16 - 24 April 2010
www.visitcornwall.com
Beautifully rugged landscapes, clear blue skies, turquoise bays and miles of soft white sands, amazing gardens and seaside inspired art. This has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth!
We have just returned from an incredible week down west. The sun shone every day in the bluest of skies and the beauty of the landscape took our breath away. Our itinerary went a little like this:
Friday 16 - Collect hire car and drive from london to Stonehenge, explore the stones then off to Taunton and stay over.
Saturday 17 - Hearty breakfast, pack the car and off to explore. We travel to Minehead via the pretty town of Dunster. Continue the drive along north Devon coast and stop off at Lynmouth. Dave does of wonderful job negotiating the very steep and treacherous road up out of the resort to higher ground, we stop to take in the views while enjoying our first ice cream! We continue along the coast to Ilfracombe and check out 'The Quay' a very nice harbour side establishment owned by Damien Hirst. Next stop St.Ives! We find our holiday rental - Ocean Loft and it is fabulous! Unpack the car and off out to explore. We enjoy dinner at 'The wave Restaurant', then off for a stroll along Porthmeor Beach.
Sunday 18 - The sun is out and we are ready to explore! We stroll along Porthmeor Beach, up over the headland and enjoy a coffee overlooking Porthgwidden. Next stop St. Ives harbour then round the bay to the sweeping white sands of Porthminster. We continue up around the coastal path to Cardis bay. We decide to return via a quick paddle around the headland - brrrrr! - what a fun day out!
Monday 19 - Another sunny day! Today we drive further west from St.Ives, down to Landsend, beautiful landscape scarred by hideous commercial development, we move on! Next stop Penzance. We visit the contemporary Exchange Gallery and enjoy a coffee, next we find out about the 'Newlyn School artists' at the brilliant Penlee House Gallery. Off again, up the coast to explore St Michael's Mount. We drive back to base and chill in the loft.
Tuesday 20 - More sunshine, hop in the car and drive east to explore the amazing Eden Project - this place is incredible and well worth a visit! Next stop the magical Lost Gardens of Heligan. Back to the loft after a fab day out!
Wednesday 21 - Yipee - sunny again! Today drive up the coast towards Padstow and explore the rugged beauty of Tintagel Castle. Very chilly wind so we abandon idea of walking along the cliff track. We move on to the beautiful village of Boscastle and see how things have moved on since the disaster of 2004. In the eve we enjoy a great meal at the Porthgwidden beach cafe.
Thursday 22 - More sunshine! - Today we are off towards the Lizard via a quick stop off in Penzance to buy some painting gear. Next stop the incredibly beautiful Kynance Cove, this place is just amazing! Off again, this time we head east to Gweek and visit the Nationl Seal Sanctuary, we fall in love with the inhabitants - especially the otters - they are too cute! On the way back to base we pop into a brilliant local nursery called 'Hardy Exotics' and pick up a selection of plants for the garden. In the evening we take our painting kit into St. Ives and set up on the Quay - We enjoy an hour of painting as the sun sets on another perfect day :-)...
Friday 23 - Our last day - and more sunshine! - We decide to stay put in St. Ives and explore the artistic heritage. First stop Tate St.Ives, we enjoy the highly creative work of Dexter Dalwood - his collage inspired compositions are amazing. The Tate is an iconic building that looks out over Porthmeor Beach - the views are incredible and well worth a visit. Next stop the Barbera Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden - a wonderful small museum set in an enchanting sculpture scattered garden - Trewyn Studio and much of the artist's work remaining was given to the nation and placed in the care of the Tate Gallery in 1980. We move on to the St. Ives society of artists - this is a much loved creative space and home to many local artists, housed in the old Mariners Church, this gallery is at the centre of the St. Ives artistic community. We head back to the loft for a late lunch then off again to walk along the cliff path to the West of Porthmeor. We spend our last eve on the beach with a bottle vino and sketch pads - perfect!
Saturday 24 - head off home today - we wave goodbye to the wonderful St.Ives and make a promise to visit again soon!
Beautifully rugged landscapes, clear blue skies, turquoise bays and miles of soft white sands, amazing gardens and seaside inspired art. This has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth!
We have just returned from an incredible week down west. The sun shone every day in the bluest of skies and the beauty of the landscape took our breath away. Our itinerary went a little like this:
Friday 16 - Collect hire car and drive from london to Stonehenge, explore the stones then off to Taunton and stay over.
Saturday 17 - Hearty breakfast, pack the car and off to explore. We travel to Minehead via the pretty town of Dunster. Continue the drive along north Devon coast and stop off at Lynmouth. Dave does of wonderful job negotiating the very steep and treacherous road up out of the resort to higher ground, we stop to take in the views while enjoying our first ice cream! We continue along the coast to Ilfracombe and check out 'The Quay' a very nice harbour side establishment owned by Damien Hirst. Next stop St.Ives! We find our holiday rental - Ocean Loft and it is fabulous! Unpack the car and off out to explore. We enjoy dinner at 'The wave Restaurant', then off for a stroll along Porthmeor Beach.
Sunday 18 - The sun is out and we are ready to explore! We stroll along Porthmeor Beach, up over the headland and enjoy a coffee overlooking Porthgwidden. Next stop St. Ives harbour then round the bay to the sweeping white sands of Porthminster. We continue up around the coastal path to Cardis bay. We decide to return via a quick paddle around the headland - brrrrr! - what a fun day out!
Monday 19 - Another sunny day! Today we drive further west from St.Ives, down to Landsend, beautiful landscape scarred by hideous commercial development, we move on! Next stop Penzance. We visit the contemporary Exchange Gallery and enjoy a coffee, next we find out about the 'Newlyn School artists' at the brilliant Penlee House Gallery. Off again, up the coast to explore St Michael's Mount. We drive back to base and chill in the loft.
Tuesday 20 - More sunshine, hop in the car and drive east to explore the amazing Eden Project - this place is incredible and well worth a visit! Next stop the magical Lost Gardens of Heligan. Back to the loft after a fab day out!
Wednesday 21 - Yipee - sunny again! Today drive up the coast towards Padstow and explore the rugged beauty of Tintagel Castle. Very chilly wind so we abandon idea of walking along the cliff track. We move on to the beautiful village of Boscastle and see how things have moved on since the disaster of 2004. In the eve we enjoy a great meal at the Porthgwidden beach cafe.
Thursday 22 - More sunshine! - Today we are off towards the Lizard via a quick stop off in Penzance to buy some painting gear. Next stop the incredibly beautiful Kynance Cove, this place is just amazing! Off again, this time we head east to Gweek and visit the Nationl Seal Sanctuary, we fall in love with the inhabitants - especially the otters - they are too cute! On the way back to base we pop into a brilliant local nursery called 'Hardy Exotics' and pick up a selection of plants for the garden. In the evening we take our painting kit into St. Ives and set up on the Quay - We enjoy an hour of painting as the sun sets on another perfect day :-)...
Friday 23 - Our last day - and more sunshine! - We decide to stay put in St. Ives and explore the artistic heritage. First stop Tate St.Ives, we enjoy the highly creative work of Dexter Dalwood - his collage inspired compositions are amazing. The Tate is an iconic building that looks out over Porthmeor Beach - the views are incredible and well worth a visit. Next stop the Barbera Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden - a wonderful small museum set in an enchanting sculpture scattered garden - Trewyn Studio and much of the artist's work remaining was given to the nation and placed in the care of the Tate Gallery in 1980. We move on to the St. Ives society of artists - this is a much loved creative space and home to many local artists, housed in the old Mariners Church, this gallery is at the centre of the St. Ives artistic community. We head back to the loft for a late lunch then off again to walk along the cliff path to the West of Porthmeor. We spend our last eve on the beach with a bottle vino and sketch pads - perfect!
Saturday 24 - head off home today - we wave goodbye to the wonderful St.Ives and make a promise to visit again soon!
10 out of 10
