We had to decide what to do in Bude. We headed there at the end of February, but let me elaborate a little.
For those that don’t know, I am a photographer and my wife is a nurse. As a result neither of us work traditional Monday to Friday 9-5 hours. But this is good. It gives us the chance to squeeze in a few days here, a few days there to go away.
For example our next planned getaway is a Camper Van trip in April. With our 2 year old! Anyway, back to this post.
We had booked a few days in a cottage there, as it was the last week of February so we weren’t holding out much hope for the weather. We piled bodies and stuff into the car, and set out on the three and a half hour drive from our home in the New Forest to the north Cornwall / Devon coast (where we were staying was right on the border)
This length of time with a toddler in the car could be a challenge, but Max is a relatively good traveller. We stopped twice, once for lunch in Dorchester and once in in a lay by for a snack.
We left at 11am and arrived at about 4. So 5 hours for a 3.5 hour drive with two stops and a toddler was good going.
We explored the cottage, and were really pleased with our choice. 3 bedrooms, spacious lounge. Kitchen Diner and a den at the back of the cottage with great views over the rolling hills.
So we were there. Now what to do in Bude was the question. The owner of the cottage was great, and gave us some decent tips on what to see.
Here are a few photos of the cottage, and the view we enjoyed.
We decided to head to Padstow on the Tuesday, as the weather wasn’t looking good, and we wanted to sample Rick Steins fish and chips (again) Suzanne and I had enjoyed them a few years back when we cycled the Bodmin Trail.
What to do in Bude? Go to Padstow too!
We headed into the village. The good thing about it being February and a weekday was it was easy to park close to where we wanted to be. In between the quaint little harbour, and the building housing our fish and chips!!
After a very short stroll to see the boats, the cloud grew grey. We turned around, and aimed straight for Rick’s plaice (see what I did there:)?
It was perfectly timed, as the skies went from cloud with patches of blue, to grey. Dark Grey. We were tucked up on our bench, having ordered cod and chips twice. Max was going to share ours, and the restaurant were cool with that.
It was tasty as we had imagined. Not cheap at £9.95 a serving, but it was a restaurant, albeit a casual one, and a well known chef’s one at that!
With 3 full tummy’s and clear skies outside, it was time to head out, and have a stroll in the sunshine, in the meantime, here are a few photos from lunch
We had a stroll around the harbour, poking heads in a few shops, and having a sit down here and there. We even found time to pull some funny faces!
Pancakes!!!
Tuesday was pancake day!! So we headed back to the cottage so we could all enjoy pancakes. Suzanne was the chosen pancake tosser, and did a really good job, in both cooking and tossing them!!
Nothing got stuck to the ceiling, and nothing ended up on the floor! Success.
After pancakes, and a bit more tea for Max, we settled him into bed.
It was then time to enjoy the champagne and hot tub! Now, it is still February, and the hot tub in this cottage isn’t right next to the house, it is a short walk to it. A very short walk, but my point is you aren’t able jump from the house to the tub, in the cold, in 2 seconds!
After chilling out for about 20 minutes, we decided that was about all we could handle in the heat of the water, so we jumped out, got cold very quickly, and then covered the hot tub and darted back into the warm.
What to do in Bude – Day 3
The next day, the weather wasn’t great again, but that wasn’t going to stop us, so we decided to head off to the beach. Our chosen destination was Northcott Mouth beach. A challenging day at the beach to say the least.
I have already posted about this here, so I won’t regurgitate this. Head over there (after you have finished here of course) and have a read.
That evening was a quiet one, in the lounge, reading and watching a bit of TV while Max slept in his huge bed upstairs.
Thursday was home day. Another 4 hour drive ahead of us, but we had much better weather. Still cold, still windy, but at least the sun was shining.
On the way home, we stopped at Lyme Regis. A walk on another beach, and lunch. This of course broke up the journey too. Key when you have a 2 year old in a car seat for 4 hours!!
We eventually made it home later that afternoon. It was a great few days away, we love Cornwall and Devon, and will definitely be exploring more of these counties.
This looks like a decent book to learn a bit about the area, and I am sure will give some tips on what to do in Bude Lonely Planet Devon & Cornwall (Travel Guide)
Now, don’t forget to head over to the post about Northcott Mouth, and enjoy the Snaps and the Stories. See you soon.