Visiting Cornwall has been on my list of places to see ever since we moved to the UK back in 2010. I'd always meant it to be one of the first places we visited in England, but it was always pushed back in favour of other places, like The Cotswolds and The Lake District, simply because it was just that little bit further away.
We felt that the 5 hour drive or train ride meant a long weekend was out of the question, and our longer holidays always seemed to be dedicated to places in Europe, but we realised we couldn't keep prioritising other places and finally visited in March this year over Easter.
Cornwall is busy most of the year, with Summer being the high season, and definitely the time we wanted to avoid! Whilst Bank Holidays and Public Holidays are also busy, Easter is still in the slight off season so you have room to breathe. Visiting in the off season means you have most of the roads to yourself, which is ideal since some are so tiny that the thought of coming across another car would be a nightmare involving backing up round several tight bends!
We decided to hire a car and drive from London, though the train would also be an excellent way to get there, and certainly would involve less arguments! If you were going to St Ives or Penzance it would be easy to get around with public transport, but we wanted to visit the tiny seaside towns for which a car is essential unless you want to join a tour group.
We left London in the early morning on Good Friday to beat the traffic. I had images in my mind of being stuck for hours in huge queues of people all leaving London but we had a clear ride almost the entire way.
We took the quickest route along the M4 to Bristol and then onto the M5 down towards Cornwall. We went much too fast the entire way there and back, having the complete incorrect information from Google about the speed limits in the UK, so we made it there in record time. Luckily for us we weren't caught on any speed cameras!
We took the slightly longer route as we approached Cornwall, going through Dartmoor National Park which has some beautiful scenery. It was great to get out and stretch our legs and have lunch overlooking the rolling fields full of fat Dartmoor Ponies.
Visiting in Spring meant all the daffodils were coming into Season and it was lovely to see their bright happy faces popping up everywhere.
We were staying just outside of the lovely town of Mevagissey, at Valley Cottage B&B. We had the top floor attic room and it was so beautifully decorated. We loved the homemade shortbread and carrot cake that greeted us on arrival too.
After settling in and scoffing down tea and shortbread, we went for a walk around the headland along Chapel Point Lane, which led across farmland and down to a tiny beach.
We were so lucky with the weather, we had bright sunshine for most of our visit, and I took the opportunity to kick off my sandals and dip my feet into the freezing ocean. Definitely what I needed after spending 5 hours in a car!
Afterwards we headed back through town and towards Mevagissey. We had some beautiful views as the sun set over the town, one of the prettiest fishing villages in Cornwall.
I took so many photos of all the colourful boats in the harbour. I'll never get tired of tiny seaside towns!
We had dinner at the excellent Sharksfin Bar and Restaurant, Bradley had the Crab Macaroni and Cheese and I had the Fishcakes, both were so delicious!
The next day we headed to the West Coast of Cornwall, to Padstow, another fishing village, most famous for being the home of Rick Stein's various seafood restaurants.
Padstow is a lovely town to wander around, but it was super busy when we arrived just before lunchtime. To be honest I didn't think it was nice enough to warrant the amount of visitors it had, and felt there were much nicer places in Cornwall that would deserve a visit more, and you wouldn't have to deal with the crowds.
We wandered around the town, stopping for Fish and Chips, which actually were really good, before going to sit in the sun in the long grass along the coastal path watching people getting the little ferry that takes you from Padstow to Rock across the harbour.
After escaping the crowds of Padstow, our next stop was Port Isaac, further up the coast. Port Isaac is such a great example of a quaint English village, with it's winding streets and pretty seaside. We parked in the parking lot at the top of the village and slowly wandered down, stopping for a Cornish ice cream on the way down.
Port Isaac is mostly known for being the setting for the TV Show Doc Martin, but has also been used as the setting for lots of TV Shows and movies. Despite being so famous, it was almost deserted when we arrived in the late afternoon which meant we could take our time and explore the winding streets before hunting for crabs on the rocks since the tide was out so far.
Afterwards we made the long walk back up the hill to our car and headed back to Mevagissey for dinner. Feeling lazy, we grabbed some fish and chips for dinner, and only after realised we'd already them for lunch! Oh well, when you're on the coast..
Great blog and pictures Niki, Cornwall was a place we wanted to see but we were put off by the 4 hour traffic jam when we were there.
ReplyDeleteAgain a well found accomodation you do very well.