Callebaut

I will be traveling solo and would appreciate any advice on the area and where to stay. I'm leaning toward St. Ives but also considering Penzance or Carbis Bay. My two must-do items are visiting St. Michael's Mount and at least half a day of walking. I won't have a car and will be there for four nights/three days.

annhig

Hi Callebut,

if you want to do some walking, the coast path is probably the best bet - have you thought which bit you might like to walk?

one option is to use the train - for example you could get the train from St ives to Carbis Bay and walk back - which would take you half a day, give or take.

I would rather stay in St Ives than Carbis Bay - much more happening, though it will be pretty busy in August/september, OTOH not much chance of getting bored.

your other option of staying in Penzance is also a good one - you could walk to /get a bus/cab to Marazion, see the Mount, and then walk back to PZ for example. also nice walks along the coast to Newlyn and Mousehole, with not a bad bus service.

Does that help?

please come back with any more Qs - having lived here for nearly 18 years, I love helping people to plan their trips to Cornwall.

PalenQ

Where are the BEST Cornish pasties? (Besides Michigan's U.P.?)

West47

From a Canadian perspective and several visits to Tintagel, we always visit:
http://www.pengennapasties.co.uk/pag...na/history.htm

annhig

Ann's pasties [yes, really!] made on the Lizard get really good reviews; we like the ones from Berryman's which is the closest bakery to us. [that's lucky]

West - I've never heard of pengenna pasties - I don't think that they make it far out of Tintagel. I'm always willing to try a new pasty though!

and Pal - you know, that unless it's made in Cornwall to a proper cornish recipe, it's not a Cornish pasty, don't you? Champagne, Parma ham and Cornish pasties - all protected by EU law.

ESW

From Penzance you can catch a bus to St Just. Walk to Cape Cornwall and pick up the coastal footpath to the north for some glorious coastal scenery. This takes you past the remains of the great Botallack Mine. You can get a bus back to Penzance from Pendeen.

From Penzance you can also get a bus to Marazion and walk to St Michael's Mount.

PalenQ

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingdom_by_the_Sea

Paul theroux wrote about his 3-month odyssey walking around the coast of Britain - he has a chapter on the Penzance area - was especially taken by the rather weird name of "Mousehole" and how it was pronounced - near St Michaal's Mount I do believe.

Annhig - I guess in our U.P. we have corny pasties - but brought over by Cornish miners to work the minds there - it would seem to be rather authentic - they took them to work in the mines and warmed them up on the stoves.

How about Cornish hens?

annhig

Pal - "Mouzel" [as Mousehole is pronounced] is west of PZ, further west than Newlyn, whose inhabitants once rioted against those of PZ over fishing on Sundays. [PZ allowed it, Newlyn didn't].

Marazion [where St Michael's Mount is] is east of PZ, on the road to Helston.

As for pasties, yes the miners took them round the world with them; there are even pasties in Chile though they tend to use rather more chilli than they do in Redruth.

I wasn't sure about Cornish hens but looked them up on wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_chicken

I think it means that they are cornish in origin, though it's not entirely clear.

ESW - I like your day trip ideas, though one would need to check the bus timetables carefully so as not to end up stranded in Pendeen. wonderful walking along the coast, as you say.

Jennifer_Travels

I stayed in St. Ives in September 2013, also without a car.
It was an easy trip to St. Michael's Mount.
If you are there at the right time in September, check out the St. Ives September festival - we really enjoyed the artists' open studios, live Celtic music, and a play.
There is great walking right from St. Ives, and several buses that you could take one way and then walk back.

http://www.stivesseptemberfestival.co.uk/

annhig

thanks for the St Ives festival schedule Jennifer - we try to get there every year but quite often miss it. I see they are opening with Show of Hands - a great band.

PalenQ

annhg- do you know how Mousehole got its name - it was in the Theroux book but I can't recall? Curious.

annhig

<<Mousehole has a rich fishing heritage and was once known as Porth Enys, meaning ‘port of the island’. From the 13th century, it was the main port in Mounts Bay until the 16th century when Newlyn and Penzance became more dominant. The origins of its modern name ‘Mousehole’ are unknown, although it is suggested that it was derived from the Cornish word Moeshayle, meaning “young woman’s brook”, while others maintain it as simply being a reference to the original tiny harbour, or to a nearby sea cave, which resembled a mouse hole.>>

this was the best I could find, Pal, lifted from the blog of a company called Aspects holidays.

is this what you remember? I think we may have the Theroux book somewhere so I'll have a look.

RM67

The Courtyard Deli in Falmouth does amazing pasties (and homity pie).

PalenQ

Thanks annhig for all that - no I con't recall - too many lost brain cells ago! But I do appreciate your efforts.

PalenQ

http://celestialrambling.blogspot.co...mousehole.html

Tells the story of Mousehole's name here - at least his/her's take on it - the narrow entrance to the port. Looks like a nice old town.

Heimdall

I had forgotten about Cornish pasties in the UP, but remember now trying them long ago as a boy on a visit from my native Wisconsin. Thanks, PalenQ, for bringing back a pleasant memory.