Cornwall

Cornwall - or Kernow in the local lingo - has a credible claim to being the fifth nation in the United Kingdom. It has its own culture, its own history and even its own language. This was the last bastion of the southern Celts, and the Cornish people have always seen themselves as slightly apart from the rest of Great Britain. For visitors, Cornwall is best known for its gorgeous coastline, studded with picture-postcard fishing villages, ruined castles and cliff-framed beaches. The seafaring life has given the county a rich legacy of nautical legends and smugglers' tales. Inland from the coast is a rugged hinterland which still bears the ...

Cornwall - or Kernow in the local lingo - has a credible claim to being the fifth nation in the United Kingdom. It has its own culture, its own history and even its own language. This was the last bastion of the southern Celts, and the Cornish people have always seen themselves as slightly apart from the rest of Great Britain. For visitors, Cornwall is best known for its gorgeous coastline, studded with picture-postcard fishing villages, ruined castles and cliff-framed beaches. The seafaring life has given the county a rich legacy of nautical legends and smugglers' tales. Inland from the coast is a rugged hinterland which still bears the scars of tin and copper mining. Because of its location, Cornwall benefits from the warming effects of the Gulf Stream, and resorts like St. Ives, Bude and Penzance are mobbed with holidaymakers every summer. Surfers prefer the autumn months, when the breaks around Newquay really start to perform. Back on land, hikers take advantage of the long summers for scenic walks across Bodmin Moor and the Lizard Peninsula, the most southerly point in the British Isles.

About the Expert

Joe Bindloss has written more than 30 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, Time Out and other publishers, with a focus on Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and island nations.