Our next day out took us to St Ives and Penzance.
M and I like coach trips because we're not fond of long distance driving any more.
But the downside to that is that we don't have control of how long we stay at each destination.
We would have liked a whole day in St Ives.
With a maze of cobbled streets, independent shops, beautiful beaches, The Tate Gallery
and the Barbara Hepworth Museum St Ives is rightly described as the dazzling jewel in Cornwall's crown. A truly picturesque fishing harbour and seaside town voted best family holiday destination and one of TripAdvisor's top 10 European beaches.
First stop was a charity shop where I saw this. I didn't buy it
because I already have lots of jigsaws, but I wish I had now!
The famous Sloop Inn, thought to date back to 1312. I used a postcard
photo because there were just so many people getting in the way!
I was so dissapointed we didn't find the Tate Gallery, we found the Hepworth Museum but had no time to visit. I didn't realise until much later that I could have used Google maps on my phone!! duh. Had we had more time we would also have liked to take the boat trip to Seal Island.
After St Ives we went to Penzance, which quite a few of us said was a waste of time. I did visit one interesting place though.
Jubilee salt water bathing pool
The UK's biggest and most celebrated art deco sea water lido. Originally opened in 1935, Jubilee Pool is one of only a handful of surviving Lidos in the UK, and the first to have a geothermally heated pool.
Energenic swimmers use the larger pool at the back
whilst bathers can relax and unwind in the smaller natural salt water pool
heated to between 30-35 degrees all year round. That's my kind of pool.
An interested bystander no doubt looking for food from the cafe.
St Michaels Mount
Taken from a long way away, windy weather and I couldn't see anything clearly on my phone screen. I knew it was pointing in the right direction so I just clicked a few times and hoped for the best. I'm pleased with this.
Leaving Penzance we headed for Land's End, the legendary Cornish destination that has inspired people since ancient Greek times when it was referred to as ‘Belerion’ – Place of the Sun. It is the most westerly point in mainland England and the most visited outdoor tourist attraction in Cornwall.
The iconic signpost giving distances to far away places.
Beautiful rugged coastline
On our last day we visited Newquay and St Austell. I'm sure there are
some nice parts of Newquay but the town wasn't inviting.
This house on the island looked interesting.
And on to St Austell.
The town itself has little to offer the visitor, in fact we thought it was pretty grim!
But it does have this very pretty church, and some of the loveliest beaches in Cornwall, the coast is often referred to as the Cornish Riviera. We didn't visit the beach because our coach driver wanted to take us to where the drama series Poldark was filmed. Poldark is a British historical drama TV series based on the novels of the same name by Winston Graham.
starring the delicioulsy, broody, oh so handsome Aidan Turner in the lead role.
Charlestown where most of the programme was filmed
It's a lovely place but we couldn't stay long because
there were no parking places for coaches
This coastline was once home to smugglers, pirates and tin mining,
∼ Be safe and well ∼
Polly x
I miss traveling a little bit but your photos make me miss it more. Looks like spectacular views and beautiful weather!
ReplyDeleteWe were lucky with the weather.
DeleteDid you see a man with seven wives in St. Ives? And how about pirates in Penzance? No?
ReplyDeleteha,ha, no we didn't see either. I used to listen to a lot of Gilbert & Sullivan.
DeleteI miss traveling since Covid hit. We have traveled within the US, but I yearn to get back to Europe. Beautiful photos and I would like to visit St. Ives.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get to visit St Ives Michelle, it's a lovely place.
DeletePhew! That was a real whistle-stop tour of Cornwall. St Ives is a beautiful town with much to explore; I used to occasionally lead walks along that stretch of coastline many years ago.
ReplyDeleteIt was too much of a whistle-stop, we left feedback suggesting that a couple of the places visited were not interesting and could have been removed from the itinerary. I would like to do a coastline walk.
DeleteLovely beautiful pictures. I agree about bus tours - an easy way to see much but never enough time in the really cool places.
ReplyDeleteThank you Pam.
DeleteWe love St. Ives and have often stayed at Carbis Bay in the hotel where BoJo held the G7 Summit last June. We had thought that it was our own secret hideaway until then!!!
ReplyDeleteBy the way did you know that John Lewis have now pulled that advert - I think they must have received lots of criticism about it. However, you would have thought that they would have realised themselves.
Hello Rosemary, another place where I remember reading on your blog that you liked. Secret places don't stay secret for long :-(
DeleteI didn't know about JL pulling the ad, as you say they should have had an inkling about public reaction.
It looks like this one was a mixed bag -- lots of good spots with little time to enjoy them and a few so-so places. Since you're not big on driving anymore, have you thought about taking a bus (not a bus tour) to St. Ives and overnight for a day or two (or however long you'd like) at a B&B to see the town? I don't know if they have drive services or ubers there so you could get around a bit beyond the town and not sure if the price would be much more -- or maybe less. Worth a thought.
ReplyDeleteHello Jeanie, yes it was. These coach trips are very good value but there were three places that we weren't really interested in visiting. We are thinking about other ways of doing our holidays, as you say coach, train or even flying, and then rent a car. It wouild probably be more expensive but we would be able to choose what we do.
DeleteWhat a gorgeous couple of places you went to, Polly! I live in a touristy place so I get the grimness of some of it!
ReplyDeleteHello Sheila, yes we did enjoy the nice ones.
DeleteI've been to St Ives and Lands End. St Ives is a lovely little town, though I gather they now have the familiar problems of second homes, over-tourism and no affordable homes for the locals. I love the picture of Mona Lisa and her cat. The Penzance bathing pool is interesting - clearly well ahead of its time in terms of minimising pollution.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had bought that jigsaw :-(
DeleteI have been to St Ives as a child but I don't remember much about it so it's nice to see it through your eyes, or should I say, lens again.
ReplyDeleteLove the jigsaw, you should have bought it. I have dozens, but you can never have too many can you?
I know, and I probably won't ever see one like it again :-(
DeleteI had not heard of Jubilee Pool before reading this post, Polly, and it certainly sounds quite amazing and large as well. You captured some beautiful scenery in Truro and St Ives. Bus tours can be both a plus and not so good because there is never enough time in some of the good places and too much in the so-so stops. Still I was glad to read about and see your adventures.
ReplyDeleteHwllo Beatrice. It's a shame we don't get more time in the good places, I think the tour company tries to please everyone, some people like those whistle stop trips. We always make the most of it though.
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