Prices in

Seaside townsCornwall2026

Seaside Towns in Cornwall

St. Ives, Newquay and Penzance were the most booked of the 20 seaside towns in Cornwall on Airbnb in the 12 months to October 2026, with an estimated 24,123, 19,218 and 13,124 stays. August is the busiest month across them, and the typical stay is 5.3 nights.

Source: AirROI Reviewed by Jun Zhou, Founder @ AirROI Updated November 4, 2026

Figures are AirROI estimates. How they are made

Among the 9 towns with 200+ homes

Most booked of these 9: St. Ives 24,123 stays
Highest revenue per home of these 9: Padstow £27,861 a year
Highest rated of these 9: Perranzabuloe 4.88 out of 5
Lowest nightly rate of these 9: Penzance £168 a night
Longest typical stay of these 9: St. Merryn 6.2 nights

Ranking

Seaside Towns in Cornwall Ranked by Airbnb Stays

Every one of the seaside and coastal towns in Cornwall with 100 or more Airbnb homes and recent stays, most booked first.

Seaside Towns in Cornwall ranked by Airbnb stays, with homes, typical stay, busiest month, nightly rate, occupancy, revenue per home and guest rating

1	St. Ives	24,123	1,105	5.3 nights	August	£255	40%	£25,095	4.79
2	Newquay	19,218	917	5.5 nights	August	£223	41%	£22,748	4.85
3	Penzance	13,124	476	4.9 nights	August	£168	46%	£21,823	4.83
4	Falmouth	10,476	401	5.1 nights	August	£182	46%	£23,246	4.85
5	Perranzabuloe. Includes Perranporth.	6,705	307	5.2 nights	August	£176	42%	£21,217	4.88
6	Padstow	5,310	267	5.4 nights	July	£278	39%	£27,861	4.80
7	Looe	5,168	256	5.2 nights	August	£217	38%	£21,521	4.79
8	Hayle	4,262	230	6.1 nights	August	£169	42%	£18,161	4.83
9	St. Merryn	4,080	272	6.2 nights	August	£240	37%	£21,473	4.82
10	St Just	3,951	176	5.2 nights	August	£162	43%	£18,198	4.84
11	Fowey	3,774	167	5.7 nights	August	£262	42%	£30,648	4.84
12	Mevagissey	3,511	151	5.1 nights	August	£214	43%	£22,969	4.81
13	Port Isaac	3,057	151	5.1 nights	August	£202	37%	£18,652	4.83
14	Bude	2,956	133	6.0 nights	August	£226	44%	£25,389	4.89
15	St. Agnes	2,814	127	5.8 nights	August	£255	44%	£25,435	4.89
16	Tintagel	2,685	127	5.5 nights	August	£212	39%	£21,035	4.88
17	Porthleven	2,664	139	5.6 nights	August	£232	39%	£21,095	4.78
18	Breage	2,241	128	5.4 nights	August	£191	39%	£17,403	4.88
19	Porthtowan	1,864	100	5.3 nights	August	£252	39%	£21,315	4.84
20	Sennen	1,839	105	5.4 nights	August	£248	38%	£20,514	4.88

Figures are AirROI estimates for the 12 months to October 2026, and stays count Airbnb bookings only. Typical stay is a booking's length, occupancy the share of available nights booked, and revenue the yearly average per home, before costs. Guest rating is out of 5. Airbnb data files some places as one district or township, so Perranzabuloe and rows like it cover several towns.

Money figures on this page are in British pounds, converted from US dollars at £0.74 per US$, the typical rate from November 2025 to October 2026.

Town by town

Where the Top Towns Stand Out

7 of 8 are busiest in August. Padstow peaks in July. Among guests who left a review, London is the top home city in all 8. Houses are the largest home type in all 8. The lines below add what the table can't show, where one of the 8 most booked towns leads its peers or differs from the rest.

St. Ives
Of the 9 seaside towns in Cornwall with 200 or more homes, St. Ives had the most Airbnb homes, at 1,105, in the 12 months to October 2026.
Newquay
Of the 9 seaside towns in Cornwall with 200 or more homes, Newquay had the biggest share of apartments and condos, at 40%, in the 12 months to October 2026.
Penzance
Of the 9 seaside towns in Cornwall with 200 or more homes, Penzance had the lowest nightly rate, at £168, and had the biggest share from abroad among guests who left a review, at 31%, in the 12 months to October 2026.
5
Perranzabuloe
Of the 9 seaside towns in Cornwall with 200 or more homes, Perranzabuloe had the highest guest rating, at 4.88, in the 12 months to October 2026.
6
Padstow
Of the 9 seaside towns in Cornwall with 200 or more homes, Padstow had the highest nightly rate, at £278, and was booked furthest ahead, about 99 days before arrival, in the 12 months to October 2026.

When to go

Busiest and Quietest Months

August, July and September rank as the busiest months for Airbnb nights across the seaside towns in Cornwall, and February and January as the quietest. August is the busiest month in 19 of the 20, while Padstow peaks in July. Across the 20 towns, nightly rates run lowest in January and November, at about £197, and highest in August, at about £259. Across the 20 towns, stays run longest in July, at 6.2 nights, and shortest in December, at 4.4 nights.

August ranks first, January last

Airbnb months in calendar order. The number is the month's rank, and 1 is the busiest. The bar shows its part of Airbnb nights.

Three busiest months
Other months

Month by month: rank, typical stay and nightly rate

Months in Cornwall by rank
Rank	Month	Typical stay	Nightly rate
1	August	5.6 nights	£259
2	July	6.2 nights	£254
3	September	4.5 nights	£226
4	June	5.5 nights	£237
5	May	4.8 nights	£220
6	October	4.6 nights	£209
7	April	4.8 nights	£209
8	March	4.9 nights	£202
9	December	4.4 nights	£205
10	November	4.8 nights	£197
11	February	5.2 nights	£200
12	January	5.1 nights	£197

Who comes

Where Guests Come From

Among guests who left a review, 80% come from within the United Kingdom. Among those guests, the largest groups from abroad come from Germany, the United States and Australia. The top home cities among those guests are London, Bristol and Plymouth. Penzance draws the most from abroad, at 31%, among towns with 200 or more homes.

Top countries abroad

Among guests who left a review

Germany 4.6%
United States 3.1%
Australia 1.8%
France 1.5%

Top home cities

Among guests who left a review

80% from within the United Kingdom

London 9.8%
Bristol 2.7%
Plymouth 1.1%

The money view

Revenue, Occupancy and Nightly Rate

Among the 9 towns with 200 or more Airbnb homes, Padstow has the highest estimated revenue per home, at £27,861 a year. Of those 9, Falmouth and Penzance share the highest occupancy, at 46%, and Penzance has the lowest nightly rate on Airbnb, at £168. The most booked of the 20, St. Ives, earns about £25,095 per home.

Highest revenue per home of these 9

A year, AirROI estimate

Padstow £27,861
St. Ives £25,095
Falmouth £23,246
Newquay £22,748
Penzance £21,823

Highest occupancy of these 9

Nights booked, AirROI estimate

Lowest nightly rate of these 9

On Airbnb, AirROI estimate

Penzance £168
Hayle £169
Perranzabuloe £176
Falmouth £182
Looe £217

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most popular seaside town in Cornwall?

By AirROI's estimates, St. Ives is the most booked of the 20 seaside towns in Cornwall, with 24,123 Airbnb stays in the 12 months to October 2026. Newquay is second, with 19,218. This counts Airbnb bookings only.

What is the most affordable seaside town in Cornwall?

By AirROI's estimated nightly rate on Airbnb in the 12 months to October 2026, among seaside towns in Cornwall with 200 or more homes, the lowest are Penzance (£168), Hayle (£169) and Perranzabuloe (£176). That is the average asking price on booked nights, not what it costs to live or buy there.

What are some small seaside towns in Cornwall?

By AirROI's count of active Airbnb homes as of October 2026, the smallest of the 20 seaside towns it lists in Cornwall are Porthtowan (100), Sennen (105) and St. Agnes (127). AirROI's list starts at 100 homes, so smaller places are not on it.

What seaside towns in Cornwall offer the strongest Airbnb returns?

Returns depend on what a home costs to buy and run, which AirROI's figures do not cover. On AirROI's estimated revenue per home in the 12 months to October 2026, among seaside towns in Cornwall with 200 or more homes, the highest are Padstow (£27,861), St. Ives (£25,095) and Falmouth (£23,246). Among the same towns, Falmouth and Penzance share the highest occupancy, at 46%.

Method

How These Lists and Numbers Are Made

How a town gets on this list. A town needs 100 or more Airbnb homes with recent stays. A language model then judges the place from its name, state, country and coordinates, not from words in its name: it has to be on an ocean or sea coast with its own beach, seafront or harbour, or on a Great Lake with a public beach, and within about 10 km of the shore. The town's own listings can back that up, with 30% of its homes listing beach access, or 10% with ocean views, waterfront homes or beach in their titles besides. A town whose listings do not gets a second, stricter check, which asks whether people go there for that or mainly for something else. Big cities stay off. Corrections come last: places the checks got wrong are added or taken off, and rows that name one place are joined.

How the figures are made. Stays, occupancy, nightly rate and revenue are AirROI estimates built from Airbnb listing data, and cover Airbnb only. A town's stays are its bookings in the period, and the typical stay and busiest month come from the same data. Guest ratings, home sizes and how far ahead guests book are the latest figures in each town's AirROI data. Month ranks compare each month's part of Airbnb nights. Origin rests on 414,351 reviews and describes guests who left a review, not everyone who stayed. A town needs 1,000 reviews before this page gives its share from abroad.