If you have three kids would you use public transport? If you’re hopping off for a weekend wouldn’t it take the whole weekend to get there? Can you really do Cornwall without the car?

I gave it a go — and travelled light. First was the flight to Newquay. Air Southwest gives you the benefit of two take-offs as they touch down in Plymouth first, take off again and land on a hill — sometimes clear of fog — in Newquay. Turbulence gives you the chance to re-evaluate your life. The 556 bus (which coincides with the arrival) then takes you straight to the sea and sand of Watergate Bay. So from Stansted to water can be one hour, ten minutes.

Newquay is often painted as home to extreme behaviour on a Saturday night but it pales into froth compared to Watergate Bay’s Extreme Academy. I was offered the chance of kitesurfing, mountain boarding, powerkiting, and waveski. The latter is basically surfboard-cum-canoe, and it may surprise you to know we have the world champion, the RAF’s Carl Coombes, teaching here. But I had a tall skinny latte instead in the beach hut with its view of the bay and the ever-changing sea.

Jumping on the 556 bus again I alight at Newquay’s bus station where I pick up the 90 bus via Truro to Falmouth (1hr 20min). This stops in Falmouth’s town centre where the National Maritime Museum is the main draw: make sure you climb the look out tower for good views over the harbour, docks and estuary. But this town is no museum and boats are still important.

Up until recently Falmouth ferries had a pretty lackadaisical (or “a very Cornish service,” as I heard somebody say) approach to timings and fares. This has changed with the Fal River Links and there is now a really superb service, which finally gives a decent link between the two parts of the South West Coastal Path, Falmouth and St Mawes.

Next day, I popped down to the Prince of Wales Pier and took the boat up to the beautiful Trelissick Gardens, a National Trust property with grounds of around 550 acres and gardens of 40 acres. Not being a great gardener — trees are big, leaves are green — I trundled off to the café where everything was very Cornish. Even the pasty ingredients all came from farms less than ten miles away. The only non-Cornish products in Trelissick are the rhododendrons brought back by sailors.

Back on another boat — where the Captain told us “if the boat sinks we’ll shout instructions from the shore” — and we turn the corner and stop off for lunch at Smugglers Cottage, a real old sailing pub. Every ship being refitted or repaired nearby leaves something in the bar.

The ferry picks me up and I arrive in Truro, from where I train to St Erth, then change to St Ives. That last leg from St Erth to St Ives is scenic and gives good views of the coast. Sit on the right side, engine forward. I spent a week in St Ives about ten years ago. It was also just out of season and the sun glistened on a small shoal of surfies feeding on the last waves of the summer. I came without a car then and it felt good. Out of season it is still beautiful and peaceful but things have changed.

Buckets and spades have been replaced with sun loungers and Piz Buin, shops selling seaside tat have turned into surfwear boutiques and chip shops are now haute cuisine. From battered cod to fruit de la mer in a decade. Having a coffee at the top of The Tate (entrance free to the café) and watching the waves roll in, and, yes, it’s food again.

Porthminister Café is on the beach, slightly outside the town. It’s relaxed but well-heeled with a picture of the sea that as night descends becomes sound picture. The crab tian, turbot in saffron with baby clams and baked maple custard with wild strawberry compote are fantastic and very fresh. Alba, a restaurant in the centre of the town, just opposite the life boat centre, is very modern, very chic but I was pleased to see parents with very young children made welcome. Line caught sea bass was succulent. After which I caught the 17b bus to Penzance where I settled into my berth on the night train. I slept soundly until the knock on the door at 6.30am with my croissant.

To sum up and be truthful, I missed the car for those remote country pubs where curious locals who “went to London once”, pump you full of questions; those rocky coves in the middle of nowhere, and the stretches of the South West Coastal Path where you meet no-one. But I gained a slowness which the surroundings deserved and a recognition that the way we travel is the trip, not just the destination. I’m probably very Cornish.

Need to know: Kieran Falconer travelled with Air Southwest which flies to Newquay from Stansted from. A return to Penzance from Paddington is available through First Trains.

Staying there: Greenbank Hotel, Falmouth has doubles from £100. Primrose Valley in St Ives has doubles from £55.

Reading: All Cornwall Public Transport Guide - free.

More information: For more ideas on holidays in Cornwall, see www.visitcornwall.org.uk

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