Cornwall averages around 156 rainy days per year. That is not a typo. Even in July and August, you can expect a week’s worth of wet weather. The good news is that the county has far more going on indoors than most visitors realise — and some of the best experiences here actually work better when it is chucking it down outside.
This guide covers indoor activities right across Cornwall, from Penzance in the far west to Launceston near the Devon border. If you are staying in Newquay specifically, we also have a dedicated rainy day guide for Newquay with more localised picks.
Museums and Galleries
Tate St Ives
The Tate St Ives gallery sits right on Porthmeor Beach, and ironically the views from inside are most dramatic when storms roll in. The gallery rotates its exhibitions regularly, mixing international modern art with work from the St Ives school of artists who made this town famous — Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Terry Frost. Adult tickets cost £15.50 (£14 without Gift Aid donation), and under-18s get in free. Open daily 10am to 5:20pm from March to October. Allow 2 hours minimum, then walk around to the Barbara Hepworth Museum on the same ticket.
National Maritime Museum Cornwall, Falmouth
The National Maritime Museum in Falmouth is one of the best museums in the South West, full stop. The main hall houses an enormous collection of boats suspended from the ceiling — small sailing dinghies through to historic vessels. The Lookout tower on the top floor gives 360-degree harbour views even in foul weather. Adults pay £19, children under 18 are £10, and under-5s go free. Your ticket doubles as an annual pass, which makes a return visit a no-brainer. Pre-booking online gets you a 10% discount.
Cornwall Museum & Art Gallery, Truro
Formerly the Royal Cornwall Museum, this Truro institution covers Cornish history from ancient minerals and fossils to a significant fine art collection. Entry is £5 for adults — that gets you an annual pass — and under-18s are free. The geology gallery alone is worth an hour if you have any interest in Cornwall’s mining heritage. It is right in the city centre, so you can combine it with a coffee at one of Truro’s covered lanes.
Charlestown Shipwreck Museum
The Shipwreck Treasure Museum in the harbour village of Charlestown houses artefacts from over 150 shipwrecks around the Cornish coast. Adult tickets are £10.50, children aged 5-17 pay £7.50, and under-5s are free. It is a genuinely fascinating collection — cannon, coins, diving equipment, personal effects — and the tunnels connecting the exhibition spaces add to the atmosphere. No need to pre-book.
Underground Adventures
Eden Project, St Austell
The Eden Project near St Austell is Cornwall’s most visited attraction for a reason. The two massive biomes — Rainforest and Mediterranean — are entirely enclosed, so rain is irrelevant once you are inside. The Rainforest Biome alone covers 1.56 hectares and maintains temperatures around 30°C, so you will forget about Cornish drizzle quickly. Tickets start from £38 for adults, under-5s go free, and pre-booking is essential during school holidays. Budget a full day here.
Carnglaze Caverns, Liskeard
Carnglaze Caverns near Liskeard takes you into a series of man-made slate caverns carved out over 300 years ago. The deepest cavern contains a subterranean lake with an eerie blue-green glow. It is naturally cool underground (around 10°C year-round), so bring a jumper even in summer. Adults pay £10, children aged 3-15 are £6, and under-3s are free. The self-guided tour takes about 45 minutes. The caverns also host concerts and events in the evenings — worth checking their programme.
Poldark Mine, Wendron
Poldark Mine near Helston has been a popular underground attraction for decades, taking visitors into 18th-century tin mine workings with guided tours. The site also houses a heritage museum covering Cornish mining history. At the time of writing, the mine is temporarily closed while the operators work on resolving the significant costs of pumping the underground workings. Check their status before planning a visit — contact sales@cda.email for updates. If it has reopened by the time you read this, it is well worth the trip.
Geevor Tin Mine, Pendeen
Geevor Tin Mine near St Just is a real former working mine that closed in 1990. The underground tour takes you into the 18th-century tunnels — hard hats provided — and the museum above covers the social history of Cornish mining in proper depth. Adults pay around £16 for the full experience including the underground tour, or £13 for museum only. Children aged 4+ are £9. Part of the site is outdoors, but the underground sections and main museum building will fill a solid 3 hours regardless of weather.
Family-Friendly Indoor Activities
Bodmin Jail
Bodmin Jail in Bodmin has been transformed from a derelict Victorian prison into an immersive attraction. The self-guided tour uses theatrical sets, projections, and audio to walk you through the jail’s 180-year history — including its use as a naval store during WWI. Adult tickets are £16, children aged 8-15 pay £9.50, and family tickets start at £36. They also run paranormal evening experiences from £15 for anyone who wants to up the intensity. Allow 90 minutes to 2 hours for the main tour.
Wheal Martyn, St Austell
Wheal Martyn tells the story of Cornwall’s china clay industry — the white pyramidal spoil heaps you see dotted around mid-Cornwall. The indoor museum covers the industrial process and social history, with interactive exhibits that work well for older children. Adults pay £16.50 and children from £7. Some of the site is outdoors in the old clay works, but the museum and galleries are fully covered. Cornwall residents with PL postcodes can get discounted annual passes.
Healeys Cornish Cyder Farm
Healeys Cornish Cyder Farm — the home of Rattler cider — sits between Truro and Newquay near the village of Penhallow. General entry to the farm is free. Self-guided tours of the production halls, museum, and distillery are available, with over 60 tastings in the tasting room. Guided tours and experiences range from £16 to £75 depending on the package. Children aged 0-4 get free self-guided tour entry. It is one of the few wet-weather activities where adults might enjoy themselves more than the kids.
History and Heritage
Jamaica Inn, Bodmin Moor
Jamaica Inn sits on the exposed stretch of the A30 across Bodmin Moor near Bolventor — exactly the kind of bleak, windswept spot you would expect from a Daphne du Maurier novel. The 18th-century coaching inn inspired her 1936 smuggling thriller of the same name, and the building leans into that heritage hard. The Smugglers Museum (£3.95 entry, free for hotel guests) fills several rooms with artefacts, stories, and reconstructions of Cornwall’s smuggling past. There is also a small Daphne du Maurier exhibition with three rooms of memorabilia. The pub serves food and Cornish ales, so you can make an afternoon of it — the inn sits roughly halfway between Bodmin and Launceston, making it a natural stop on a cross-county drive.
King Arthur’s Great Halls, Tintagel
Tucked behind the main street in Tintagel, King Arthur’s Great Halls is an oddity in the best sense. Built in the 1930s by a millionaire custard magnate, the hall contains 73 stained glass windows depicting the Arthurian legend and a granite throne carved from Bodmin Moor stone. Adults £8, children £5, family tickets £20. Open March to October, 10am to 5pm. It is not a major time commitment — 30 to 45 minutes covers it — but it pairs well with Tintagel Castle (weather permitting) or the village’s cafes when it does not.
Pendennis Castle, Falmouth
Pendennis Castle in Falmouth is an English Heritage site built by Henry VIII in 1540. The main keep and Tudor gun deck are under cover, and the WWII-era command post and guard rooms are fully indoor. Standard English Heritage admission applies — free for members, otherwise around £15 for adults. The castle saw active service right up to World War II, and the exhibits do a solid job of covering 400 years of coastal defence without resorting to dry information panels.
Drink and Food Experiences
Skinner’s Brewery Tour, Truro
Skinner’s Brewery in Truro runs guided tours of their brewing operation. Skinner’s produces well-known Cornish ales including Betty Stogs and Lushingtons. Tours typically last around 90 minutes and include tastings. It is worth booking ahead as group sizes are limited. A good option for a rainy afternoon in Truro, and you can walk back into town afterwards for dinner.
Cornish Food and Drink Trail
When it rains, eat. Cornwall’s food scene is among the strongest in the UK, and many of the best experiences are indoors. Padstow alone has Rick Stein’s empire, Paul Ainsworth at No. 6, and Prawn on the Lawn all within a few hundred metres of each other. Falmouth and Truro both have covered markets worth browsing, and a rainy afternoon cream tea — jam first, obviously — is practically a rite of passage.
Escape Rooms, Bowling and Cinema
Cornwall has a decent spread of indoor entertainment beyond museums and heritage sites. Escape rooms have appeared across the county in recent years — Eureka Escapes operates in both Newquay and Penzance, Enigma Escape runs themed rooms in Truro (including a 90-minute horror experience not suitable for under-13s), and Kernow Escape covers Falmouth. Sessions typically run 60 minutes and cost around £20 per person.
For cinema, the Plaza in Truro is an independent with 4 screens, while Newquay and Penzance both have multiplexes. The Merlin Cinema chain runs several smaller venues across the county, including Helston — worth knowing about if you are staying on the Lizard.
Bowling options are thinner on the ground. Newquay has Holywell Bay Fun Park with 10-pin bowling, and Bodmin Leisure Park has lanes alongside a cinema and restaurants. Neither will win architectural awards, but on a wet afternoon with restless kids, they do the job.
Indoor Pools and Leisure Centres
If the sea is too rough or the rain too heavy for the beach, Cornwall has 14 public leisure centres with indoor pools. Truro Leisure Centre has a 25-metre, 6-lane pool along with a learner pool. Newquay Leisure World offers a standard 25-metre pool plus a tropical fun pool — useful for families with younger children. The Sir Ben Ainslie Sports Centre near Truro has a 25-metre pool available for public swimming sessions. Most centres are run by Better (formerly GLL) and offer day passes without requiring membership.
Planning Tips for Wet Weather Days
Rain in Cornwall tends to come in bands off the Atlantic, moving west to east. The far west (Penzance, St Ives) often clears first, while the north coast around Bude can stay wet longest. A useful trick: check the rain radar rather than the daily forecast. You might only need to fill 2-3 hours indoors before the weather shifts.
Many of these attractions offer annual passes — the Eden Project, National Maritime Museum, and Wheal Martyn all convert your day ticket into a year pass. If you visit Cornwall more than once a year, or you are staying for a fortnight, that annual pass will pay for itself.
The A30 and A39 connect most of these locations, and nothing on this list is more than 90 minutes’ drive from anywhere else in Cornwall. Even on a rainy day, you have options.
For more Newquay-specific indoor activities — including Blue Reef Aquarium and more — check our full rainy day guide for Newquay.
