indy_dad

We’ve just returned from a week in Cornwall. Going to Cornwall wasn’t in our original plans when moving here but just about everyone here goes on holiday there so we had to go see what it was all about. Photos and more as usual on my blog:

http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/cornwall.html

The weather wasn’t the best but tolerable most of the time. We did enjoy ourselves, but it didn’t capture us like Scotland, the Lakes and North Wales did. Some of that could very well be personal preference or the influence of weather but I think part of it is not being English and going year after year (and generation after generation).

<b>Lodging:</b>

4 nights at the Glencree House in Penzance. 2 rooms on the top floor at &pound;70 prpn. Superb host (Andrew) took the time when we arrived to give us the lay of the land and checked with us each morning at breakfast. Great food and excellent restaurant recommendations. Any small niggles became features rather than complaints due to Andrew’s wonderful personality. This is what we desire at a B&B/Guesthouse. Highly recommended.

10-15 minute walk to most of the restaurants on Chapel Street. On street parking was not an issue.

http://www.glencreehouse.co.uk/

4 nights at the Poltair Hotel (Guest House) in Falmouth. Family room on 1st floor with sea view for &pound;100/night. Near Princess Pavilion and 10 minutes to the Event Center and 30 all the way to High Street. Good location. On street parking not an issue.

Nice touches of a refrigerator in the room and homemade cakes in the afternoon. Less personable (more hired help) and breakfasts were ½ a notch down. Adequate and cheaper so perhaps not fair to compare. Beds were a little soft for us.

http://www.poltair.co.uk/

We could have managed in 1 location (and perhaps gotten an apartment) but I wasn’t sure how difficult the travel would be around the peninsula and we do like to walk to restaurants in the evening so this gave us twice as many choices.

<b>Restaurants</b>

We ate well at night with most ranging from &pound;60-80 for the total bill (kids still eat off the children’s menu most nights and we usually just have 1 round of drinks). Best to book if possible, particularly for the smallish Olivers. Seafood heavy by choice save the one night of Italian. I did get a decent steak at Olivers at the end of the week as well.

General Order of preference (F = Falmouth, P = Penzance)

Oliver’s (F)
The Bakehouse (P) – ate there twice

The Assay House (P)
The Shack (F)
The Navy Inn (P)

R Steins (F)
Zizzi’s (F)

No issues with any of them. The bottom two are nothing special but they were closest to our B&B and available on a wet night.

Enjoyed the cafes at Gylly Beach (F) and St. Michael’s Mount (P) as well for lunch.

<b>Activities</b>

The kids enjoyed the beaches (though cold by US standards) and even better the pools (leisure centers) that we visited. Porthcorno was stunning but we didn’t swim there. We stayed to the bigger ones in Sennen Cove and Praa Sands.

I liked the castles (St. Michael’s Mount, Pendennis, St. Mawes). The Eden Project was a big hit as well.

The picturesque villages/towns didn’t do as much for us (e.g. Mousehole, St. Ives, etc.) though St. Mawes was nice. Personal preference I guess. We don’t know what we are supposed to do in these to be honest.

We didn’t set out on any “proper” walks this time but the short one from Sennen Cove to Lands End was nice.

The National Maritime Museum was set up well for families.

The activities due to Falmouth week and at Pendennis Castle were a nice bonus.

indy_dad

and a special thanks to annhig for all her wonderful advice!

RM67

Love your pictures and feeling quite pleased that you've cited my three favourite beaches in Cornwall - Sennen/Whitesand Bay (huge and very picturesque), Porthcurno (deserted out of season and a bit of a hidden secret) and Praa Sands (very friendly surfing beach - much nicer than Newquay etc imho).

RM67

Btw, I did laugh a bit to see poor old Rick Stein at the bottom of the food recommendations list side by side with crap chain Zizzi....

Gordon_R

Is that true - the Rick Stein restaurant was nothing special...??? I assume you've heard of him as a well known "celebrity chef" in the UK? Mind you, I ate in an Anthony Bourdain restaurant in NYC once which was horrid, so maybe fame isn't everything...

indy_dad

Didn't mean to start anything with the Rick Stein comments.

It was fine. I had a nice 3-course meal for &pound;19.95 (fish soup, lemon sole and ice cream). DW was a little disappointed with her fish and chips and that brought it down slightly. I think it speaks more to quality of the other places we tried.

We were certainly glad to be seated without a booking as it was pretty nasty out that evening! So bad that I actually drove the 0.5 mile down the hill from our B&B and paid to park!

RM67 -- I guess I got lucky as those were the only beaches we tried to see!

annhig

indy-dad - I was pleased to see that so many of my recommendations [with the exception of Mousehole] worked out so well, you covered a lot of ground in a pretty short time.

Based on what you say about accommodation, I wonder if you would suggest to others renting one apartment for the whole time rather than staying in two places? I find it quite difficult to advise people as it's hard to visualise what it's like to get around when you don't know Cornwall!

BTW, i am now determined to try Oliver's! sorry about rick Stein's being a let-down, i think you may have been in the Fish and chip restaurant, but i could be wrong.

indy_dad

Here's the Rick Stein's link. I guess it is the Fish & Chip place though there were other items on the menu. There was a takeout place adjacent and a deli across the way. It was fine, really!

http://www.rickstein.com/Rick-Stein%...-Falmouth.html

Do try Olivers -- such a nice family owned place. Glad we were able to get a table (2 nights ahead) -- there's probably only 8-9 tables in the place. The co-owner took our order and really enjoyed telling us about the food.

I think for first timers, splitting it up to 2 locales is good advice. Once you know the lay of the land (or plan on many return trips), a single place might be better.

Even with an apartment, we tend to eat out at night so that would have meant more driving. Not sure I'd want too many treks to Land's End or Porthcurno from Falmouth either. So, for us, the 2 places worked well.

I wouldn't argue with the weekly rental option either though.

Scotia

On a recent trip to Falmouth, we were disappointed we could not get a reservation at Olivers. We did eat at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant in Padstow which was excellent. I must admit we were confused at first as there were about 3 or 4 of Rick Stein's restaurants in a row. Also The Shack in Falmouth was informal, had great service and delicious seafood. Enjoyed reading your report indy_dad. We also had cold, rainy weather and that was in May.

annhig

indy-dad - i looked at the website and it seems that the fish and chip restaurant is his only one in Falmouth - I thought that the fish and chip place was separate from the restaurant proper.

for future reference there is an excellent fish and chip restaurant a bit further up into Falmouth, called the Harbour lights - it's just past Trago. [did you find that famous emporium? venture in?]

http://www.harbourlights.co.uk/

irishface

Another wonderful trip for the Indy family and great write up from the head man of the tribe. Thanks so much for sharing. A couple of the pictures of Alex and something he was up to gave me a good laugh! The sign with the slogan about being a binner and not a sinner was great. I remember taking one years ago where human slobs were compared to snails leaving slimy trails. I'll have to see if I can find it.

Once again thanks. Good luck to the kids in their new school year. It still seems strange even after years of retirement not to have my life revolve around a school schedule.

indy_dad

<i>[did you find that famous emporium? venture in?]</i>

I guess not. We did walk past Trago but did not venture in. A miss?

annhig

indy - Trago is a sort of local institution - you love it or loathe it.

anything you need from a frying pan to a turkish carpet, but arranged in a uniquely haphazard fashion and with weird pricing. [lots of cheap stuff but then other things that are unexpectedly expensive]. their main Cornish emporium is on the Bodmin-Liskeard road, and there's also one at Newton Abbot. you probably didn't miss much - though you might have picked up some cheap wetsuits for the beach if you were lucky!

BTW we went out today with my SIL - we took the King Harry Ferry to the Roseland, then toured round some of the lesser known spots like the Church at St. Just in Roseland, Portscatho, Veryan, Portloe, and Philleigh. it was a beautiful day with lovely views and surprisingly few people, apart from on the beach at Portscatho.

belted_galloway

King Harry Ferry

Happy memories!

annhig

known as the "King Hairy Fairy" in the annhig household, belted.

did you know that they have recently replaced the old ferry with a nice new one? [the 3rd one in its history].

The new one takes about twice as many vehicles as the old so the long waits of years ago are generally a thing of the past. the snag is that it's £5 each way. [slightly less if you buy a return]. you get [ as you will remember] a lovely view of the estuary, plus a close-up of the hulks that are moored up Carrick Roads because they have been impounded or run out of money to pay the crew.

a truly unique Cornish experience.

hopingtotravel

annhig, May 2000, I remember I absolutely loved walking around the church at St. Just in Roseland. Am surprised it's a 'lesser known spot'. Makes me feel like I saw a lot on my two brief forays to Cornwall.

RM67

I love St Just - loads of galleries and cafes, wild Atlantic shore, and that fab road along the coast to St Ives...

sassy_cat

Thanks for the interesting report indy dad. You did get around!
I remember when the Eden Project opened and always meant to check it out but I haven't been back to Cornwall since we visited for the eclipse in August 1999. From your photos it reminds me of the Biodome in Montreal.

The weather looked awful so you did well to fit in all the outdoor stuff. I sure I would have spent the time reading rather than venture out when it looked so ominously grey and gloomy, very unlike my blue sky memories of Cornwall.
I spent all my childhood summers in Devon and it's favorably colored my view of the area in general so I wish the weather had been a little more cooperative for you.

chartley

Your reports are always so interesting, and it's good to get a different perspective on things close to home.

I think the popularity of British seaside holidays is that they remind so many of us of our childhood. It's not the case that every day was sunny, but that we remember long sunny days on the beach, and want to recreate the atmosphere if at all possible. The scenery and coastline is distinctive, and so many of the roads are narrow and sunken, that it all lies deep in the memory. The modern reality is almost unimportant.

indy_dad

<i>I think the popularity of British seaside holidays is that they remind so many of us of our childhood. </i>

My childhood had slightly warmer water.

I do think that the childhood element is part of it plus the fact of many trips to accumulate enough good weather days for the memories. We did enjoy it but perhaps not as much as the regulars would.

Thanks for the comments.