd. Thousands of reviews and a steady reputation make it the town's go-to for a proper curry night.

An artisan pizzeria just off Great Western Beach with an open terrace looking over the bay, plus a thoughtful list of organic wines and Cornish beers and ciders. Easy, sociable and one of the better beach-view tables in town.

A family-run chippy in the centre of town that has been frying for over a decade, known for huge portions and using sustainable fish like pollock and panga alongside the usual cod. The local pick for fish and chips done well without the harbour-front markup.

A small ice cream cafe on Bank Street making handmade Cornish ice cream with local Trewithen Dairy milk and cream, plus bubble waffles, sundaes and coffee. A reliably good sweet stop in the heart of town.

A family-run Mexican spot on Cliff Road from the duo behind El Huichol, doing handmade tortillas, tacos and small plates with handpicked tequilas and well-made cocktails. Colourful, compact and a genuine change of pace from the seafood-and-pub default.

A restaurant and bar in a privately owned cove reached by 130-odd steps down the cliff, serving fresh seafood and Cornish produce on a beach crowned Britain's best by the Sunday Times. Famous for its summer live-music sessions and year-round woodburner evenings.

An independent wholefood cafe and shop a couple of minutes from Towan Beach, built around the daily vegan and gluten-free Sprout Pot of dahl, curry or stew, plus raw cakes and proper coffee. A welcoming, community-minded spot for plant-based eaters.

A relaxed beach restaurant right on the sand at Watergate Bay, doing seasonal Cornish seafood, mussels and grill plates with the Atlantic breaking just outside. The casual, sand-on-your-feet counterpart to the smarter dining rooms up the cliff.

The short, flat clifftop walk out to the tip of Towan Head from the harbour, taking in the Huer's Hut and wide views over Fistral and the bay. The easy in-town leg-stretch when you do not want a full hike.

A small Iron Age promontory fort at Porth, just north of town, with a near-360-degree viewpoint between Porth Beach and Watergate. A quick, easy headland walk that packs in archaeology and big coast views.

A roughly 3.7-mile loop around the headland between Fistral and the Gannel, with cliff paths, benches and views down both sides of the promontory. Moderate, scenic and doable in an afternoon.

A coastal walk linking Newquay and Crantock Beach across the Gannel estuary, crossing on a tidal footbridge or the seasonal Fern Pit ferry. Estuary birdlife, dunes and beach in roughly 4 to 5 miles depending on your route back.

A longer circular of around 7.7 miles taking in Fistral, East Pentire, the Gannel estuary and Trenance valley back into town. Varied going across beach, cliff and field, with a good chance of seeing seals offshore.

An 8.1-mile stretch of the South West Coast Path running south from Newquay past the Gannel, Crantock, Porth Joke and Kelseys to the dunes of Holywell Bay. Mostly easy cliff-top going with a couple of stiffer climbs and a string of beaches.

A compact aquarium on Towan Promenade built around a 250,000-litre tropical tank with a walk-through tunnel, reef sharks, an octopus and a rescued loggerhead turtle. A solid rainy-day hour, especially with younger kids, with regular talks and feeds.

Cornwall's largest zoo, set in 13 acres of sub-tropical gardens in the Trenance valley, with a conservation focus and species from red pandas and lemurs to penguins. The right size for younger children to walk round in a morning, with keeper talks through the day.

A small-group surf school and adventure operator running since 2012, offering surf lessons plus coasteering sessions of jumps, climbs and swims along the cliffs. Highly rated guides and a focus on small groups rather than mass beginner sessions.

A family-run boat operator with over 35 years on this coast, running two-hour sea safaris from the harbour out to Seal Cove plus sustainable rod-and-line fishing trips. The reliable way to see grey seals, dolphins and seabirds, with knowledgeable skippers.

A craft-beer bar and brewery tap in the middle of town pouring 40-plus beers including its own, alongside cocktails, wine and food. Relaxed and casual, it is where you go for a proper pint rather than the strip's club scene.

A stylish bar, bottle shop and micro-distillery just off the town centre making its own gin, vodka and rum and championing Cornish brewers. The grown-up evening option, and you can book onto its gin school to distil your own bottle.

A small Elizabethan manor house three miles inland from Newquay, run by the National Trust, with a Great Hall window of 16th-century glass, ornate plasterwork and a quiet walled garden. An intimate, uncrowded history stop and a good rainy-day plan.

A small independent cocktail bar with a proper mixologist, an array of spirits and a relaxed, decor-led room away from the rowdier nightlife. The spot for a considered evening drink rather than a big night out.

The wide Atlantic-facing beach that made Newquay Britain's surf capital, backed by dunes between Towan Head and Pentire. North Fistral draws the experienced surfers and the Boardmasters crowd; the southern end is calmer for swimming and watching the lineup.

Newquay's most sheltered town beach, tucked beside the harbour with The Island and its private house perched on a rock out front, reached by a footbridge. The harbour wall shelters it, so the water is calmer here than the surf beaches, which makes it the family pick.

The small working harbour below town where the local boats still land crab and fish, ringed by stone walls you can walk out onto. It is where the wildlife boat trips leave from and the best low-key spot to watch the day's catch come in.

A grassy promontory between Fistral and the Gannel estuary, laced with cliff-top paths and benches looking both ways down the coast. West Pentire across the water is known for its early-summer fields of poppies and corn marigolds.

A National Trust cliff-top viewpoint over the Bedruthan Steps, a line of dark sea stacks marching out into the Atlantic between Newquay and Padstow. The drama is in the view from above; the beach itself has been closed to access since a 2019 rock fall.

A two-mile sweep of sand a few minutes north of town, backed by cliffs and known for kitesurfing, surf lessons and a cluster of beachfront places to eat. At low tide it is one of the biggest expanses of beach on this coast.

A National Trust beach southwest of town with a mile of golden sand, towering dunes and the twin Carter's Rocks offshore, used as a filming location for Poldark. Quieter and wilder than the in-town beaches, with one of the oldest dune systems in Britain behind it.

Edwardian public gardens laid out in 1906 in a sheltered valley, with little footbridges over a stream, a boating lake and sub-tropical planting. It anchors Trenance valley, which also holds the zoo, a miniature railway and the heritage cottages.

A small whitewashed lookout above the harbour where a huer once scanned the sea for pilchard shoals and shouted to the boats below. A short uphill walk gets you to a quirky bit of fishing history and a wide panorama over town and bay.