Exploring Cornwall Week 16

Mousehole Harbour Cornwall

We have lived in Cornwall for over 3 years now and there are still so many places we are yet to visit. I think we are all guilty of becoming complacent with where you live, getting used to the beauty that first drew you to live there in the first place. I know that I haven’t explored as much of Cornwall as I should have over the past few months. So we have decided every month from now to do a little staycation within Cornwall and visit a town or village that we have never been to before. Cornwall is not short of destinations to wow you!

Mousehole High Street

So for our first trip, I picked Penzance, we have been to St Ives many times but for some reason, we have never popped over to Penzance. I had been scoping out the lovely Artist Residence and had wanted to stay here for so long. It is such a lovely boutique hotel chain. They have properties in London, Brighton, Oxford and Penzance. The decor and aesthetic are right up my street and I managed to get a cracking deal & get a nights stay for only £80.

This small boutique hotel has only 22 room and a cosy 3-bed cottage all set in a stunning Georgian house. I wanted to move in and never EVER leave. Downstairs is a bar and smokehouse restaurant, every day they have a happy hour in the bar – half-price cocktails which we took full advantage of.

The hotel is on a beautiful street which leads down to the sea and the famous Penzanze Lido (if you’re brave enough to take a dip). It is very central and a great base to explore Penzance and the nearby towns too.

Exploring Mousehole Cornwall

On our first day, we ate at possibly the friendliest and most delicious pizzeria in the town centre, called Totti. They had a few Vegan options and we couldn’t resist a sourdough garlic bread & a pizza (give me all the carbs).  They’re a plastic-free restaurant and all of their soft drinks are sweetener free. I’m so pleased we fueled up on pizza before we attempted the coastal walk from Penzance to Mousehole!

We landed beyond lucky with the weather, cloudless skies and pavement splitting sunshine. So we took that as a good omen to walk part of the Cornish coastal path, this is such a popular thing to do and if you can time it out of season as we did you don’t come across too many people. It is so peaceful and the views, out over the sea are just stunning. We walked down the front of Penzance and through Newlyn to Mousehole. Where we explored all the tiny, winding streets and imagined a life living in such a pretty harbour village. We petted many cute dogs and found a great cafe right on the harbour to have a well-earned cuppa and slice of cake.

Mousehole is full of pretty galleries, gift shops and restaurants. It might be small but it is utterly charming and it is a place that forces you to slow down and take your time. Just take in the views and sit on the harbour watching the world go by.

We walked back to Penzance after a couple of hours just as the sun was setting over the Jubilee Pool and the light was beautiful. If it hadn’t of been February I would have bought an Ice-Cream!

Penzance is home to St Michale’s Mount, and it’s a great place to use as a base to explore West Cornwall It is only 10 miles from Lands End, the famous Minnac Theatre and of course it is close to St Ives which is one of my favourite places in Cornwall.

Jubilee Lido Penzance

Penzance Cornwall

Penzance Architecture

 

The Chocolate House Penzance

Artist Residence Penzance

Our room at the Artist Residence was so cosy and beautifully decorated. Lots of reclaimed wood, a cast iron roll top bath in the bedroom and the comfiest queen size bed. It is one of those hotels where you would buy all the fixtures and fittings in a heartbeat. The toiletries were Bramley and very luxurious. They provided everything you needed, shampoo, conditioner, body wash & lotion, bath soak, hand wash and lotion. I felt utterly pampered.

the artist residence Cornwall

Bedroom artist residence Penzance

artist residence hotel penzance

It was so nice to get away, even if only 30miles from home & for one night. We relaxed, explored and ate so much good food. Looking forward to next months staycation, it is a good one!

There was no shortage of places to eat in Penzance with Vegan options, we ate at Archie Browns, Totti Pizza and a cheeky Corish Pasty (you have to have at least 1 pasty!).

Exploring Cornwall Week #12

Beautiful Charlestown Harbour Cornwall

Beautiful Charlestown Harbour Cornwall

Falmouth Harbour Cornwall

Falmouth Week Celebrations 2016

Falmouth High Street

Star and Garter Pub Falmouth

Beautiful Homes in Falmouth

Falmouth Harbour Houses

Falmouth Week

Cornish Sunset

Cornwall has been absolutely glorious these past few weeks, so we have been spending quite a few afternoons at the beach and making the most of the Summer sun. We took a trip to Falmouth but didn’t realise that it was Falmouth Week, which attracts quite a lot of people. They have sailing events, food fairs, local theatre productions & of course fireworks so it was quite busy but we still managed to explore and the weather was perfect.

We did the park & float, which was fun – so you leave your car on the out skirts of Falmouth & take a 20 minute boat ride up the river. Its lovely to see Falmouth from the river & you pass some luxurious yachts as well as a few cruise liners. Even though it is a little more expensive than your typical parking its a lot more fun. We also stumbled upon a really nice pub called The Star & Garter which was really nicely decorated and was friendly indeed, we spent a while in there relaxing and making the most of their view over Falmouth & the river. We are excited to visit Falmouth again when it isn’t so busy, I spotted quite a few restaurants & cafes that I want to try.

The Summer holidays are nearing an end, which means Cornwall will quieten down & thats when I like it most, when the weather turns cooler and you get the coastline to yourself. Its so romantic and peaceful.

Exploring Cornwall Week #10

Cornish Cafe Truro

Sunset in Charlestown Cornwall

Fowey High Street Cornwall

River Fowey Cornwall

Crinnins Beach Cornwall

Carlyon Bay Beach Cornwall

Charlestown Harbourside Cottages

Sunnyside Cottage Cornwall

Pink Cottage Charlestown Harbour

VIllage Craft Fair

Colourful Houses Truro Cornwall

Cornish Cafe Truro

Exploring Cornwall Series

I have missed a few weeks of my Cornwall posts, since returning home from Scotland back in June we have been busy, busy with work and in all honesty until recently the weather has been pretty pants. When we do have a nice day we try and make the most of it, this Summer the nice days seem to feel few and far between.

We have kept our days out very local lately visiting Fowey, Truro, Falmouth and our local village (Charlestown). We do love a pretty harbour town and along the South Coast of Cornwall, we are quite spoilt for choice. So we tend to head out for walks along the coastal paths & end up in a harbour – wishing we lived in one of the sweet cottages that line them.

Big news (for Cornwall) a beautiful new Waitrose opened in Truro and they have a lovely separate shop dedicated to Cornish produce and its so nice, they also have a Cornish cafe serving locally sourced produce too. So we have been doing much of our shopping there and stopping for lunch too.

Cornwall is getting busy with Summer holiday visitors so every journey takes so much longer, so that is another reason we are staying closer to home. Our local beach has some cute pop-up restaurants, cafe’s and a small outdoor theatre, it feels like you are on the Mediterranean coast and we have been spending many an evening down there sipping cocktails & enjoying the sunshine. The water is still too cold for me but lots of people are getting out in the sea and I have seen people doing Yoga classes down on the beach too. I feel lucky having such a nice beach so close by & plan on spending as much time down there as possible.

I hope you’re all having a lovely Summer so far, maybe some of you are planning a visit to Cornwall this year?

Exploring Cornwall Week #7

The Sorting Office Cafe St Agnes

The village Church Grampound Cornwall

Midtown Deli in Truro Conrnwall

Midtown Deli Cafe Truro

Cute Blue Cottage Grampound Cornwall

St Agnes Church

Highstreet Cottages Grampound Village

Cute cafe in St Agnes Cornwall

The Sorting Office Cafe St Agnes

The Sorting Office Cafe in St Agnes

Village Cottage Grampound

We have had a busy couple of weeks trying getting out and about in Cornwall and do as much exploring as possible. We have been making an effort to visit new places and ticking things off our to do list.

We live close to Truro so we do pop over there quite a bit, its a beautiful place to do a little shopping & when we are over there we always stop off for a bite to eat in Midtown Deli which is just the most delicious place to eat – the staff are friendly and they off quite a few Vegan options, as well as some lovely Instagram worthy products for sale. Its very stylish and relaxed, so if you are ever in Truro make sure to pop in.

We always drive home from Truro through a tiny village called Grampound and I adore all the cute cottages so we made sure to stop off and have a wander along the quiet streets & I snapped so many photos of all the colourful front doors, blossom trees and daydreamed about owning my own Cornish cottage. We visited on a Sunday which meant no shops were open but we also had the streets to ourselves.

The next place we visited was the stunning Coastal town of St Agnes, I have wanted to drive over there for months but we waited until the weather was warmer so we could make the most of exploring. Its quite a small town but there is so many lovely shops, cafes and they have some stunning beaches. We discovered The Sorting Office which was one of the nicest coffee shops I have ever been too. They had a delicious selection of Vegan Cakes and I enjoyed a pot of Chai Tea. It was such a relaxing, friendly and unique place that we are already planning our next visit. If you like that modern industrial, rustic vibe then this is a cafe you need to visit.

Last week we had a day trip to St Ives which was beautiful. Let me know if you have any recomendations of places we should visit in Cornwall.