Daffodils overlooking Fistral Beach, Newquay
On a visit with family in England from late January to February 9th, I was surprised to see how early Spring arrived in Newquay, Cornwall, where my mum now lives.
Flowers were everywhere. The above photo of Spring daffodils overlooking Fistral Beach in Newquay was taken on February 2nd, a beautiful sunny winter’s day.
Daffodils were out or almost out all over the town and will last several weeks. Just a reminder that Spring is on its way here in Ontario too…however, we won’t see daffodils till April or May, and they will last just a short time.
Cornwall, which is on the southwestern tip of England, can be a great travel destination to visit in February as part of a tour of Great Britain, especially for those that can no longer lie all day on a beach in 80 degree heat but who still love the smell of fresh sea air and walking on vast yellow sand beaches.
If you’re an active, outdoorsy traveller, and enjoy beach-combing, breathtaking coastal views, magnificent cliffs, caves and rock pools, historical monuments, gardens that flower in winter, Cornwall is ideal most of the year, although it can get very crowded with tourists from late May to early September (until the kids go back to school).
However, it rarely snows in Cornwall and when it does, it doesn’t stick around for long as temperatures tend to be a lot milder during the winter (and much warmer than Canada – except maybe for Vancouver).
So, if you want to get away from the stormy snowy weather (which is what I left as I departed in January and arrived to on my return) for a few weeks, but an active vacation down south is not practical, or you just want a change of scenery, Cornwall may be a destination to consider from December to March.
The beaches are mostly empty of people even on weekends and there are more sunny (even warm-ish) days than you’d think, although obviously they cannot be guaranteed. But even in harsh windy and icy weather, which we encountered a few days after the above photo was taken, the Cornish coast is spectacular no matter what time of year.
Just make sure to wear or pack a weather-proof hiking coat, hat and gloves, and pack hiking boots so you can hike the Southwestern Coastal Footpath, which is a must on a visit to Cornwall. But…please…leave the umbrella behind…because it gets windy by the coast and a brolly is useless!
