Cornwall was always the main aim on our honeymoon staycation adventure so we were excited to set off from Bath towards the south west. We spent 5 nights in Cornwall, based in St Ives (see separate posts for details on the town) but tried to see some other places in around the county too.

We knew we wanted to explore a few places on the way down but hadn’t made any concrete plans, so we weaved our way across the county in a rather inefficient but fun way. Driving in Cornwall is an experience in itself – and that’s coming from someone who’s used to the single track roads of the Scottish Highlands! I will say that although things look close on the map, it does take quite a while to get from a to b.

Our first real stop on the way down was Tintagel Castle which is on the north coast, just slightly north of Padstow. The village of Tintagel is definitely geared to the tourists visiting the castle and is full of craft shops, bakeries and cafes. There are a number of public pay and display car parks throughout the village, there’s no parking for the castle itself so leave enough time to walk down. We explored the village a bit and after heading to the wrong end of the village first we worked our way back to castle ticket shop – note it’s just down the hill from the Cornish Bakery. It is £14.50 each to enter the castle, and we had to book a time slot (due to covid) – if you are subject to the same note it’s quite a walk from the ticket shop to the entrance to the castle. The route to the castle is down a very steep hill into the valley, and back up the other side – there is a landrover which can take you for a small charge but if you’re fairly fit it should be fine. Some of the castle is on the mainland (so to speak) with some interesting information boards. The main feature is the bridge over to the other portion of the castle – it is a very impressive bridge. The views along the coast and across the sea from here were fantastic, and we really enjoyed exploring the different areas. There is a small cafe but we headed back up the hill and got a Cornish Pastie for lunch – we felt it was only right!

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After Tintagel we had a bit of a hairy drive across country – following the sat nav was not a good idea as some of the roads we drove along were really tiny and when we found we were having to ford rivers we realised we were potentially a bit off track. Anyway once we found the main roads again we drove across country to Falmouth – which was sort of in the right direction. We didn’t spend too long there but it is a very pretty town with great clothes shops and outdoor gear – it definitely gave us the flavour of what we would be finding in the rest of Cornwall.

We continued on to St Ives which we just fell in love with. I think it was the highlight of my whole two week holiday and I would love to go back. There’s lots more details of what we did and where we ate in separate blog posts.

One of the other days we spent exploring Cornwall was another cross country adventure, starting with the Eden Project. Richie and I have a love of gardening so enjoy visiting new and exciting gardens when we’re away – so as you can imagine the Eden Project was pretty high up on our wish list. Again we had to pre-book tickets and a time slot in advance, and it was one of our more expensive tickets at £57 for the two of us. We arrived a bit earlier than our time slot and could see from the number of car parks how busy it must get in the high season. It is a bit of a walk down from the car park to the entrance pavilion, and we were queuing to go in from quite far back, but once we were in it was very quiet – one of the covid perks no doubt! After a cup of tea in the cafe we set off, having to follow a one way route around the park. We spent quite a while just admiring the tiered landscaping and plants before making it down to the Biomes. When we entered the first Biome we were hit with a wall of tropical heat so straight away had to start de-layering – it was quite a cool but sunny October day and we had dressed for the outdoors. The Biomes are very impressive, both in size and content, and the paths meander up quite high to the most tropical areas, and hottest! The plants were amazing and there are even small tropical birds nesting in the trees. The second Biome is a bit cooler as Mediterranean but still a really impressive array of plants. There are places to stop for food and drink all the way round, and I can imagine in summer there are lots of picnic opportunities.

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After a couple of hours we left the Eden Project and headed north towards Padstow as we had booked dinner there at Rick Steins restaurant. We were a bit early so we looked up where we could go beforehand and stumbled across the Carnewas at Bedruthan which is a section of dramatic north coast cliffs run by the National Trust. Even though it is only a mile or two south of Padstow we didn’t know too much about it but we are really pleased we found it as the coastline is stunning. As it is a National Trust you have to pay for parking, it starts at £2.50 for 2 hours but otherwise it is free to explore. There is a small cafe at the car park and so we had a lovely traditional Cornish tea (scones with jam and clotted cream) sitting in the garden overlooking the sea. The coastal path is part of the South West Coastal Path and so we were pleased to do another small section (see our walk from St Ives to Zennor in a separate post). The steps down to Bedruthan beacah were closed due to a rock fall but we didn’t mind as walking along the cliffs in the sunshine was beautiful.

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Our final stop that day was Padstow. This is another very pretty seaside town, tucked away from the ocean so much more protected. The town itself is quite small but has all the usual lovely shops we found in all the Cornish towns. We walked around and did a large loop, stopping to watch the small ferry which takes passengers over to Rock – where the celebrities are rumoured to have houses. We stumbled upon a tasting room run by the Padstow Brewing Company which if you like beer I would highly recommend. As its a tasting room it’s quite small but a very comfortable place to sit and while away some time. They have a good range of there own beer, I particularly liked their pilsner.

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Our real main purpose for visiting Padstow was a trip to Rick Steins Seafood Restaurant – a real treat for us and it did not disappoint – this is one you definitely have to book well in advance. The location of the restaurant is right on the harbour, but behind a car park so there aren’t amazing views but the food makes up for it. The staff were so helpful and welcoming, and more than happy to chat away for a while which is nice. As it was a treat for us I went all out on my order – potentially a bit too much as I was far too full afterwards but nevermind. I started with the seafood bisque which came in a separate pot and individual croutons and toppings (Richie had the mussels). Then I had lobster risotto which was so rich but beautiful (Richie had seafood gratin). And then as I was stuffed I had affogato to finish which came with a delicious biscotti and schnapps! It was all wonderful and such a treat for us on honeymoon.

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