Welsh rarebit

Adrian Tierney-jones: Cornwall is a long, languorous peninsula of hidden harbours, beautifully bleak moors and homely pubs where you can bed down after being wooed by hearty home-cooking and local ales.

Padstow, famous for its May Day celebrations and, of course, Rick Stein, is home to the Old Custom House, which sits on the quay like a sentry overlooking the medieval harbour. It’s a warm-hearted, lively place, popular with both locals and visitors. Many of its bedrooms offer views of the harbour and Camel Estuary, and if you’re eager for exploration, this is the starting point of the Camel Trail to Bodmin Moor.

Meanwhile, in the harbour village of Charlestown, on the southern side of Cornwall, The Rashleigh

Arms offers cool, calming rooms in a Victorian-era property. Parts of the popular BBC series Poldark were filmed in the village, and the Eden Project is also a short drive away. Remaining on the south coast, Chain Locker in Falmouth is a harbourside inn with interiors suggestive of old sailing ships. The first floor has a modern restaurant and its bedrooms offer views of the River Fal.

Head north to The Driftwood Spars at St Agnes, a short walk from the surfers’ paradise of Trevaunance Cove. Its beers, including the awardwinning Alfie’s Revenge, are brewed on site, and the menu uses locally sourced produce. Further west on Cornwall’s Atlantic coast, The Gurnard’s Head is one of those getaway-from-it-all places, with some rooms offering views of the sea and others the moorland. It’s won many plaudits for its food and is a short hop from the outdoor Minack Theatre.

Old Custom House, Padstow