Living in Cornwall

The land of cream teas, pasties, hidden coves and pirate tales is a huge draw for anyone who wants to relocate to a beautiful and unspoilt part of the UK. Cornwall is packed with the best areas to enjoy both rural isolation and coastal calm. Though if it’s urban sprawl you want, England’s most Southwesterly county is not for you!

Can you commute from Cornwall?

If you do want somewhere to live that enables you to commute to Bristol or even London, but you crave peace and glorious landscapes, Cornwall could be the ideal retreat.

Especially now remote working is the norm, superfast broadband has arrived and you can hop on speedy trains to cut across the South of England for meetings.

If you do need to get to the rest of the UK regularly, the best places to live in Cornwall may well be along the A30, which is the arterial road that takes you to the M5. House hunting around Launceston, Bodmin and even as far down as Truro could help you to cut travel time by road.

Where to live with families

As Cornwall is such a magical location for child-friendly holidays, many people who relocate here find the nicest places to live with a family are along the county’s glorious coast.

Among the most popular residential areas is St Ives, a beautiful seaside town. It is a popular tourist destination, with its sandy beaches, clear waters and picturesque streets. However, St Ives is also a great place to live for families. There are plenty of activities for children of all ages, from swimming and surfing to exploring the town's many shops and cafes. The community is friendly and welcoming, and there are plenty of schools and parks in the area, for example the Outstanding rated Holywell CofE Primary School. In addition, the town has excellent transport links to the rest of Cornwall, making it easy to get around.

Nearby Carbis Bay and Hayle are also popular, but many folk dream of settling in Rock and Padstow, or around Mawgan Porth, Port Isaac Bay and Bude.

The top spot for holidays in Cornwall tends to be Newquay, so it can be one of the best places to live if you want abundant things to do during your evenings and weekends!

Town life Cornish style

Cornwall’s bigger towns and relocation hotspots are starting to offer a wider range of property types to attract new residents rather than people buying second homes.

You can find classy and even quirky housing developments in places like St Austell, Falmouth, Camborne, Penzance and Newlyn.

Best areas ‘off grid'

One of the things Cornwall does best is protecting its beautiful seascapes and rural splendours from the encroachment of over-enthusiastic developers. However, there are still impressive homes tucked away in some of its more remote ‘corners’.

Also, anyone moving to Cornwall to escape should consider putting down roots in one of the county’s timeless villages. For example, according to the poet, Dylan Thomas, Mousehole is 'the loveliest village in England'.

You may also want to look at Cornish cottages in places like Veryan in the heart of the Roseland Peninsula. You’re not far from the stunning coastline, but you are likely to see less tourist activity in the summer months if you settle inland.

A further example of where to live in Cornwall if you want a quiet life is St. Minver. It’s on the Northern coast, and like many of the county’s villages, it has its own school and local services, but it is wonderfully tranquil.

How remote is too remote?

One thing to keep in mind when finding the best places to live in Cornwall is that an area that is superb for holidays is not always the ideal place for year-round living. For example, some coastal locations get battered in winter and those ‘characterful’ country lanes become a nightmare when it’s icy!

Fortunately, even quiet residential locations in this stunningly beautiful part of the world have lots of local amenities, such as quintessential Cornish pubs, corner shops and lively communities!

If you're looking for places to live in Cornwall, browse all the best places to live in Cornwall at NewBaseNewLife today.

Map of Cornwall locations