Rame

The Rame Peninsula is often called “Cornwall’s forgotten corner,” and once you visit it’s easy to see why people who know it would rather keep it that way. This remote headland juts out into the English Channel between Plymouth Sound and Whitsand Bay, largely bypassed by the traffic heading further west down the A38. The landscape here is a mix of high cliffs, hidden coves, rolling farmland and tiny villages that feel like they belong to a different decade.

Rame Head itself is a dramatic promontory topped with the ruins of a medieval chapel, with views stretching from the Eddystone Lighthouse to Bolt Tail in Devon. Whitsand Bay — three miles of beach backed by unstable cliffs — is one of the most dramatic stretches of coast in south-east Cornwall, popular with surfers and often nearly empty. The twin villages of Kingsand and Cawsand, tucked into a sheltered bay on the east side of the peninsula, have a colourful, slightly bohemian character with independent galleries, cafes and a strong community feel.

The peninsula is close to Plymouth — you can see the city across the water — but feels remarkably isolated. Mount Edgcumbe Country Park, with its formal gardens and deer park, is the main formal attraction. Otherwise, it’s about coast path walks, quiet beaches and the kind of stillness that most of Cornwall lost to tourism decades ago. Getting here involves narrow lanes and a deliberate decision to seek it out, which is exactly what keeps it special.