Out and About - St Moritz Hotel

There are hundreds of world class day trips, walks, beaches and restaurants all jostling for your attention right on our doorstep.

Walking

Just how much energy and curiosity do you have?

The good news is there’s something for everyone, whether you’re full to bursting with both of the above, or pleasantly idling just above empty.

For starters – and forgive us if we’ve said already – but as a hotel near the beach in Cornwall, we’re naturally very close to the south west coast path, and given that it stretches from Somerset to Dorset and spans 630 lovely-looking miles, there’s truly something for everyone, whether you fancy a stroll, a ramble, a mooch or a concerted hike: Polzeath to the east, Padstow to the west and the Atlantic as a constant companion.

If you want to start more slowly, you could try the walk to St Enodoc’s Church, which is only a mile and a half away via the footpath above Greenaway Bay. You just need to pass the pinstriped rocks of Trebetherick Point, cross Daymer Bay’s sweeping white sands and stroll across the golf course, and there it is. Arguably one of the country’s most picturesque churches and final resting place of Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman. Pick up a walking map from reception to keep you on track.

Cycling

A slower pace, a different perspective, and travel for travelling’s sake, more than just the hard-nosed business of getting from A to B. Cycling’s not only better for you, it’s better for everyone else, too. And given how much there is that’s worth properly looking at round here, it’s also a much better way to really notice, drink in and appreciate the sights, sounds, colours and smells of everything that makes this part of the country so remarkable.

The Camel Trail’s probably the best way to do all of this; it’s an 18-mile, surfaced, virtually-level, disused railway line between Wenfordbridge, Bodmin, Wadebridge and Padstow. Walkers, horse-riders and runners use it too, and if you’ve no bike with you, there are various places in Wadebridge to hire one (or you can just ask our guest host to pre-book you one, so you just get to drop down there, hop on and enjoy the ride).

Wadebridge and Padstow are well worth the visit however you get there, but mooching along there as a two or in a group is as good a way as any, and both places have more than enough distractions to make the exertion worthwhile (as if everything you see along the way wasn’t enough anyway … ).

Food & Drink

You’d expect anywhere this beautiful, and this popular with visitors all year round, to have a wide variety of places in which to eat and drink. But you wouldn’t necessarily expect either the diversity and variety on offer here, or the examples of nationally-recognised (AA rosettes and Michelin stars) quality. It’s become almost a cliché to talk of the area as a ‘foodie’ destination, but the concentration of amazing places in such a small area is extraordinary, and not just the most famous examples of Rick Stein and Nathan Outlaw, either.

Fine dining in Cornwall is thriving: it’s an area rich in fresh seafood, free-range meat, delicious dairy, as well as local fruits and vegetables. There’s also a vibrant independent drinks culture, with businesses large and small making and selling excellent gin, beer, cider and juice.

A recent blog rounded up some of the best pubs as well as some of the best places to eat near Polzeath …

Why not simply hang out?

With every kind of day trip close by, don’t miss out on what could be the best day of them all, a day with us! Simply hang out on a hammock and take lunch at the Sea Side restaurant, followed by a treatment at the Cowshed spa. All while the children have an amazing adventure packed day with Wavehunters surf school or play on the leisure lawn.