Newquay, a Paradise for Families and Surfers.

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Wonderful Newquay on the north coast of Cornwallis well-known for being a paradise for surfers. And it is that, not so much for any geographical or natural advantages specifically, but more due to it’s size and location. With 20,000 people living in Newquay, it is the largest town that sits right on the Cornish north coast with it's abundance of amazing surf spots from Sennen Beach to Bude.

Due to it’s size, Newquay has a larger community of surfers and a more varied water sports offering than most other Cornish towns and villages, making it a wonderful hub for surfing visitors and tourists. But because Newquay is such a surfer’s paradise, it is often overlooked by families.. not our little family, of course, because we went to Newquay in April 2015 and had the most couple of days.

Having checked into the hotel in the afternoon, it was too early to stay in the hotel room and relax a bit before going out for dinner, and not early enough that we could go to Newquay Zoo or Blue Reef Aquarium, the two places we already knew we wanted to go to while in Newquay. So we did what we always do when on holiday and looking for experiences: We asked a local! And then, having been told all about the wonderful Trenance Gardens by the lovely receptionist at the hotel, off we went to explore for a couple of hours.

Trenance Gardens is a fabulous place to go when in Newquay with kids. It’s a set of gardens and parks with a lake and some fantastic activities like pedal boats, crazy golf, a mini railway, a café and much more. Our favourite was the little mini train that our kids went back to no less than 5 times, while we sat in the sun sipping coffees, eating cakes and taking pictures of them whenever the train passed us. Pure magic when in Newquay with kids.

The next two days in Newquay was an action packed adventure. We enjoyed meals out and shopping in Newquay centre which, pretty much, has all the shops any UK High Street has, mixed with the obligatory Cornish shell shops and pasty bakeries. And we visited Newquay Zoo and the Blue Reef Aquarium, both great experiences for kids as well as adults.

Newquay Zoo is a lovely park and garden with more than 130 weird and wonderful animals like your lions, penguins and meerkats as well as some endangered species including red pandas and black wildebeests. We enjoyed the park’s activities, in particular the dragon maze where we had great fun as a family.

The sun was shining from a cloudless sky, and while it was warm enough, it was not so warm that we felt like a trip down to the beaches. So after our trip to the zoo we went into Newquay for the afternoon and our first stop was a fabulous bar and restaurant with the most surprising sun deck imaginable. We parked up in Newquay and next to the parking area was Belushi’s. We went in and only once we were inside did we realise what an amazing place this was. The view from Belushi’s is that the beaches way down below, it was breath-taking. And as if the view wasn’t enough, it turned out there was also a sun deck outside where the view was even more spectacular and where we sat for hours and just took it all in.

The next day was our last in Newquay and we went to the Blue Reef Aquarium. If you love the sea and all the animals in it, you will absolutely love this place, just like we did. You go through the aquarium feeling at one with the many spectacular and beautiful sea creatures and you leave feeling like you have learnt something valuable. We most definitely will be back again, both to the aquarium and to fabulous Newquay that has so much to offer families with children of all ages.

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Photos

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The view over Newquay Beach from Belushi's.

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The super fun train in Trenance Gardens.

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The sun deck at Belushi's with the most amazing view of Newquay Beach.

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Blue Reef Aquarium.

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The train in Trenance Gardens - the kids went around 5 times!

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The kids were cold so we bought hoodies.. we blended right in after that ;)