The key points in brief…

No time to read our whole review now? Here are the headlines:

• Well-equipped, comfortable and beautifully furnished family friendly holiday accommodation with options to suit all group sizes and requirements
• Daily animal feeding at Bosinver is a joyful, wholesome and memorable experience which the kids just won’t want to miss
• There’s so much to do you might not need to see much of the surrounding area.. from Bosinver’s indoor heated swimming pool, games room and soft play to outdoor activities including Forest School sessions, multiple play areas, tennis courts, trampoline, Gruffalo trail, farm walks and more
• When you do fancy a day trip there are a wealth of beautiful beaches and seaside villages on your doorstep, as well as popular family friendly attractions like the Eden Project
• Parents are brilliantly catered for as well as their children: from the myriad small helpful touches within the holiday cottages to options like frozen ready meals and babysitting
• Our biggest and most reassuring revelation from this visit: Bosinver remains as brilliant for older kids as it is for little ones. Our teenagers loved everything about our visit, proving this really is a family friendly stay for everyone.

Our holiday cottage accommodation

Our accommodation for the week was Polclay: a two bedroom, four bed property in the heart of Bosinver Farm. It’s an inviting, characterful stone cottage near many of the site’s facilities – the play barn, swimming pool, outdoor play areas and animal feeding area – and there’s parking right outside.

We loved the house and its quirky original features like low beamed ceilings and wood-burning stove set in a granite fireplace; and although there wasn’t loads of spare space for everyone to spread out, we really enjoyed the sense of closeness the open-plan living provided. The beds and sofas were really comfortable and the newly-renovated kitchen was well-equipped with everything we needed.

We’ve stayed at Bosinver a few times before so have enjoyed a variety of property sizes and styles: from cosy Pentree (right next to the soft play barn so perfect for those with toddlers); relaxed Jacks Barn (eight beds, dog friendly and now with its own private hot tub!); and impressive Lowen, an eight person eco-cottage with superb views.

There are twenty holiday cottages in all, spread throughout the farm and each offering a unique version of the Bosinver experience – pet friendly, cottages with a view, private hot tub, accessible entrances – are all possible. Farmhouse, sleeping 12, is the biggest property at Bosinver and one which is very much on our must-visit list for the future!

Family friendly activities and amenities

There was so much to enjoy during our stay at Bosinver that it’s hard to know where to start..

Animal feeding

Every morning at 9.30am Bosinver guests assemble at the farm gates to meet Farmer Dave and help with a variety of farm activities – feeding the hens, chickens, sheep, goats and guinea pigs; collecting eggs for breakfast; and on some days, enjoying a ride on one of the friendly resident ponies Crystal and Ginger. Everything starts with the younger visitors clambering over the farm gates and a brief wait for the cockerel to sound its morning cock-a-doodle-do greeting. It’s a gorgeous, wholesome experience for all the family – kids, teens, adults and grandparents all join in – and a really memorable way to start each day.

Swimming

We love the indoor heated pool at Bosinver. It’s big, warm, super clean and a great place to let off steam when the weather’s not great. There are also great views over the surrounding countryside and a lovely outdoor terrace for sunny days. Your stay at Bosinver includes several pre-booked swimming sessions where you’ll have the entire place to yourselves, plus there are two additional shared open slots each day when anyone can go along. We did both and never found more than a handful of other families there, nor did it make any difference anyway as there’s plenty of room to spread out. The facilities include changing rooms and showers, though we’d mostly just wander down from our cottage in our towels!

Wild Kids

Once a week Bosinver runs Wild Kids club sessions, and we gently encouraged our three children to attend. Despite some initial reservations they might be ‘too old’, our parental instinct was in fact correct and they had a fabulous 90 minutes in the woods under the supervision of Forest School Leader Tatum building dens (thoroughly tested with a bucket of water) and toasting marshmallows over homemade fires.

Tennis

Bosinver offers its own full-size tennis court, with rackets and balls provided. We enjoyed a couple of family matches, though the less said about the standard of our play the better. Like most of the facilities at Bosinver, the views over the neighbouring valleys are incredible and the courts are meticulously well kept.

Gym

Next to the tennis courts is a well-equipped gym (again with those views!) with running machine, bike, cross trainer and free weights. This was popular with parents, including us, throughout our stay.

Indoor play

We enjoyed regular visits to Bosinver’s games room which has a pool table, table tennis, table football and various other activities ideal for slightly older children.

There’s a separate soft play barn too, which – sadly for us – our kids are now a bit too old for. But on previous visits to Bosinver we’ve spent many a happy hour relaxing on the sofa here (usually with a G&T in hand) as our then little ones enjoyed making full use of the bespoke climbing frame, slide, ride-on toys and more.

Outdoor play

Bosinver is generously equipped for outdoor play, with a play area featuring (of course) a wooden tractor and combine harvester along with swings, an epic Wendy house and an enormous trampoline. Elsewhere, near the lake (where fishing is also possible) there’s a zip wire, large slide and climbing walls to explore.

Countryside to explore

There are 30 acres of farm to explore at Bosinver, including woods, lakes and fields. We enjoyed making the most of this – not least as an opportunity to get the PFS dog out – including the Gruffalo Trail and taking in some of the adventure play equipment as we went. There are also several family friendly walks you can embark on right from your cottage doorstep, including a favourite of ours which happens to take you to the nearby local pub, the Polgooth Inn.

Days out nearby

When we’d finally convinced ourselves to leave the farm and explore a bit more of Cornwall, our focus was on visiting some of the many delightful beaches within easy reach. Despite it being winter, we were lucky with the weather and so managed quite a few (often bracing) seaside strolls with the dog. It was usually busy even at this time of year, and it was evident how perfect these spots would be in the sunnier summer months for sandcastle building, swimming and sunbathing!

We took in both the north and south coasts of Cornwall, particularly enjoying the following:

🌊 Pentewan Beach: over half a mile of sandy beach, and with a family friendly Hub Box restaurant for tasty burgers and chips

🌊 Perranporth: huge, sweeping sandy beaches – very popular on New Years’ Day – and some great sea-view cafes like our favourite, the cliff-side Alcatraz

🌊 Porthcurnick Beach: a sandy cove on the Roseland Peninsula, plus the incredible Hidden Hut cafe serving seasonal food from its outdoor kitchen

🌊 Gorren Haven Beach: a popular (though quiet when we visited) sandy beach with a cliff-top walk to nearby mile-long Vault Beach, also similarly beautiful and we had the place to ourselves! No cafes at this one though..

We considered visiting the world-famous Eden Project during our stay though ran out of time to fit this in in the end. The popular complex is only a fifteen minute drive away from Bosinver, making it an easy trip for another time.

The little parent friendly touches

There are numerous other things we could flag which really helped ensure our Bosinver holiday feel like a genuinely parent friendly, as well as child friendly, break:

• the complimentary cream cake and bottle of fizz which were awaiting our arrival
• the handy laundry room ensuring we didn’t return home with too many dirty clothes
• delicious frozen homemade meals available to buy in reception – we’d recommend the lamb meatballs!
• a cottage full of useful supplies meaning we didn’t need to buy them ourselves (bin bags, dishwasher tablets and so on)
• reliable WiFi
• recommendations for experienced local babysitters if you fancy a night out
• all the baby and toddler equipment you might need (or in our case, a fitted stair gate to help stop the dog visiting places he shouldn’t!)
• a luxurious therapy room for on-site spa treatments

In summary..

This is a genuinely superb place for a family holiday and we’re struggling to think of anything which would make the cottages and facilities more parent friendly than they already are.  Bosinver recently won Gold at the 2025/26 Cornwall Tourism Awards for Best Self Catering in Cornwall, and we can absolutely understand why.

With four visits under our belt over the last ten years – and active plans now to book a fifth! – it’s probably quite obvious that we would honestly recommend Bosinver to anyone seeking a family holiday in Cornwall.

A final thought: we knew from previous visits how perfect Bosinver is for those with toddlers and young kids. The biggest revelation from our most recent stay was discovering Bosinver is just as brilliant for older children (in our case aged between 11 and 15) too. Our teens loved everything from the animal feeding to the swimming, tennis, gym and more – proving this magical place really is perfect for every family.

To book your own stay, visit our full listing or Bosinver’s own website directly for up-to-date prices and availability.