Towards the end of August, Tom and I spent a week in Cornwall – staying in Carbis Bay first and then St Ives for a few days.
We had plans to visit Sicily in June, but the trip ended up being cancelled due to Covid. After 5 months of staying in Leamington Spa and only venturing out of town to Warwick once, it was nice to get away and spend time somewhere new.
For the first few days, we stayed in an Airbnb in Carbis Bay. It was only a short walk from the train station and the hosts were so lovely, plus they had the cutest puppy ever which is a massive bonus.
On our first full day, we went kayaking and swimming in the morning. The water was cold but the sort of cold you can get used to (kind of). The beach was fairly busy, but I’d still recommend Carbis Bay beach over any of the beaches in St Ives as these were really busy and people cared a lot less about social distancing.
In the afternoon we walked from Carbis Bay to Lelant beach and back. I reckon it was around 4 miles overall but if I’m being honest my ability to judge distances is not great. It was one of my favourite activities from the trip, we walked alongside the coast most of the way and it wasn’t too long or difficult. Plus Lelant beach is huge and mostly wet, meaning it was full of other walkers which saved us from having to dodge around people sunbathing on towels.
On the second day, we took the train to St Ives. It’s super quick between the two towns, so it only took us about 25 minutes in total to get there from our Airbnb.
We went to the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Tate St Ives. Both were really interesting, even if you’re not a massively arty person like myself. It was cool to see a Picasso in the art gallery!
For tea we went to Caffe Pasta and Pizzeria. The food was nice but not mind-blowing, I’d recommend getting the pizza over the pasta (Tom was a little disappointed in his pasta, but my veggie pizza was good). In terms of Covid it was very safe, we were spaced out away from other customers and all the waiters wore masks when serving.
On the Tuesday, we’d planned to go to Seal Island – but the boat trip got cancelled due to the weather being really windy. So instead we travelled to Zennor, stopped off at a pub called The Tinners Arms for some lunch and walked back to St Ives around the coast.
This walk was around 7 miles in total and took us all afternoon. I reckon we set off just past 1pm and we arrived back at St Ives at around 4.30pm. The windy weather made it a little scary at the top of the cliff (especially around the edges), but the walk itself was beautiful – although not for people who struggle going up and down hills. There was a lot of clambering over rocks too when it was difficult to see where the path was leading.
We also spotted a few seals as we walked past Seal Island (cuuuuute)! Who needs a boat trip anyway?
Then it was time for us to move from our Airbnb onto St Ives. We were a little bit hesitant about this because of how busy the town centre had been, but we stayed on a Glamping site around a 30 minute walk from the train station – which was absolutely perfect.
We stayed in the site’s Hobbit House. The inside was pretty bare with nothing but a double mattress and a mirror hanging on the wall, but the outside had a picnic bench, a couple of chairs and a firepit (which Tom found super exciting).
The weather had picked up by the time we moved to St Ives, so we headed to the town for the afternoon. The one thing I would say about St Ives is: don’t look on Google maps and say “Oh there’s a smaller beach around the corner, it’ll probably be quieter there” – because I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but every beach is packed.
We walked up the island, which is a hill with a castle on top, and sat for a little in the sun before Tom went surfing while I had a nap on the beach. We had a little wander around the Downalong cottages too, to see where the fishermen used to live. I also braved the cold sea and went swimming for a grand total of 5 minutes before my extremities went numb and I got out lol.
We spent the evening by the fire pit and Tom took this photo, which looks like it’s straight out of a Go Outdoors brochure.
Our last day in St Ives was pretty rainy, so we stayed at the campsite until it had cleared up and then went for some food in St Ives. We went to a restaurant called Beer & Bird and ate SO MUCH – Tom said his burger was the best vegetarian meal he’d ever had and I can confirm it was g l o r i o u s. The staff were really friendly and our waitress made me a fab frozen margarita, which was a great way to finish off the trip.
Despite our Italy trip being cancelled, I still think Tom and I did really well on the holiday front this year. If you’re fine with a few crowds then I would 100% recommend a week in St Ives and the surrounding areas.
Have you been on any Staycations recently in your country? Let me know where you’ve been visiting in the comments!
Becky Marrow 