Falmouth doesn't shout about itself, which is part of what makes it so good. It's a working port with a proper town centre, a thriving arts and food scene, some of the best sailing water in the country and beaches that would be famous if they were anywhere else. It's also, if you're staying at Meudon, about ten minutes down the road, which means you get all of it and then come back to a subtropical valley and a private beach. Not a bad arrangement.

Here's what's worth your time this summer.

The National Maritime Museum on Discovery Quay is one of the best museums in the southwest, and genuinely worth a few hours of anyone's time whether or not they have a particular interest in boats. The main hall houses an extraordinary collection of small craft suspended at different heights, the viewing tower gives you a panorama of the estuary and the harbour, and the tidal gallery at water level shifts with the tide in a way that's quietly spectacular. It's the kind of place that holds children and adults equally, and the café on the quay is a decent spot for lunch afterwards.

Pendennis Castle sits on the headland at the mouth of the Fal estuary, and the walk around it is one of the finest short walks in Cornwall. The views take in the Carrick Roads, the estuary stretching inland, St Mawes across the water and on a clear day a long sweep of coastline in both directions. The castle itself is run by English Heritage and worth going into, particularly for the Tudor fortifications and the Second World War gun emplacements, which give a real sense of how seriously this stretch of coastline was once defended. The headland walk takes about an hour at a relaxed pace and the light up there in the evening is exceptional.

One of the most pleasurable things you can do in Falmouth costs very little and takes about twenty minutes. The passenger ferry across to St Mawes runs throughout the summer and the crossing itself, with the estuary opening up around you and the two castles visible on their respective headlands, is genuinely beautiful. St Mawes is a small, pretty village with good seafood, a pub on the waterfront and a castle of its own worth exploring. You can walk back along the Roseland coast path if you want to make a day of it, or simply take the ferry back and feel like you've been somewhere.

Falmouth's town beaches are better than they have any right to be. Gyllyngvase, known locally as Gylly, is the main one, a wide sweep of sand with clean water, a decent beach café and the kind of easy accessibility that makes it perfect for a relaxed morning. It faces south, sheltered from the prevailing westerlies, which means it catches the sun and stays relatively calm. In July and August it fills up by mid-morning, so arriving early is worth it. The café does breakfast and good coffee, and there are worse ways to start a summer's day.

The walk from Gyllyngvase into the town centre along the seafront is one of those routes that earns its place on any visit. Past Tunnel Beach, along Castle Drive with the estuary below, down into the Events Square and the harbour. It takes about 30 minutes at a stroll and takes in most of what makes Falmouth's setting so distinctive. The town itself rewards wandering, with independent shops and galleries running along the high street and Church Street, and a food scene that has improved considerably over the past decade.

The Carrick Roads is one of the deepest natural harbours in the world, and in summer it's busy with sailing of every kind. If you sail, there are boats to hire and clubs that welcome visitors. If you don't, one of the estuary boat trips that run from Prince of Wales Pier will do the job nicely, carrying you up the Fal towards Truro through woodland and quiet creeks, past the famous Trelissick Gardens and the hulks of old vessels laid up in the upper reaches. It's a calm, unhurried couple of hours and the kind of thing that stays in the memory.

Falmouth has a genuine arts community, partly rooted in the presence of Falmouth University and partly in the town's longstanding identity as a place that takes creative work seriously. The Poly on Church Street is a cultural centre and gallery with a programme that runs through the summer and tends to be worth checking. Beyond that, the town has a good spread of independent galleries, many of them showing work by Cornish artists, that make for an easy afternoon of browsing. Nothing requires a ticket or much planning, which is precisely the point.

Falmouth has more good places to eat per square mile than almost anywhere in Cornwall, and the range is genuinely broad. Fresh seafood caught locally, wood-fired pizza, excellent coffee, proper pub food and ambitious restaurant cooking all sit within a short walk of each other in the town centre. The restaurant at Meudon itself is worth staying in for, making good use of the Cornish larder and the day's catch, but when the town calls, it's worth answering. Ask the team at the hotel for current recommendations, they know what's good and they'll point you in the right direction.

Both Trebah and Glendurgan are within a few minutes of Meudon and represent two of the finest gardens in the country, not just in Cornwall. Trebah is a dramatic ravine garden that tumbles down to a private beach on the Helford River, planted with exotic species that thrive in the mild Cornish climate. Glendurgan, owned by the National Trust, is equally beautiful, with a famous laurel maze and a valley garden that reaches down to the hamlet of Durgan on the river. Either would make a lovely morning, and doing both on the same day, if you have the energy, is a genuinely rewarding way to spend a summer's day on this stretch of coast.

Falmouth earns its place as a destination in its own right, but the advantage of staying at Meudon is that you don't have to go anywhere at all if the mood doesn't take you. The gardens run for nine acres down to Bream Cove, the private beach below. The coast path passes the cove and opens up the Rosemullion Headland and the estuary beyond. There's the bar, the terrace, the restaurant. A summer holiday in Cornwall doesn't always need an itinerary, and one of the quiet pleasures of this particular corner of the county is that it gives you full permission to simply be somewhere beautiful for a few days and see what happens.

Meudon sits in its own subtropical valley gardens above Bream Cove, a few minutes from Falmouth and perfectly placed for everything the south Cornish coast has to offer. Whether you're planning a summer holiday staycation in Cornwall, a short coastal break or a quietly indulgent few days by the sea, we'd love to welcome you.

Check availability and book at meudon.co.uk