Top Newquay Cultural Tours

A natural harbor, Cornwall’s Padstow has thousands of years of history, but guidebooks don’t explore it in any depth. Join a Padstow local to unpick this beautiful town’s long story—from St. Petroc to smugglers, sailors, fishermen, and traders—on a gentle walking tour. As it’s a small group, there’s a relaxed pace and a mellow vibe, with plenty of time for questions as you stroll.

Go behind the scenes of the British TV drama series “Doc Martin” on a walking tour of Port Isaac in Cornwall. Along the way, enjoy stories about the show and its actors from your guide and get taken to filming locations from the show that you might have missed if exploring the area alone.

Cornwall’s north coast has always been shaped by its relationship with the Atlantic. On this self-guided coastal audio tour, you’ll discover how Newquay became Cornwall’s premier surfing destination – and how it still maintains deep connections to its ancient past. You’ll explore cliff-top paths where Bronze Age settlers once traded tin across Europe, and learn how smugglers, saints, and surfers have all left their mark on these golden shores. You’ll learn how Celtic saints arrived by boat in the 5th century, bringing Christianity to these pagan shores, and how pilchards once fueled Cornwall’s economy before modern fishing practices changed everything. You’ll also find out how local fishermen once resisted the hotel’s construction, even pushing the foreman’s hut into the Atlantic during its controversial beginnings. The tour ends at the Barrowfields, ancient burial mounds dating back over 3,000 years, where Bronze Age traders once gazed out at the same ocean you’ll be admiring.

Port Isaac is one of Cornwall's most photographed fishing villages, and it's easy to see why television came calling. On this self-guided audio tour, you'll follow in the footsteps of the famously grumpy Dr. Martin Ellingham through the real streets of Portwenn, discovering how this working harbour village became one of Britain's best-loved TV locations. The tour starts near the South West Coast Path entrance, where you'll head down Fore Street Hill into the heart of the village. Along the way, you'll spot Louisa's various houses from different series, Mrs Tishell's pharmacy, which relocated several times across the show's 10 series, and the Victorian schoolhouse where Louisa taught, with its sweeping views across the harbour to the Doc's surgery beyond. The tour ends at Fern Cottage, the iconic surgery exterior that launched a thousand photographs – a private residence, so you'll want to stay on the road, but unmistakable from the moment you see it.