For the last weekend in the summer holidays, before the children went back to school, we organised a budget-friendly weekend away to Helston in Cornwall. Me and Ben were keen to explore the Loe Bar which is an amazing natural place in Cornwall where there’s a large freshwater lake separated from the sea with just a small strip of sand, so on one side of the sand is a lake and on the other is the ocean!
Rather than just visit for a day, and thinking the kids wouldn’t be as excited about seeing this natural beauty as we were, we decided to turn it into a weekend away instead and take them to Flambards Theme Park which we hadn’t yet visited, as well as explore the town and nearby places.
We booked the Premier Inn in Helston which was super cheap (though I’m not sure I’d stay there again!) and explored Helston, Loe Bar, Porthleven and Praa Sands for two days.
If you’re wondering what you can get up to in Helston with kids for 48 hours, read on as I share our family travel itinerary.
CONTENTS:
- DAY ONE: Flambards Theme Park, Loe Bar and Porthleven
- DAY TWO: Helston Boating Lake and Praa Sands
- Our Family’s Short Break To Helston: Final Thoughts
DAY ONE: Flambards Theme Park, Loe Bar and Porthleven
We actually stayed away three nights, arriving late on Friday, around dinner time, and then leaving on Monday morning, so we had two full days to explore. On our first day, we managed to pack in not one, but three adventures! Here’s what we got up to:
First Stop… Flambards Theme Park
We hadn’t yet been to Flambards and we almost didn’t go as I’d looked online and it looked more suited to younger children. However, many reviews said it was suitable for ages 12 and under. Our kids were 12 years and 9 years old at the time, so perhaps it would be OK and the last year we could take our children for the full experience. Read on for my honest Flambards review as a first-timer and what we got up to!
It was really quiet when we arrived at opening time at 10am, so we managed to get on a lot of rides without queuing. We had the Rocking Tug Boat, Carousel, and Skyraker all to ourselves for our first rides!
The Rocking Tug Boat had me in stitches as I thought it would be like a pirate ship swinging forwards and backwards. It does do this, but then it comes off the tracks underneath and spins around too! It was unexpected and cracked me up!
The same thing happened on the Skyraker which also had my husband and I laughing so much and our daughter asking what was so funny! I’ve been on similar rides before, but I don’t remember those twisting, but just going up and dropping randomly. I love the feeling on these sorts of rides as it makes my belly “go”, like when you go over a small hill bridge too fast in a car! It’s a good belly feeling! But this ride twists around too, so we weren’t expecting it and my husband exclaimed “I don’t like it! What’s going on!” which had me in stitches and then him too, much to our daughter’s bewilderment.
These two rides were certainly our favourite rides of the day or rather half day that we spent at Flambards. The third ride we enjoyed to ourselves was the Carousel which felt a little odd riding this on our own. I guess the other rides felt a little strange too being the only people on them.
After enjoying these first few rides to ourselves, the park started to get a little busier which helped improve the atmosphere of the whole place.
The other rides we enjoyed were the Dodgems and the Go Karts which also left us with big smiles and lots of laughing during the experience. The Go Karts are an additional £5 per Go Kart, but all the other rides are included in the entry price.
Entry is £15 per person. Apparently it used to be higher, but there are several popular and large rides that have shut down, so they have reduced the ticket price to reflect this.
It’s a sign of the park really, if I’m honest. Much of the park seems old and tired and in some serious need of updating. Although there are a few rides for older children, adults and teenagers, I would agree with the reviews I had read before our visit that most of the park and rides are suited to under 12s. We were also able to complete our visit in half a day, leaving satisfied that we’d had plenty of turns on the rides and not feeling like we needed to stay any longer. They definitely need some more rides, and rides for older children and adults in particular.
Other highlights were the log flume ride, perfect for a sunny day, but perhaps another water ride would be a good idea, or even a wet splash-pad area could increase the park’s appeal for locals and visitors in the summer months. My husband had a go on Demon Drop which is the craziest death slide we have ever seen. He was shaking after and said it was the scariest slide he’d ever been on!
The indoor play area was only for younger children, so while our 9-year-old was still within the height range, our 12-year-old wasn’t, so we didn’t explore the indoor soft play even though they were both keen to explore. We’ve been to many other indoor soft plays (mainly in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire) where there are large indoor soft play and adventure areas with sections for various ages and large slides with sacks that even we adults can race down with the kids. It would be great to see something like this at Flambards making it better for all ages and giving something to do indoors on rainy days in Cornwall for the whole family.
We avoided the Thunderdome waltzers as my husband and I are not good with very spinny rides, but if you like this popular fairground ride then they await you! There were also many other rides we were all simply too big for, even my 9-year-old, as they have lots for younger children. We did all squeeze onto the Dino Express for fun, and the kids squeezed into the Cornwall Eye to have a go!
Some rides and areas seemed in need of updating such as the Carousel, Cyclocopters and the Jurrasic Journey (the cave area in particular, and the ride too).
There are some more activities there too, other than the rides. There’s a mini golf area which is free. An outdoor adventure playground (I think another one would be great in another area too outdoors to add more interest to the park). There’s an arcade which needs some major updating (two machines stole our money and didn’t work, but there were no attendants around to talk to. The 2p machines have a lot to be desired in terms of the prizes on offer as they weren’t very enticing to want to win. Many machines and the change machine weren’t working.)
One of the main and unexpected attractions of the venue, which probably is the best, but so bizarre it’s at this theme park, is the Blitz Museum and Victorian Village. There’s also a random collection of wedding dresses and prams through the ages. All quite random to have at what is predominantly a funfair type theme park, but surprisingly I actually would have enjoyed exploring these more as they were so interesting, but our kids found it super boring and didn’t want to look around these, so we were dragged out!
These could definitely be an attraction in their own right. Maybe when the children are older, they’d be happy going on the older rides and mini golf by themselves, while my husband and I can have a good look around these museums and installations.
Overall, we had a good time at Flambards, but felt there was a lot that could be improved and added to the park to make it a full fun-filled family day out. It’s good value though, for the amount of rides you can get on, at £15 per person it’s better value than funfairs nowadays. We just thought there would be more. We had our fill in just a few hours.
Oh, we’d love to see some vegan food offerings too in the burger bar and the pizza place and perhaps we would have stayed for lunch too!
Peaceful and Natural Beauty at Loe Bar
As we spent a lot less time at Flambards than originally planned, we went and picked up some meal deals from Sainsbury’s supermarket which was right next door, and decided to visit Loe Bar rather than wait until the next day, which had been our original plan.
Amazingly, when we arrived at Loe Bar, we were the only people there! The peacefulness made for an extra serene setting for our picnic with picturesque backdrops all around. The lake was so calming and still, and the sea had soothing lapping waves.
The rocky plant-covered cliffs on the beach, countryside and cliffs in the distance reminded me somehow of our trip to Salema in Portugal and the coastline. Hopefully, we will return to explore more of Portugal next year!
We set up our picnic rug on the beach at Loe Bar and enjoyed our food with not a soul in sight. Well, until we left when a lone fisherman set up on the beach.
I was surprised it was so quiet, but it’s a strictly no bathing zone as the sea is the most dangerous with its currents in Cornwall at this beach. Also, there’s only a small car park and the area is managed by National Trust, but at this particular spot there are no facilities or cafe, so perhaps people are more drawn to other beaches nearby such as Praa Sands which we decided to explore on day two.
Surprisingly Impressed by Porthleven Harbour
As we started to think about dinner time and what to do next, as we didn’t fancy sitting in the Premier Inn room for longer than we had to(!), we decided to pop to Porthleven which was a Cornish village/town we could see from Loe Bar.
Wow, I really loved Porthleven and our short visit to this harbour village has inspired me to return one day for a longer stay, the children too.
It’s the most southerly port in England and the main feature is the harbour. It’s a large harbour with lots of colourful boats, but also they allow swimming in the harbour in designated areas and I loved they even provided hooks for swimmers to hang their towels! The kids are very keen to go back so they can jump into and swim within the harbour.
The harbour was bustling with activity during our short visit as it’s surrounded by no end of eateries, many with outdoor seating to admire the views. It felt friendly, safe and full of life! It felt a great place to be on a warm summer evening for a bite to eat and some drinks in good company. It reminded me so much of holidays abroad and the evening culture, with being outdoors, something that we don’t often see or feel in the UK with our unpredictable summer climate.
Porthleven also has its own beach, with a picturesque church building as a backdrop. There were many wonderful and unique shops to window browse as it was evening time. We purchased some vegan fudge (salted caramel and chocolate-coated vanilla) from a vendor on the side of the harbour and enjoyed some drinks from one of the restaurants on their harbourside seating.
From dining to harbour swimming, beach days to shopping, we were all inspired to return here one day for a much longer explore. I’ve barely been there, but it already feels like one of my favourite places in Cornwall. Porthleven, we will be back!
DAY TWO: Helston Boating Lake and Praa Sands
After a jampacked first day on our Helston two-day trip, what to get up to on day two? We’d already explored Loe Bar which was our plan for the second day and we’d even squeezed in a surprise visit to Porthleven. For day two, we knew the children needed some more fun activities to round off their summer holidays, so we took them for a walk from Helston Premier Inn where we were staying, through Helston town to the boating lake. Here’s what we did on our second day in Helston with kids:
Swan Pedalo Fun at Helston Boating Lake
For our first adventure of day two, we walked through Helston town to Coronation Boating Lake and Park. We had promised the children could look in some shops, but it was Sunday and everything was shut! Being a small Cornish town, the shops were not open aside from a pound stretcher type of store and a Costa, so they convinced me to get them hot chocolates instead!
We continued to the boating lake where we enjoyed a stroll around and the children had a short play in the adventure playground before we hired a swan pedalo for a fun ride on the boating lake! There’s even a flamingo pedalo if you prefer or kayaks too! It was £15 for us to hire a pedalo for 30 minutes and great fun.
Even the kids had a go at pedalling and it wasn’t too hard at all. In comparison, we’ve hired pedalos at Newquay Boating Lake a couple of times and they always seem so stuff to pedal it’s like a proper workout! The swans at Helston Boating Lake were much easier to and lighter to pedal through the water.
I don’t know if it’s a regular attraction, but there was also a bouncy castle set up and human hamster wheel zorb balls for the children in an enclosed area. I’ve never had a go on these before, though I have heard of people (adults) zorbing down hills in these which sounds quite scary if not thrilling! The kids loved the look of them so we let them have a go! It was hilarious!
As you have to fully get in the blown-up inflatable human-sized ball (zorb), our 9-year-old was a bit scared and cautious at first yelping “It’s hot! I don’t like it” when he first got in, but the attendant rolled him, which I thought might make him freak even more, but he actually relaxed and worked out how to run (roll) around in it and had great pleasure bumping into his older sister who was in her own zorb.
Other attractions and facilities at the lake in Helston include bike hire, though I thought the prices were a little steep, a cafe and an ice cream hut from which the children enjoyed slushies after their zorb experience as they were very hot and sweaty!
Picnic and Walk Along Praa Sands
Praa Sands is aptly named for my son who shortens the word pretty to “pra” all the time, and Praa Sands is a picturesque location, particularly at the far lefthand side as you look out to sea where you can escape the crowds and hustle and bustle. After visiting the boating lake, we decided to grab a meal deal again for a picnic at a beach, this time from Tesco supermarket in Helston (mixing it up with the meal deals!).
We parked up at Praa Sands and had a short walk along the more crowded section of the beach in front of the cafes and restaurants, then headed to the left side of the beach to set up our picnic blanket away from the people in a quiet spot to ourselves. It was quite a chilly day so we didn’t get in the sea, but the lifeguards were out and there were a lot of people having fun in the water at Praa Sands.
We finished our trip with a walk to the far left side of the beach and then up the steps to the coastal path and along a road of the row of houses that lined the cliff, admiring the many beautiful houses and wondering what it would be like to live on the cliff’s edge.
Praa Sands Beach in Cornwall:
Our Family’s Short Break To Helston: Final Thoughts
Our weekend in Helston turned out to be the perfect balance of fun, adventure, and relaxation. From the exciting rides at Flambards to the serene beauty of Loe Bar, there was something for everyone. We especially loved the harbour at Porthleven, and we can’t wait to return for a longer visit to this destination in the future.
If you’re planning a short trip to Cornwall, Helston offers a lot for families looking to explore without breaking the bank. I’d recommend packing for all weathers, though, as Cornish weather can be unpredictable! We’ll definitely be back to discover more of this beautiful part of the world.
Discover more from Travel Vixta
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.