Cornwall Travel Guide

This may seem myopic, but I truly believe I could spend the rest of my life exploring England and satisfy all my travel wanderlust. If you’re a foreigner visiting England, I’d really encourage you to step beyond the London bubble and see what else the country has to offer.

The Cornish coast is the Cape Cod of England - full of small seaside towns, hidden coves and beaches, and freshly caught seafood. We went for a week and split our stay between St Ives, a historic fishing village in the southwest with a big art scene, and Padstow, a port city on the north coast known for its restaurants. We stayed in towns so that we could go out to dinner (and have drinks) without worrying about driving, but we spent most of our days exploring other parts of the coast, and both towns were good spots from which to visit some of Cornwall’s most famous sites.

Some general tips for people who know nothing about Cornwall: if you don’t have children it’s best to visit outside of school holidays as things are slightly quieter and the roads are less busy. You could in theory take the train and visit without a car, but you’d generally be confined to the towns and most of the nice beaches and walks would be inaccessible. I don’t drive, but my partner does and we found that hiring a car for the week was much cheaper than taking the train would have been. It’s also worth considering becoming a National Trust member if you aren’t already. If you’re under-26 a membership is £36 a year, and we found we easily made the cost worth it in free parking and free entrance to a few spots. Cornwall has one of the highest densities of National Trust sites, and if you’re being thrifty you can basically plan your day around where you can park for free.

St. Ives

Stay at Primrose House! It’s a beautifully decorated family-owned b&b and it was such a nice place to come back to each evening. The location - basically right on the beach - is ideal, and you’re a five minute walk along the coast into town which is just far enough that the evenings are quiet. The breakfast room is really peaceful and lovely, and breakfast itself was delicious.

For drinks we enjoyed SILCo. Searoom, which had local beer and outdoor tables. We sat and people watched as the sun set over the harbor and it felt very idyllic. Our favorite meal from St Ives was Talay Thai Kitchen, and it also happened to be the cheapest, so I definitely recommend it.

St Ives is known for its museums and artist communities, so we spent a morning at the Tate St Ives and the Barbara Hepworth Museum. Unlike the Tate Britain and Modern in London, the Tate St Ives has an admission fee, but you can get combined discounted tickets to see it and the Barbara Hepworth in the same day. Leach Pottery is also in St Ives, and there are plenty of galleries to explore throughout the town.

Padstow

Padstow is a historic fishing village on the north coast of Cornwall. Celebrity chef Rick Stein has a near monopoly on the town’s hotels and restaurants, but give them all a miss. His food is wildly overpriced but completely average, and The Seafood Restaurant (meant to be our nicest meal of the trip) gave me food poisoning and ruined the last day of our trip. Also, truly horrible food poisoning aside, if you’re going to charge an average of £30-40 per main course, I personally feel you must use Luxardo cherries in your cocktails. The hill I will die on is that those gross bright red maraschino cherries have no place in a £15 Manhattan.

For actual nice drinks (beer specifically), go to the Padstow Brewing Company Tasting Room. Flights of three 1/3 pints are £6, and the beer is worth it. They also sell gift sets and cans and bottles to take home. If you want a pub, Shipwrights is quayside and you can take your pint outside to watch the sun set over the harbor. For dinner, Prawn on the Lawn is fantastic. It’s a tiny restaurant so you’ll want to book in advance, but they do tapas style seafood with a menu that changes every day based on what the boats bring in. We started our meal with Cornish wine and a Cornish oyster each and got to try small portions of lots of local seafood.

St Michael’s Mount

St Michael’s Mount is a tidal island in South West Cornwall. The views from the castle on the island are incredible, and it’s definitely worth visiting. During low-tide you can reach the island and its castle and gardens on foot, and a regular ferry service carries visitors and residents to and from the island during high-tide. The castle is managed by the National Trust, but there isn’t any National Trust parking available nearby so you would need cash.

Land’s End

Land’s End is the most westerly point of mainland England and, with John O’Groats in Scotland, is a famous walking or cycling destination. Currently there is a very weird amusement park / holiday village at Land’s End which has a movie theatre and a Wallace and Gromit attraction and a general aura of being haunted. We were lucky to have a beautiful day and enjoyed just walking around the cliffs.

The Minack Theatre and Porthcurno Beach

The Minack Theatre is a can’t miss. It’s an open-air theatre set into the cliffside and looks far more Greek than English. You can visit the theatre without going to see a show, but I’d recommend seeing one of the performances. Next to the theatre is Porthcurno Beach, which is one of Cornwall’s most famous beaches and is well worth exploring.

The Lizard and Coverack

Where Land’s End is the most westerly point in England, Lizard Point on the Lizard peninsula is the most southerly. The walk along the coastline here is beautiful, and there’s interesting geology and plenty of tiny coves to explore. On our walk we stopped for a Cornish cream tea at the Kynance Cove cafe and, in classic British fashion, the outdoor picnic benches were full despite the rain.

The Lost Gardens of Heligan

Of Cornwall’s two famous botanical gardens - The Lost Gardens of Heligan and The Eden Project - we opted for Heligan. It’s the result of the largest garden restoration project in Europe, and feels a bit like a secret garden. The grounds are large enough that even a busy day feels relatively quiet and peaceful. We spent at least an hour watching the animals on the farm, and were lucky to be there in the weeks after a litter of tiny piglets were born.