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Why Cornwall Should Be on Your Travel Bucket List

Cornwall Travel

When I was asked by a client to write about Cornwall, I was very excited for the assignment. I was excited because Cornwall is at the top of my Travel Bucket List. I have a dear friend that lives in Cornwall and I have promised myself (and her) that I will get to see her beautiful homeland and visit Cornwall some day. This is a sponsored post. I have been compensated for publication. All images have been provided by Jane Duckworth (a Cornwall native) of Jane’s World.

Cornwall Travel

Surfing in Cornwall (Photo Nick Glanville IG -@fuzzehbean2401 )

Cornwall Travel

Mackerel Fishing! (Photo Nick Glanville IG -@fuzzehbean2401 )

Cornwall is a county on England’s rugged southwestern tip. It forms a peninsula encompassing wild moorland and hundreds of sandy beaches. The south coast is widely known as the Cornish Riviera and is home to picturesque harbor villages. The north coast is lined with towering cliffs and seaside resorts like Newquay that are known for surfing. Cornwall has the mildest and sunniest climate in the United Kingdom and is a wonderful place to visit and see some of the most popular beaches of the area.

Cornwall Travel

Truro Cathedral

Cornwall has only one major city. Truro is home to a beautiful, three-spired cathedral, cobbled streets and offers great shopping.

Getting to Cornwall

Cornwall’s unique culture, spectacular landscape and mild climate make it a popular tourist destination, despite being somewhat distant from the United Kingdom’s main areas and cities. Cornwall offers many miles of beaches and cliffs; the South West Coast Path follows a complete circuit of both coasts. Other tourist attractions include moorland, country gardens, museums, historic and prehistoric sites, and wooded valleys. Most tourists that visit Cornwall each year come from within the UK. Visitors flying to Cornwall are served by airports at Newquay and Exeter (Exeter is in the county of Devon). Daily rail service runs between Cornwall, London and other regions of the UK. You can choose to explore Cornwall by car or by rail.

Cornwall Travel

Crystal Clear Blue Sea – Watergate Bay

If you choose to road trip through Cornwall, you will find a local tourist information center in many of Cornwall’s main towns where the staff can give you information on where to stay and dine and what attractions and events are nearby.

Cornwall Travel

Watergate Bay

Cornwall Travel

Watergate Bay

Getting Around Cornwall

The majority of visitors to Cornwall use their own cars to get around. Although the car is usually the most convenient way to travel in Cornwall, during the main holiday seasons traffic volume means that getting around can take much long and require patience on major routes and on arrival at popular destinations.

Carshare Cornwall is a free service for anyone looking to offer or receive a lift for journeys, and is a great way to make new friends or contacts, reduce your travel costs and reduce traffic congestion.  Although most members use the service for commuting, many members are also seeking or offering lifts for leisure and event travel.

Many of Cornwall’s coastal towns are linked to the main railway line which runs through Cornwall by the scenic branch lines to Looe, Falmouth, Newquay and St Ives.

With 80% of Cornwall being surrounded by water what better way is there to get around than by ferry? Hop onto one of more than 25 passenger or car ferries that operate around the county and see Cornwall from a new perspective. The King Harry Ferry, for example, is an iconic part of Cornwall’s history and operates 7 days a week as a key form of transportation for visitors and locals alike.

By taxi

If you want to get somewhere quickly or have a journey to make that isn’t served by public transport, make use of one of the many taxi companies in Cornwall.

By bus

Cornwall’s extensive network of bus services is run by two main operators, First Devon and Cornwall and First Kernow. Smaller operators also offer services in specific areas. Timetables for all services and maps can be accessed online.

The Cuisine of Cornwall

You’re in for a treat ~ food and drink in Cornwall is seriously special. Surrounded on three sides by the sea makes it easy for Cornwall to have fresh from the harbor seafood readily available. One famous local fish dish is Stargazy pie, a fish-based pie in which the heads of the fish stick through the piecrust, as though “star-gazing”. The pie is cooked as part of traditional celebrations for Tom Bawcock’s Eve, but is not generally eaten at any other time.

Cornwall Travel

Cornish Pasty

Cornwall is well known for its Cornish pasty, a savoury dish made with pastry. Today’s pasties usually contain a filling of beef steak, onion, potato and swede with salt and white pepper, but historically pasties had a variety of different fillings. Historically, some pasties were also often made with sweet fillings such as jam, apple and blackberry, plums or cherries. The wet climate and relatively poor soil of Cornwall make it unsuitable for growing many arable crops, however, it is ideal for growing the rich grass required for dairying, leading to the production of Cornwall’s other famous export, Cornish clotted cream. This forms the basis for many local specialties including Cornish fudge and Cornish ice cream. Cornish clotted cream has Protected Geographical Status under EU law, and cannot be made anywhere else.

Cornwall Travel

Saffron Cakes

Cornwall Travel

Cornish Clotted Cream

Local cakes and desserts include Saffron cake, Cornish heavy (hevva) cake, Cornish fairings biscuits, figgy ‘obbin, Cream tea and whortleberry pie. There are also many types of beers brewed in Cornwall – those produced by Sharp’s Brewery, Skinner’s Brewery and St Austell Brewery are the best-known – including stouts, ales and other beer types.

Cornwall Travel

Tribute Ale

Cornwall Travel

The Good Ol’ Boys

In Cornwall you can dine with sand between your toes at a beachside café, in a country pub with a roaring fire and a local band, or at a top restaurant.

What to do in Cornwall

There are lots of tourist attractions in Cornwall and a wide variety of days can be spent out and about. Visiting Cornwall will offer something for every member of your family or group. It is widely believed that there is somewhere in Cornwall for everyone. Maybe a gorgeous garden one day, a gallery or museum the next, or perhaps something a little more active – surf schools, boat trips, cliff top walking, or cycling. If history and heritage is more your thing, Cornwall offers historic houses, castles, museums and World Heritage Sites. Iconic attractions include: St Michael’s Mount, the Lost Gardens of Heligan, Minack Theatre, Tate St Ives, Land’s End, Tintagel Castle and the Eden Project ~ all are not to be missed!

Cornwall Travel

Trevose Head

Cornwall has no shortage of fantastic beaches and coves, that range from secluded, barely accessible rocky coves to huge expanses of golden sand. Each beach has a character of their own and something different to offer. Some of the Cornish beaches are busy with tourists with lots going on and others are quiet places where visitors and go to relax and listen to the noise of the sea.

There are lots of great Castles in Cornwall to explore. Some Cornwall castles are ruins but impressively some are still standing. Visiting a castle in Cornwall can make a really fun day out. There are also lots of beautiful manor houses in Cornwall as well that offer impressive gardens. For something different you could visit a mine and take the opportunity to go down a real Cornish mine. The Poldark Tin Mine and Gardens, an open-air museum in a stunning rural setting offers tours several days per week.

You can visit some of the real-world locations throughout Cornwall that are used to create the popular BBC-TV-Series Poldark (based on the Winston Graham novels). One thing for sure, you will not run out of things to do in Cornwall.

Where to Stay

There is a wide variety of Cornwall accommodations that includes Cornish cottages, luxury hotels, cozy pubs, camping, private house rentals or B&Bs. Whether you’re looking for a large, everything-thought-of hotel or a small boutique spot, you will find what you are looking for in Cornwall. 

Cornwall also offers caravan/camping sites (similar to U.S. camp sites for RV’s). What better way to visit a local area! Benn Park and Higher Lanhainsworth are two that will offer a great place to stay.

Visiting Cornwall has been on my bucket list for the longest while. I think about visiting this beautiful location often and hope to get their soon!

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