The Tremarne hotel, The Cornwall Hotel, The Nare Hotel, The Carlyon Bay Hotel, Boscundle Manner, The Rosevine. Don’t forget the sea is right on your doorstep in Cornwall so a pool isn’t essential so long as you enjoy a refreshing dip. If the weather’s good especially I can’t see why you’d need a pool! Get down to the beach. The sea temperature in Cornwall is warmer than everywhere else in the UK bar the Sicily Islands, due to its exposure to the Gulf Stream. Just think of it… All that warm water pulled by currents from the boiling Gulf of Mexico right outside where you’re staying in Cornwall. That extra degree or two of warmth makes all the difference and we even get exotic species like Bluefin Tuna coming here in late summer. Also, some parts of Cornwall are technically sub-tropical rather than temperate like the rest of the UK, so just think of that.

Mevagissey has frequent buses all day to St Austell train station and bus station, which is the local transport hub. From there, you can reach out into the rest of Cornwall. A bus is a good way to see the local area without having to worry about driving, although of course it will be painfully slow if you’re in a rush to get to the beach on a hot day.

You can walk the coastal path to Polstreath beach just on the edge of the village or head further along to Pentewan. By car, it takes no time at all to get to all the beaches in St Austell Bay, like Carlyon Bay and Charlestown. Gorran Haven is also nearby. For a beach with privacy, head to Vault. If you’ve seen the film ‘About Time’, it’s the beach where they filmed.

Mevagissey is only 37 minutes from Newquay airport and Newquay airport is only a short flight from London (about enough time to eat a pasty and have a 30 minute nap). By car, the M4, M5 and M6 motorways make getting to Cornwall easy and once you cross the Tamar into Cornwall, you have two holiday routes, the A38 and A30, with speedy dual carriageways. I would recommend joining the M5 to Exeter then taking the A30 to St. Austell followed by the B3273 to Mevagissey. Cornish roads are hard to drive on in summer due to being both narrow and busy. The north coast especially is tricky in summertime as many of the roads remain from Bronze Age tracks and were not designed for cars. Mevagissey has mostly good roads leading to it from St Austell, but you’ll want to take it easy on Cornish roads. Once you get here though it will be well worth it and it’s significantly easier than going abroad. There is a bus service between Mevagissey and St Austell and a main bus station in St Austell next to the train station, which is also in St Austell.

Mevagissey has plenty of lively pubs but is a peaceful working village and does not have any full-time music venues – except of course during the Mevagissey Feast Week. Unsurprisingly, the village is more popular with couples and families than it is for lads holidays! If you’re after a night out, head to Truro or Falmouth. That said, the Feast Week is the place to be when it’s on, with music on the harbour front, dancing in the streets and pubs lively with people. The Ship Inn is known for a place with a good mix of locals and visitors, and is a decent old pub.

Pentewan beach has a Hubbox burger bar, which sells really good burgers made with local meat. For more options, head over to Charlestown, where the food offering has expanded dramatically since 2016. Charlestown has a cafe, steakhouse and multiple pubs. May I recommend the mussels for your meal… (they are from the mussel beds which you can see floating in the bay). Polkerris has a pub and Sam’s restaurant, which has exceptional pizzas. The places that offer food are also the places which are busiest, so if you’re after privacy you will need to pack a packed lunch and some walking boots to head along the coast to your own private cove. Unless it’s winter, of course.

You can walk the coastal path to Polstreath beach just on the edge of the village or head further along to Pentewan. By car, it takes no time at all to get to all the beaches in St Austell Bay, like Carlyon Bay and Charlestown. Gorran Haven is also nearby. For a beach with privacy, head to Vault. If you’ve seen the film ‘About Time’, it’s the beach where they filmed.

The Cornish Bakery is pricey and I will go for other brands for this reason, but they do a cracking pasty right in the center of Mevagissey. The best pasty is highly dependent on whether you like soft crusts or crispy crusts. Havana’s of par has the crispiest pasty I have tried and Rowes does a good in-between. The Cornish Bakery is a rather posh pasty mainly for visitors. They give 5p from each pasty to the Cornish Mining Heritage, so good on them! Mevagissey has particularly good fish and chips – both of them are excellent. Be sure to grab yourself a bag of those and watch out for hungry seagulls! The seagulls like Mevagissey pasties and fish and chips a lot.

She Sells is an ice cream shop right on the harbourfront just along from the fish and chip shop where you can buy quality ice cream. The Number 5 Cafe also has really delicious desserts and is better for a sit down with coffee. Mevagissey is birthplace of the Kelly’s ice cream company, which is now an iconic Cornish food, popular around the world. It was founded by an Italian immigrant that combined the Cornish clotted cream with Italian ice cream making technique to craft a rich, creamy ice cream that has been popular ever since. On the popular surf beaches of the North Coast, Kelly whip vans have a monopoly. Buy a whole tub of the stuff while you’re down and keep it in the freezer.

The Salamander is often considered the highest-end restaurant in Mevagissey, but is totally unpretentious and well priced. The food is beautifully cooked and simply presented and the atmosphere is often lively, with close together tables. Book a table in the Salamander if you’re after what is regarded by many as the best fish in town. However, Mevagissey has many other good restaurants too, so you won’t find it hard to get a good meal here.

The area surrounding Mevagissey is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is covered with little coves, open beaches and a welcoming coastline. Along the coast to the East you reach Pentewan Sands, which is a magnificent large beach formed by sand from the clay industry and owned by a large campsite. Further along, you’ll reach Black Head, which is a rugged outcrop with little inlets and small beaches which you will most likely have to yourself if you make the trek to reach them. Beyond that, you reach St Austell Bay, which has many beaches of various kinds and three harbours (though none like Meva). The end of St Austell Bay is marked by the Gribbon Head, which has a red and white lighthouse on top of it which is visible from Mevagissey harbour. Beyond that you reach Fowey, which is a very popular place to visit. To the West of Mevagissey, you will first encounter the tiny beachside village of Portmellon. Walk a little further and you’re at Chapel Point, with it’s uniquely designed property on the outcrop there. Further round the coast still you reach Gorran Haven, which is an utterly glorious spot with an ancient church, quaint harbour and decent beach at low tide. Further still, you’ll find yourself at the nudey beach (Vault). This is a really nice private beach. At this point, you’re not far from Caerhays Castle. The castle was built to be jaw-dropping and is surrounded by highly cultivated gardens, rolling green hills with highland cows on them and its own private beach. All are private but open to the public. The closest town to Mevagisey is St Austell. Famous for its brewery which makes some really cracking ales and its history of clay mining. The town has shops, an attractive church, a really good cinema and a range of pasty shops that you won’t find up North above the Tamar. If you’re after more of a shopping experience, go a little further to Truro or even Falmouth. These places have a lot more to offer the shopper and are also far more attractive.