Padstow Holiday Guide for 2025

Beautiful traditional harbour and world class cuisine

Padstow, famous for its harbour, Rick Sein, fresh dining and gorgeous beach has something for the whole family.

Rick Stein has a seafood restaurant and a take away here as well as a shop which tourists love to sample some of his famous fish and chips.

The harbour is a fantastic place with a great atmosphere to explore throughout the day or night, with lots of little shops in the narrow streets surrounding the harbour to explore.

There is a beach called St Georges Cove just half a mile away from the harbour as well and so much coastline to explore around the town.

Padstow is a famous fishing harbour, known for its beauty and working harbour as well as it’s world class cuisine. Home to a Michelin starred restaurant as well as some fantastic Rick Stein establishments, Padstow is a great way to sample some fabulous Cornish cuisine whilst soaking up that Cornish view.

Padstow Town History

Possibly even going back as far as 2500 BC, Padstow was a harbour since then. It is also thought that St Petroc, one of the Cornish saints, built a monastery here in the town, which was originally called Petroc Stow for this reason.

After Padstow was raided by the Vikings in 981 the monks from the monastery moved inland to Bodmin. Padstow became a fishing port and today its main trade is tourism. Padstow’s population today is around 3,000 but this grows substantially in the summer months each year.

How to Get to Padstow

The town itself is a small town so the best thing to do is to leave your car in one of the car parks rather than trying to park in the actual town itself. There is a large car park level with the town called the railway car park, this may be full during the summer depending on what time you arrive. There are other car parks at the top of the town that you can use too. There are buses that travel into Padstow from most towns too so you could do that for a day or night out, obviously check the time table because there won’t be too many in the evenings with it being a small town. There is no train station that comes into Padstow as the old track is now the Camel Trail that provides a fantastic coastal walk or cycle all the way up the coast.

The Best of Padstow

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Accommodation in Padstow

There are many different options for staying in and around Padstow, the countryside is stunning all around there and we have some great locations in our accommodation section for you to look at. Hotel, bed and breakfast and self-catering are amongst your options here. I would recommend one of the beautiful self-catering places we have selected for you.

Beaches Around Padstow

Padstow is surrounded by a stunning coastline. St Georges Cove is the closest beach to the town but there are several other beaches in and around the area. Harlyn beach just a short drive away is a fantastic beach, it’s large and has a pub about 5 metres away from it. Harlyn is dog friendly and you can do all sorts of water sports on the beach including surfing and kayaking. Tregirls beach is a wide sandy beach at the mouth of the Camel Estuary perfect for families and dogs, as they are allowed too and off their leads. Daymer beach is a beat more off the beaten track and for that reason is secluded, its bordered by sand dunes and is perfect for swimming due to its shelter. There is a car park and toilets though. The closest beach to Padstow though within walking distance is St George’s Cove and this is a fantastic family beach, is a stunning little cover overlooking the Camel Estuary, so you really are spoilt for choice when you stay or visit Padstow as to where you can enjoy the delightful Cornish coastline.