Welcome to Southern Cornwall

The Tamar Valley and the area of Cornwall to the north west of the river are many people’s first introduction to the lovely county of Cornwall. Full of thriving market towns and small former mining villages it is very much a working area but one where the visitors are always made most welcome and where there is much to entertain and interest you. Bounded by the Tamar itself, it also boasts the other delightful Cornish river, the Fowey. Bordered on the north by Bodmin Moor and to the Southwest by the rugged coastline and charming fishing villages of Looe and Polperro (both still used by commercial fishermen) this is indeed an area of contrasts, where you will find something of all the many features which make up the varied character of the County. Spend some time here - you will not regret it.

The southeast coast around Looe is justly popular with visitors - and not purely all things Cornish! For at Looe you will find Amazonian monkeys swinging through the trees in the Monkey Sanctuary.

For many years a Cornish holiday has meant sea, sand and rocky headlands. These are certainly the usual ingredients, but with the peninsula so narrow the interior is never far away and it would be a shame to miss out on the many beautiful wooded river valleys and old grey market towns. The area around Lostwithiel and Liskeard is a delight and just north of Liskeard you have the opportunity to sample and buy Cornish Yarg cheese at the Lynher Valley Dairy.

To the west lies the Fowey estuary - setting for Daphne Du Mauriers best known books and her own home for many years. This is sailing country par excellence. The town of Fowey and the village of Polruan encapsulate all that is typical of this part of the County.

Once round the Gribbin Head the white mountains of china clay waste above Par and St Austell always give a ghostly feeling to the landscape. But the welcome you will receive in the pubs and streets is warm and real enough.

Just outside St Austell is the site of one of the most exciting tourism and conservation initiatives to have emerged in the county, for this is the home of The Eden Project. Set deep in a quarry are three great bio domes and an area of outside garden and landscaping. Which leads the visitor through the development of plants and man from the earliest days to the present time and from the lush humid tropical forests to our own more variable climate. There is much else to see in the area - but it is worth visiting for the Eden Project alone.