Surrounding the Town is gently rolling peaceful countryside,
the river valleys are often wooded, and the rivers and streams always unpolluted.
Small hamlets and villages dot the area.
Many of these are worth a visit in their own right.
Most have their own pretty parish churches,
for example St Briochus , Lezant, or Lawhitton with its Norman Tower.
To the west lies Bodmin Moor , with its wind swept granite tors, its isolated farmsteads, and sheltered villages .
Dozmary Pool where King Arthur tossed his sword Excaliber, and the Jamaica Inn, an Old Smugglers Haunt.
 Head 15 miles North and you reach the storm tossed Atlantic Coast,
charming coastal resorts such as Boscastle, Trebarwith and Crackington Haven, high cliffs,
and the beaches of Widemouth Bay and Bude
Head South into the Tamar Valley and the country lanes become narrow the hedgebanks higher .
The vally, now officially designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is riddled with ivy covered ruins ,
all that remains of a 18th Century mining heyday when the Area was the Copper Capital of the World.
Providing the only crossing points of the River Tamar
for many centuries are several impressive arch bridges,
all of which date back to the 15th century or earlier,
these were financed from 40 day indulgences granted by the Abbot of Tavistock Abbey,
such as the beautiful Greystones Bridge, 3 miles out of the Town , and Horsebridge,
2 miles furthur downstream, both completed in 1437.
When the monasteries were dissolved in 1520 the era of fine masonry bridge building came to a close .
Not forgetting the 17th Century Inn at Horsebridge
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Many of these are worth a visit in their own right.
Most have their own pretty parish churches,
for example St Briochus , Lezant, or Lawhitton with its Norman Tower.
To the west lies Bodmin Moor , with its wind swept granite tors, its isolated farmsteads, and sheltered villages .
Dozmary Pool where King Arthur tossed his sword Excaliber, and the Jamaica Inn, an Old Smugglers Haunt.
