Newquay is the surf capital of England, though it started as something humbler. The name means new quay and goes back to the fifteenth century, when a harbour was built to replace an older one, and for a long time pilchards were the business. On the headland above the harbour stands the Huer's Hut, where a lookout watched for shoals and shouted to the fishermen through a megaphone. Victorians then brought the railway and the first visitors, and in the 1960s surfers arrived with boards from Australia and California.
Today the town is a mixture of cheerful surf culture and the noise of hen parties, with long golden beaches, Fistral and Watergate Bay among them, backed by hotels, caravan parks and cliff paths. In August the Boardmasters festival brings tens of thousands to the area, and the roads clog completely, so avoid that week unless you are going for the music. Outside the peak, it is much more pleasant, with a relaxed seaside atmosphere and good light on the water in the evenings.
The A39, the Atlantic Highway, is the long road that follows the north Cornish and Devon coast, and Newquay is a natural place to finish a day on it. The road itself is a mixture of fast open stretches over the high ground and slow sections through villages, with some lovely views of the sea and the headlands. Around Newquay, the A3058 and A392 are busy in summer and not much fun behind caravans, and the best riding is on the small roads north toward Padstow and Trevose Head, or south along the cliffs to Perranporth. Sea fog can drift in quickly and make the road slick.
With about twenty thousand people, Newquay has plenty of fuel, and every sort of food from pasties to fish and chips. Pasties are the right answer for a rider; buy one hot, eat it on the harbour wall, and watch the surfers. Parking a bike in the town centre is usually easy, though cheaper on the edges, and there are secure spots at several hotels.