Cornwall

With its granite-fanged coast breaking the North Atlantic rollers, pointing the way to an ancient land of mystery and legend, wild terrain and exotic gardens.

See Land’s End – England’s most westerly point – and the most southerly point, the awesome Lizard Peninsula. On the way, Penzance and the iconic St Michael’s Mount – England’s answer to Brittany’s Mont-St-Michel.

To Cornwall’s great gardens. The Lost Gardens of Heligan – ‘the garden restoration of the century’ and Trebah, Trelissik, Trengwainton and Lanhydrock and so many more. The futuristic Eden Project – a global garden for the 21st century shows mankind’s dependence on plants.

Fowey, Polruan, Polperro and Looe are classic Cornish fishing villages thriving in the sheltered valleys that reach far inland. They point north to the wilderness of Bodmin Moor. Here is Jamaica Inn, made famous by Daphne du Maurier’s novel of smuggling and romance.

On to Tintagel, the fount of Cornwall’s greatest legends. King Arthur’s Camelot is said to lie under the ruins of Tintagel Castle.

Bude has fantastic family-friendly beaches. And there are more, along with surf, around Newquay and Padstow. Fine beaches also surround St Ives, which attracts traditional holidaymakers and artists. The village is home to Tate St Ives.

Cornwall has been important for mining many metals over the years, including tin, copper, arsenic, silver, zinc and others. Its tin mining history is reflected by fascinating museums and displays and engine houses clinging to cliffsides.