Why I swapped Ibiza for Cornwall on my girls’ getaway

Flash forward to this summer, nearly a decade later. At 30, I had my dream beach holiday with the girls, my university friends Gaby and Aisha. This time it wasn’t to a Balearic island, but to a luxury Cornish beach cottage on Towans Beach in Hayle, ten miles from St Ives, where the nearest pub is a 25-minute walk away and not much happens after sunset.

The “Shacks” at Three Mile Beach have a private deck and hot tub

The Towans, which won The Times and The Sunday Times beach of the year this year, is a set of six distinct beaches stretching from Godrevy Lighthouse to Hayle. Three Mile Beach, a cluster of 19 pastel-coloured beach huts, is at the end of a stretch called Gwithian Towans, which in my opinion is the best. It’s far enough away from Hayle and the lighthouse visiting crowds – and with a perfect view of the sunset.

Families have been coming here for years. “It’s like a fancy mini Center Parcs on the beach,” a family friend told me. But Three Mile Beach has opened four two-bedroom beach huts built to appeal to couples and friends.

Each of the beach huts, including the new two-bedroom we’re staying in, called ‘Shacks’, is set on a path that winds around the site like a Cornish cul-de-sac. “Shacks” doesn’t do them justice though; “Villas” would be more appropriate. They have a private deck complete with a sunken cedar hot tub, a wooden barrel sauna, and a barbecue area with Fatboy hammocks and outdoor bean bags. A blue shack with a pink tuk-tuk parked outside has been converted into a coffee bar, and there’s the Chomp restaurant-bar, which serves food and sunsets.

Hannah, centre, with Aisha and Gaby in Cornwall

We arrive at a welcome basket of essentials: crisps, fudge, bread, scones, jam, cream, tea bags and, most importantly, wine, which we agree must be drunk immediately in the hot tub before unpacking anything something else. There are some things that just don’t change.

Our two bedroom cottage is light and bright. The living room has a wood burning stove, a huge table to play board games on, a TV (Netflix and Amazon ready to go). Up a staircase in each bedroom, next to the bed, is a small nook with pillows and blankets, where you can read a book or watch the sunset through the skylight – a perfect place to snooze. Throughout, there are white wood-panelled walls decorated with fabrics, paintings and ornaments that owners Craig Burkinshaw and his partner Joanne Le Bone sourced from Morocco. They opened Three Mile Beach in 2022 after Burkinshaw sold his majority stake in luxury travel firm Audley Travel.

“Welcome amenities including wine are included for guests upon arrival

ELLIOTT WHITE

Traditionally, the first night of a girls’ beach vacation is the most noisy – you get way too excited and feel the consequences the next morning. Tonight, however, we’ve arranged to rent the Ooni Portable Pizza Oven — the millennial’s dream gadget — which is left with a tray of dough balls and toppings including wild garlic, cheese, nduja, locally grown mushrooms and salami (£100). per stay).

• 23 of the best secluded beach cottages in the UK
• 14 of the best budget hotels in Cornwall under £150

Sitting around the table, we start to build our itinerary for the weekend. If you’re an adventurous group, it’s easy to rack up a huge bill for extra activities. For £60 you can borrow a guitar for your stay for acoustic fireside sessions – singer not included – or for £30 you can borrow a telescope for stargazing. We’re more interested in activities tailored for weary adults in search of wellness, such as a cold plunge and breather experience with a local wellness guru on the beach (principal £650) and private yoga (£50 for one). – lesson time).

The huts are light and bright

ELLIOTT WHITE

“We should go swimming early every morning,” says Aisha optimistically. Whenever we go on holiday, Aisha is the last to get out of bed, but maybe the Cornish sea has worked its magic on her. “And let’s get a surfboard,” interjects Gaby. Three Mile Beach has partnered with Global Boarders surf school down the road in front of the beach. Not wanting to remind Gaby that we can’t surf, we book a private lesson instead (from £40; globalboarders.com). Pizza eaten, wine finished and the kitchen cleaned, we go to bed. the time? Not even at 11pm.

The next morning we wake up early. Gaby and I head off for our surf lesson (she admits on the way home that getting an instructor was absolutely necessary) before meeting up with Aisha for a scenic walk to Godrevy Lighthouse, 40 minutes away, to see the seals that appear at the ebb.

The Towans has plenty of surf schools to choose from

It’s easy to see why the Towans won beach of the year. In addition to Three Mile Beach shacks and at least half a dozen surf schools, there are also cliff walks and a vast maze of sand dunes to explore. At the northern end of the beach is Godrevy Café, which has an ice cream hut in summer. At the other end, towards Hayle, you’ll find the Cove Café, a small restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch as well as weekly steak nights, giving the Malibu a run for its money when it comes to sunset views (mainly at £8). ; covecafehayle.com).

• We visited 543 beaches in the UK – and Towans was the most magnificent

Back in the safety of the hot tub, we discuss dinner plans. We booked Rupert Cooper, a former professional rugby player turned private chef who runs the local Philleigh Way cookery school as well as the Cove Café (from £75). He talks about his time playing for the Cornish Pirates rugby team and how he taught himself to cook as he prepares our menu: mullet with dressed tomatoes and seaweed, smoked beef shank with chermoula and potatoes, topped with tahini and mousse chocolate. . Bedtime on the second night? A 1 morning with slightly more excited eyes.

The next morning there is a whisper of a hangover, but the sea washes nothing away. We head home after this girl’s trip intact and relaxed, having — for once — gotten enough sleep. “I usually leave vacations like this desperate to get home,” Gaby adds as we pack up. “I could have stayed a whole week longer.”
Hannah Evans was a guest at Three Mile Beach, which offers three nights self-catering for four people in a two-bedroom beach hut from £619 (threemilebeach.co.uk), and GWR (gwr.com)

Become a subscriber and, along with unlimited digital access to The Times and The Sunday Times, you can enjoy a collection of travel offers and competitions from our trusted travel partners, especially for Times+ members

Sign up with us Times Travel Newsletter and follow us further Instagram and X