Thought I'd harness the power of the forum to see what the options might be....

Just got back from a fortnight in St Ives which is great as somewhere where you have (nice) beaches, pubs / restaurants, and shops all within easy walking distance. All of this means that we could largely park the car and enjoy time outside.

That said, it does have a number of drawbacks:
- it's right at the end of Cornwall (aka a bl**dy long way);
- it's prohibitively expensive once you start having to look at school holiday dates;
- and linked to that, we've heard it's massively busy at these times (you have to book restaurants weeks in advance); and
- it's the single least car friendly place in the country (anywhere that gives you the dimensions of the parking spaces with holiday lets tells you that it is a little bit "tight" on space!)

So... the ask is whether people know of anywhere on the South coast / South-West of England that offers similar advantages, but maybe with some of the cons dialled back a bit?

Thanks all
Simon

Hard to recommend without knowing more on tastes, budget, duration or whether kids are in tow etc. We've been to Sidmouth on the Dorset / Devon coast a few times and always enjoyed that area. Or maybe Isle of Wight (crossing can be a bit expensive though).

Pembrokeshire (St David's / Newgale area). Easy drive down on the M4, Cheaper than Cornwall, beaches are just as good if not better, similar kind of vibe (surf and sailing) but less people. The roads are narrow like cornwall but you dont get traffic like cornwall. Lots of dog friendly beaches and the beaches that aren't are really good as well.

Downsides are that you need a car to get around and if the weather is against you then it can be just as depressing as any holiday.

Ditto. What he said.

Had a couple of good weeks in New Quay in Pembrokeshire.

Unfortunately, most places during the school hols is ball clenchingly expensive.

North Norfolk is gorgeous in the good weather, and more your side of the country.

Apologies - and very fair point. Guess I’d focussed on the features of St Ives itself that we liked, but you are right that some places will be better suited to different situations.

On one of your questions, we’ve got a two year old daughter - so will be three for the next holiday - and one drawback of St Ives is that it doesn’t seem to have a single swing, slide, or really any form of child play other than the beach... bit like kids don’t need entertaining!

Duration wise we’re probably looking at two weeks, whilst in terms of budget I guess everywhere has cheaper and expensive places so am sure we could find somewhere in budget if we find the right area...

Will have a look at Sidmouth and Pembrokeshire as they are both areas I hadn’t looked at yet - thanks for the suggestions.

Maybe not for this year, but I'd implore you to look at Brittany in the future - it's got fantastic beaches, endless campsites, hotels, AirBnB's, etc and with reasonable planning (ferry times, etc.) it doesn't have to be much more expensive than Cornwall.

We go to Cornwall every summer with the kids and stay at a place called Hendra in Newquay (https://www.hendra-holidays.com/), its a families only caravan place .. the bigger caravans are more like apartments and you can park right in front of them. From there we do day excursions further into Cornwall and out to Devon. Going to St Ives for a day trip, its much better (more scenic and leisurely) parking up at St Erth and getting the train in. https://greatscenicrailways.co.uk/lines/st-ives-bay-line/

I'm keeping an eye on this as we're going to Pol Perro in July for a week. Never been to Cornwall before and certainly had to up the usual budget. Our car parking slot is "within a short walk" of where we are staying.