Mylor Yacht Harbour

The Fal Estuary near Truro fills with boats of every description, and Mylor Yacht Harbour is where you come to watch them all congregate. It's a working marina, not a theme park, so don't expect attractions - what you get instead is something altogether more authentic: the gentle chaos of a proper sailing village, with pontoons creaking under weight and rigging singing in the wind.

Walk the waterfront and you'll see everything from racing yachts to old wooden boats that look like they've been afloat since the 1950s. There's a boatyard, a chandlery, a couple of decent pubs within a stone's throw. If you've got kids who aren't easily bored, they'll spend a good hour spotting different vessels and watching dinghies putter about. Walkers will find the riverside paths lovely, especially heading upstream toward Restronguet Creek.

It's free to wander around - you're looking at boats, not paying for the privilege. Allow an hour for a proper mooch, longer if you fancy a pint at the waterside. Early morning when the light hits the water properly is genuinely worth getting up for. Bring decent shoes because the paths can be muddy.

Stay at either Trethem Mill Touring Park or Carnon Downs a few miles away, and Mylor makes a proper half-day outing alongside the broader Fal estuary walks. It's not dramatic or showy, but that's rather the point. This is working Cornwall, not postcard Cornwall.