2 Best Sights in The West Country, England

One of the prettiest thoroughfares in Penzance winds down from Market House to the harbor. Its predominantly Georgian and Regency houses suddenly give way to the extraordinary Egyptian House, whose facade recalls the Middle East. Built around 1830 as a geological museum, today it houses vacation apartments. Across Chapel Street is the 17th-century Union Hotel, where, in 1805, the death of Lord Nelson and the victory of Trafalgar were first announced. Near the Union Hotel on Chapel Street is the Turk's Head, an inn said to date from the 13th century.

To the north of the cathedral, the cobbled Vicar's Close, one of Europe's oldest streets, has terraces of handsome 14th-century houses with strange, tall chimneys. A tiny medieval chapel here is still in use.