Cornwall beaches and areas ? Any recommendations ?

densol_2

Im thinking of downsizing and moving to Cornwall near the sea. Ive many happy memories of Cornwall from my childhood. Of course holidays are different to living there. Im retired so dont need to worry about work.

Im thinking maybe Bude or the Looe areas ? Anyone live in Cornwall ?

I dont want to go too deep into Cornwall tho - more the east side / borders of Devon.

Recommendations gratefully received

Thrugelmir

St Mawes, around Seaton (in Cornwall not Devon), and one of my favourites Gorran Haven.

justme111

Sure , nice places to live. I would go for south Cornwall (looe) rather than North one (bude). Imo commute easier, sea calmer. Depends how far from the beach is acceptable for you , if you want the house straight on the beach it may feel remote(15 mins drive to supermarket and no neighbours) and cold/windy .

cajef

Check house prices down here in most areas in Cornwall they have increased in the last few years by large amounts, coastal places like Looe are expensive depending on how much you have got to spend it is worth looking slightly inland at places like Launceston, Liskeard or Bodmin unless you particularly want to live with the sea on your doorstep.

densol_2

Thanks everyone !

Im in Greater London is large detached so equity will be enough to buy outright - but I was planning on spending around £400k and keep some money aside

I think Id like to be 10 mins drive or around 30 mins walk to the beach rather than actually on the beach edge

Zeni

I'd recommend the southern side rather than northern such as Looe and Fowey. it does depend on budget though as the more popular areas will be expensive!

Edit - just seen you'd be looking at 400k so think you'd be fine depending on how many bedrooms etc you would be after. Def recommend trying rightmoves draw a search - http://www.rightmove.co.uk/draw-a-search.html you can select along the southern coast and see what comes up that interests you.

Contessa

I think your budget would be enough to give you a good choice. I'd suggest going further South and West though.

I believe Falmouth has been voted best place to live and I wouldn't disagree with this. It's a really vibrant town with lovely beaches and coastal walks.

Redruth and Camborne are more industrial and have much cheaper housing but are close to the lovely North coast. Cornwall is really quite a small county and North to South coasts are close to each other.

Moving down here from the NW was one of the best things I ever did. Please pm me if you'd like to know more.

Zeni

Contessa wrote: »

I think your budget would be enough to give you a good choice. I'd suggest going further South and West though.

I believe Falmouth has been voted best place to live and I wouldn't disagree with this. It's a really vibrant town with lovely beaches and coastal walks.

Redruth and Camborne are more industrial and have much cheaper housing but are close to the lovely North coast. Cornwall is really quite a small county and North to South coasts are close to each other.

Moving down here from the NW was one of the best things I ever did. Please pm me if you'd like to know more.

I would of said Falmouth but if she's looking for closer to the border than it can be quite a long drive.. I had some friends come and stay a couple years ago and rang me excited as they had just crossed the border and would see me soon.. Had to break it to them they had at least an hour and a half to go! :rotfl: But Falmouth is definitely a great place to live and there are queter parts of it and lovely beaches.

If you are willing to come down further also the Roseland is a beautiful place too.

Davesnave

If you want to live in either Devon Or Cornwall close to, but not actually waterside, then we'd still need to know much more to advise sensibly.

It's dead easy to pick out lovely locations, but the nuances of actually living in them are subtle and the cost per m2 of house will vary quite alarmingly.

For example, I don't live in an AONB or national park part of Devon, but I prefer it that way because most of the tourists miss us, so I can carry on with my life without being affected much by them. This makes sense to me, because I spent most of my adult years in a place beset by international tourism. Maybe you'd feel differently.

When I go 'down sarth' for the day, particularly in summer, it feels more like the place I used to live in, rather than 'my' Devon. I can re-live my past by sitting in traffic jams and fighting for parking spaces; something that never happens normally. I get a particular buzz whenever the traffic news on Radio Devon describes the "very slow traffic on the A385 through Totnes," remembering that people pay premium prices to live there and enjoy that!

But there again, the arts are very strong in Totnes, so if that's your thing.....

So if it's near beaches, the first thing to decide is whether you prefer Atlantic surf or quiet Channel coves, and work from there.

On a more mundane level, I can tell you that for daily shopping, Bude has the holy trinity of Sainsburys, Morrisons and Lidl on the doorstep, with Waitrose just up the road in Holsworthy, where there's also a proper market. There isn't anything resembling a city anywhere close, and that's even more the case the further you travel into Cornwall.

Tiners

You say that you have happy memories from childhood holidays but are you familiar with the areas as they are now?

Most of the areas I enjoyed as a child (Snowdonia and Anglesey) are now over commercialised and far more busy with tourists and visitors all year round than they ever were previously.

loveka

I am in the process of buying a house in south east Cornwall! You will be able to get a lot for £400k, even a sea view! We are in a village, 5 minutes walk from a beach with amazing sea views.

We saw some fantastic houses just a little further inland, but decided we wanted to be in a fishing village, because after all that was what we fell in love with! We have bought a holiday cottage too, to provide an income. There are lots of lovely villages in the area, both coastal and inland. Lostwithiel is a great inland village with lots going on. Polruan on the coast is cheaper than nearby Fowey. Although I think you could afford Fowey, which seems to have the best of everything! I have started to get quite fond of Looe the more I have been there. In the winter all the shops are still open, although even in a relatively big place you still have to travel to Liskeard to be able to buy lots of everyday items.


We have never been to Cornwall in the summer, so moving will be our first experience of how busy it can be. If you haven't been in the winter months, you do need to think about that aspect. We happen to love it in the winter, but I guess not everyone would. Also, be aware that the 'spine' of Cornwall gets worse weather- locals have said this to us.

I really hope we have made the right decision! This will be a totally fresh start for us, something I thought we would never do. But I have always wanted to be beside the sea. I'm really excited, but scared too.