Explore Bodmin

Exploring in and around Bodmin is ideal. The town is virtually at the centre of Cornwall, equidistant from north and south coasts it offers unrivalled access to Bodmin Moor and the countryside around. Good road, rail, cycle and even air links only add to Bodmin's reputation as one of the premier locations from which to explore Cornwall. Go car-less, feel free! Pack a lunch, OS map, mobile phone, sun-barrier cream, lace-up your boots and walk or cycle - from and in Bodmin you're spoilt for choice.

Pick up the Bodmin Town Trail from the Visitor Centre - explore the narrow streets and Civic history.

Next on the explorers list has to be the 18 mile walking, cycling and horse riding Camel Trail. The Trail, Cornwall's most popular free attraction is level, traffic free and family friendly. From Bodmin you can cycle, walk or ride to Padstow, through Wadebridge and along the Camel Estuary, a designated area of outstanding natural beauty, [AONB].It's a birdwatcher's paradise whether sighting the electric blue of a darting kingfisher or the stately strutting of a heron. Or you can branch out onto Bodmin Moor, through Poleys Bridge and Helland. This verdant, leafy route inland, finishes on the Moor at the delightful village of Blisland, with it's village green, pub and lovely church - one of Sir John Betajmen's favourites.

For another day you may wish to follow the "Copper Trail" a 60 mile route right around Bodmin Moor or take the "Saints Way" a 26-mile trail from Padstow to Fowey. Something gentler? You can stroll or cycle out to the lovely National Trust property of Lanhydrock and if you are still feeling frisky - explore the Cornish Way - a network of cycle routes across Cornwall. After Lanhydrock you can cycle the eight miles to the Eden Project and the Cornish Way Clay Trails around St Austell.

There is of course much more to explore - the Georgian Pencarrow House at Washaway just a stones throw from the award winning Camel Valley Vineyard. The smaller villages surrounding Bodmin - Withiel, Nanstallon, Cardinham and Lanivet to name a few, and the Beacon nature reserve - 83 acres sitting atop of the town and home to the Beacon War Memorial.