At Newquay, an old bucket-and-spade shop has been converted into a laid-back eatery, decorated with driftwood and surrounded by large wooden decks. It's a cool surf hangout in which you watch the sun set, sipping an Amazingly Extreme Hot Chocolate.

Gleefully trumpeted as the English Riviera, Cornwall counts Pierce Brosnan and Prince Charles among its repeat guests. And soon, probably Camilla Parker Bowles, its new duchess. Sumitra Senapaty drinks in the panoramic gardens, wind-washed beaches and bustling seafood eateries, on this southern strip of seaside chic

St Mawes Castle

Wheal Coates: St Agnes

The jagged little peninsula is suddenly the epitome of seaside chic, reinventing itself with the visionary success of the Eden Project, ultimate freedom of the Extreme Academy, the discreet aura of Hotel Tresanton and the clever things Rick Stein does with fish and chips. But whatever became of those much-loved staples of Cornish holidays – crouching on a wet, grey beach eating pasties, high-sided lanes clogged with caravans and gift shops with their baskets of shell souvenirs. Well, the good news is that they’re all still there. It’s still possible to stop by a fish and chips stall, to leave the crowds and walk for miles without seeing another soul.

Watergate Bay, Newquay	The Extreme Academy: a way of life	Veryan: round houses
The Eden Project	Fowey: hugging the sea	Sunset on the deck

Red sunset

A cider farm