St Ives
Porth IaIt's all to do with the light
St Ives has everything you need for a holiday in Cornwall. A choice of beaches, stunning views, great surf, a wide range of places to eat and some of the finest art galleries in the UK. No wonder people come back year after year.
Spoilt for choice
St Ives has five beaches to choose from, these range from Porthmeor, with its almost constant surf, to the family friendly Porthminster nestled below the railway station. In-between you have Town Beach, always busy and with every facility near by, and the two east facing beaches, Porthgwidden and the tiny Bamaluz, reached by steep steps by the museum.
So, whether it’s sandcastles, sandwiches or a swell that you are looking for, St Ives has a beach for you. And if it’s out of season, nothing beats a bracing walk along a windswept beach, followed by a warming drink in a St Ives pub.
Every picture tells a story
These days St Ives is well known across the world for its art. Tate St Ives, overlooking Porthmeor Beach, is home to exhibitions of work by contemporary artists and those who made the area their home over the years. Close by the studio and gardens of the sculpture Barbara Hepworth can be visited, whilst on the western edge of the town the Bernard Leach Pottery can be viewed and also offers classes for budding potters.
There are plenty of other galleries dotted around the town including the Penwith Gallery, who have ever changing exhibitions, or you could just pick up some paints and have a go yourself?
This crescent of golden sand has glorious views across St Ives Bay to Godrevy Lighthouse, inspiration for Virginia Woolf’s famous novel ‘To the Lighthouse’. With the benefit of the mildest climate in the UK, along with waving palm trees and translucent waters, there is a definite tropical feel to the Porthminster Beach.
Feasts and Festivals
The culture of St Ives is not just limited to its art scene. Numerous festivals take place across the year including the St Ives Feast Day in early February. This celebrates the founding of St Ives and part of the day is taken up by a hurling match when a silver ball is thought over in the streets.
In September a two week arts and music festival takes place, with live bands, poetry, book launches and special exhibitions, whilst May is usually the time to catch the St Ives Food and Drink Festival, a chance to sample all that’s good about Cornwall’s local produce.
Things to do in St Ives
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Explore the Island
No visit to St Ives is complete without a walk around the Island. Not a true island, it’s joined to the town by a narrow stretch of land, much of which is now a carpark!. It’s a chance to escape the crowds and see if you can spot some seals or just take in the views across the bay.
On the summit you will find, at the eastern end, the National Coastwatch Station, built in and around a Victorian coastal battery that also saw action during World War II. At the other end stands a chapel dedicated to St Nicholas, patron saint of sailors. This may at one time have also been a lighthouse and in the 1700s was used as a lookout to stop smuggling. Restored in the early 1970s, it is once again a place of worship and wedding blessings can take place there.
Plan your trip
Everything you need to know to plan your perfect trip to St Ives
From the M5 at Exeter, follow the A30 all the way down through Cornwall until the end of the Hayle bypass. Here go around the roundabout and take the A3074. Depending on what time of year it is and where you want to go, you may want to turn left onto the road that goes south of St Ives and then enters the town from the west, making it easier to access the large Trenwith carpark in the summertime.
St Ives has several short and long stay carparks, but be aware many are full for most of the summer. A good idea for day trippers is to use the Park & Ride at St Erth Railway Station (on the A30).
The nearest National Express stop to St Ives is Hayle or St Erth, from where local buses serve St Ives.
The towns bus station is close to the town centre and has good connections with most West Cornwall towns and villages.
St Ives Railway Station is reached by a branch line from St Erth, one stop before the end of the main line at Penzance. The scenic line hugs the coast all the way into St Ives, making it one of the finest short rail journeys in the UK
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Travel to Cornwall by train
GWR operate high speed train services frequently from London Paddington station including the Night Riviera Sleeper Service to Penzance. There are also direct trains daily from Bristol and beyond. More info from: nationalrail.co.uk
Once in Cornwall, there's a great rail network for getting around the county, ideal for when the roads are busy in the summer. Give the driver a rest and grab a cheap day return to St Ives or Looe. Sit back and enjoy the scenery on the Tamar Valley Line or head to the beach at Newquay or Falmouth. For more info, go to Great Scenic Railways
For National Rail enquiries telephone 08457 484950
The First Group co-ordinate bus services from many Cornish stations.
Park-and-ride schemes run in season at Liskeard (for Looe) and St Erth (for St. Ives).
Travel to Cornwall by road
It takes less than five hours to get from London to the heart of Cornwall by either train or car. Drive along the M4 motorway from London, or M6 from Manchester, and then the M5 to Exeter and finally either the A30, that is mostly dual carriageway, or the A38 passing Plymouth and Saltash into South East Cornwall. Alternatively if you enter Cornwall from North Devon, there is the scenic A39 Atlantic Highway running through Bude, which you can join from Junction 27 on the M5. Due to the high volume of traffic on Cornwall's roads during the summer months the main routes can become congested especially at weekends. Travelling overnight or outside peak rush hours is recommended to avoid long delays.
- To plan your journey use the AA Route Planner for a tailor made travel plan with timings and mileage
- For information on possible delays or roadwork's throughout the UK or in Cornwall visit Traffic Watch
- Travelling to Cornwall with a caravan? Check out our Caravan Towing guide
PLEASE BE AWARE. Sat-Navs can lead you to some wonderful places in Cornwall, many of them down narrow country lanes with high hedges and few reversing points. If you are not sure...don't go on. Better to turn around and find another route than end up lost in the middle of nowhere.
Travel to Cornwall by coach and bus
National Express operate a full service into Cornwall as far as Penzance, Megabuss also go to a few towns including Newquay and Falmouth.
Coach travel times from London or Birmingham to the city of Truro are around 7-8 hours
Many tour operators offer coach holidays to Cornwall, contact your local travel agent for details.
For information on public transport, including local bus timetables, once you are in Cornwall, Click here.
To plan your journey in advance, journey planning websites such as Traveline South West can be useful.
If you are bringing a coach to Cornwall, did you know Cornwall Council now offers a weekly coach rover ticket. This is available for all car parks where coaches are permitted and costs £15 for 24 hours or £50 for 7 days and £35 for 4 days. These can be obtained by creating an account to use the ZatPermit system.
Travel to Cornwall by air
Flying to Cornwall can offer an attractive alternative to the long and sometimes frustrating journey by train or car.
Newquay Airport is served by a variety of routes from across the UK and beyond. For more information, please visit the Cornwall Airport Newquay Website or call +44 (0)1637 860600 or e-mail Info@newquaycornwallairport.com
The Airport offers year-round onward connectivity to the Isles of Scilly with Skybus.
Exeter Airport is also withing easy reach of Cornwall via the A30 and A38.
Travel to Cornwall by ferry Travelling across the Channel from France to the UK can take as little time as 35 minutes on the Eurotunnel from Calais to Folkestone and just 1 hour and 20 minutes on one of the ferry services between France and Dover.
Plymouth is the closest ferry port to Cornwall, being just across the River Tamar. Brittany Ferries offer services from Roscoff in France and Santander in Northern Spain into Plymouth as well as further services from France and Spain into Portsmouth and Poole.
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