The Lizard peninsula

The Lizard Peninsula claws into the Atlantic like a dragon's spine breaching Cornwall's southern coast. Forget gentle slopes - this is geology's tantrum: serpentinite rock polished to gunmetal grey by storms, veins of garnet schist bleeding rust-red where cliffs sheer into turquoise coves.<

Goonhilly Downs sprawls inland - a moonscape of wind - ripped heath where Bronze Age standing stones lean like drunken giants. Rabbit warrens honeycomb the thin soil; choughs scream overhead. Downwind, the scent of gorse fire mingles with salt-rot from shipwrecks claimed by the Manacles reef.

At Kynance Cove, tide pools glow neon with anemones while basilisks of black rock twist from foaming surf. Fishermen still curse in Kernewek when fog swallows the Lizard Lighthouse beam - the same fog that once hid smugglers hauling brandy barrels up smugglers' steps cut into cliff faces.

The Lizard Peninsula juts defiantly into the Atlantic like a dragon's claw. Forget predictable descriptions – this is Cornwall's raw, geological heartbeat. Picture serpentine rock formations twisting in rust-red coils where rare wildflowers cling. Jagged cliffs plunge into turquoise coves where shipwrecks whisper secrets. The lizard is a favourite destination for:

• Geology enthusiasts: Hammer-wielding academics and amateurs chipping serpentine samples, arguing over mantle plumes over pints of Doom Bar. The Lizard has Europe's largest serpentine rock outcrop
• Coastal walkers: Hikers grinning through horizontal rain on the South West Coast Path, boots sucking at boggy cliff-tops where choughs ride updrafts.
• Twitchers: Bird watchers flock to the area with Binoculars trained ready to spot the choughs and rare cuckoos in Goonhilly's satellite shadows, notebooks damp with sea spray.
• Shipwreck Hunters: Diving on the many wrecks that line the coast or simply Tide-pool scavengering, hunting pewter buttons from the Manacles reef's graveyard. The Manacles Reef devoured ships for centuries; divers still find porcelain shards in kelp forests.