Bude is a year-round town, but it is emphatically a seasonal one, and the month you pick decides a great deal about the holiday you get. Peak-summer buzz or off-season calm, big surf or gentle swimming, full prices or half — the same coast serves up very different weeks depending on when you come, so it pays to choose with your eyes open.
Summer, July and August, is Bude at full volume. The beaches are lifeguarded and lively, the sea is at its warmest (which on the Atlantic still means a wetsuit for most), and the town hums with families — it is the classic Cornish beach holiday, and if you have school-age children you will likely come now and simply book early. Expect company and peak prices in return for the long, warm, busy days.
Spring and early summer, May and June, are many regulars' secret. The days lengthen and warm, the crowds have not yet arrived, prices are gentler, and the coast is green and loud with wildflowers — ideal for walkers, couples and anyone who can dodge the school holidays. The sea is bracing but the beaches are yours, and the light on the cliffs is at its best.
Autumn holds the warmest sea and the biggest surf. September and October keep much of summer's warmth with a fraction of the crowds, the Atlantic is at its warmest after a long summer, and the swell picks up for surfers — a favourite window for grown-up and active trips. Check the forecast, as the first Atlantic storms can roll through, but a fine autumn week in Bude is a glorious thing. The Met Office forecast is worth a look before you pack, whatever the season.
Winter is for a different traveller entirely — wild, quiet, cheap and dramatic, with storm-watching from the cliffs, empty beaches and cosy nights in a lodge with the wind howling outside. Few come, and much is closed, but for a bracing off-season break with the coast almost to yourself it has a real romance. For a first family visit, though, aim for the long, kind shoulders of early summer or September.