Went for a couple of hours last September. That was long enough for me. Cornwall tries so hard to put off car drivers I'm surprised anyone goes there. The main car park by the beach in Bude was charging £3.50 flat rate for parking. Considering it was the end of September, the weather wasn't great and having not been there before we didn't know if we would stay 15 minutes or 5 hours we simply saw the charge and left the car park. I'd have happily paid a £1 for an hour, but £3.50 was the only option. We then found on-street restrictions were lifted so parked on street and walked to the beach!

Bude doesn`t have a great deal to offer, and definitely isn`t typically Cornish. It is a good base from which to explore the rest of Cornwall and North Devon, and the beach is good if you have young children who just want to make sand pies. Otherwise, like the above post, a couple of hours is enough to see what is there. But don`t let it put you off going to Cornwall, it`s a beautiful county, with lots to see and do.