Harbour View House, Padstow Town

Cornwall. Sleeps up to 10

How dreamy to be staying in a rather grand Edwardian pad in the very heart of Padstow with sensational panoramic views of the gorgeous estuary from many of the rooms! Harbour View House offers high-end, supremely comfortable modern living. With five delightful bedrooms, it sleeps ten guests. It really is an excellent choice with spacious, beautifully decorated rooms, an impressive kitchen diner, fantastic bathrooms and lovely outside space. Most of all, though, its elevated position boasts incredible estuary vistas. You can wake up in the morning to the glorious sight of boats bobbing, sandbanks shifting and sea birds flying high in the sky. Get your camera ready!
 
Padstow, one of the most popular seaside towns in the whole country, is full of character and historic interest. It offers a fantastic dining scene, boasts an excellent range of shops and offers watersports, fishing trips, speedboat rides, sea cruises and a ferry service across the estuary to the very popular town of Rock. The Camel Estuary, from Padstow and Rock downriver to Wadebridge, is one of only two ‘inland’ sections of Cornwall’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The gorgeous Harbour View House is in prime position to enjoy all of it.
 
The Edwardians certainly had a very keen eye for splendid locations and knew a thing about space. This magnificent gem offers two excellent living rooms as well as a fantastic kitchen diner and five huge bedrooms. Even the hallway and landings are spacious! Both elegant living rooms are positioned at the front of the house with magical views over the rooftops to the glistening waters. One is carpeted, and the other boasts warm wooden floorboards. With calm tones of cool grey and colour pops of sunshine yellow and blue, they are bright and beautiful and so inviting. With a party of ten, you may not all want to do the same thing at the same time so children can play or watch a movie in one, while others enjoy pre-dinner drinks, the Sunday newspapers or a lovely afternoon snooze in the other.
 
The immaculate kitchen diner at the back of the house is an absolute delight. The chef in your group will be thrilled with the high-end kitchen boasting an Aga and double ovens. Wonderfully fun chairs of all different colours surround the large dining table and huge bi-fold doors open to the garden and terraces.
 
Four of the five bedrooms are on the first floor along with two dazzling, spacious bathrooms. One is a shower room and the other a family bathroom, boasting both a shower and a bath. The two fabulous bedrooms at the front of the house offer king-size beds and stunning views. One of these opens onto a balcony. How lovely that you can lie in bed with the doors open and enjoy the views and the first sniff of sea air! The higher up you go in Harbour View House, the better the views. At the back of the house, you will find a double bedroom and a twin. The exquisite decor is calm and peaceful, and even though you haven’t got those views, you will sleep like kings. Upstairs, on the top floor, you will find the fabulous master bedroom suite. With its en-suite bathroom with a huge walk-in shower and armchairs perfect placed by the picture window to enjoy the views, it is a lovely comfortable haven.
 
Outside, Harbour View House enjoys front and rear gardens. You can open the huge dining room bifold doors and relax on sofas in the delightful shaded alfresco lounge area. Up a level, you can enjoy special views from the slate-paved upper terrace with alfresco dining at its best.

The Camel Estuary is a geological ria, a deep valley that was drowned by post-glacial rising sea levels. It is one of the most popular places in Cornwall. At low tide, gorgeous sandbanks are exposed, and the reed beds and salt marsh flats teem with wading birds. Tributary rivers and small creeks link with the hinterland taking in secluded farms and windswept hilltops. One of the best ways to explore this glorious Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is by bike along the Camel Trail. It starts in Padstow and is hugely popular. As well as seeing many birds, you are likely to spot otters and rare plants amongst the blackthorn, gorse, thrift and campion. It follows the disused railway line once used by the London and South West Railway. From Padstow, it follows the estuary to Wadebridge before joining the route through the deep and beautifully wooded Camel Valley to Bodmin. At Bodmin it winds its way inland to the edge of Bodmin Moor where after 18 miles it comes to an end below Blisland, a very pretty moorland village with a very popular award-winning pub. If you haven’t taken your own bikes, you can hire then in Padstow.
 
The picturesque town of Padstow boasts excellent shops, pubs, cafes and top-notch restaurants. Rick’s Stein’s Fish Restaurant has brought fame and visitors to the town. From the busy harbour, visitors can enjoy watersports, fishing trips, speedboat rides and sea cruises. Most popular are the trips to spot seals, dolphins, puffins and basking sharks. The attractive harbour is flanked by an eclectic mix of fisherman’s cottages and merchant’s houses. The Black Tor passenger ferry takes passengers over to Rock, taking 5 to 10 minutes to cross the river. Rock is a second home to many rich and famous and a holiday favourite with the royals. Overlooking Padstow, you can visit the fine Elizabethan country house, Prideaux Place. It was built in 1592 and has been passed down through the generations to the current owners, Peter and Elisabeth Prideaux-Brune. It’s formal gardens, and deer park is delightful.
 
There are many fabulous beaches to visit within easy reach of Padstow. Constantine Bay enjoys a reputation as one of the best surfing beaches and boasts a sweeping arc of gently shelving golden sand together with fascinating rock pools. Next door is Booby’s Bay, separated from Constantine Bay by a thin rocky point. Harlyn, with its famous surf school, is another favourite.
 
Golf fans can visit the Trevose Golf and Country Club. It boasts an amazing championship course with breathtaking panoramic views and a very warm welcome. There is a restaurant plus many other facilities at the club.
 
Carnewas and the Bedruthan Steps are also very popular. The landscape is synonymous with shipwrecks and smugglers. You will enjoy spectacular clifftop views looking out over Bedruthan Steps where colossal, pointed stacks stand majestically out of the Atlantic waves. It is a very dramatic spectacle. The coastal path between Carnewas to Stepper Point is a mix of sandy bays and high cliffs and farmland inland. From Stepper Point you can head on towards Harlyn Bay. Above Trevone Bay you will have views of striking marble cliffs at Porthmissen Bridge. Past Mother Ivey’s Bay, the prominent Trevose Head boasts stunning views up and down the coast. Porthcothan is a popular beach that snuggles between low cliffs and is reached following paths between the dunes.