{Padstow}

Some photos from our recent trip to Cornwall as requested by a few of you on Instagram. I was down there reviewing hotels for SYGM {full post on them all here}. We worked out that it was our fourth trip in the past few years, so we revisited some old favourite places {Padstow and St Ives} and discovered some new {Mousehole and Penzance}. Such a lovely part of the country. You can see our Camper Van trip from last year here and here, photos from a weekend this past Spring here and I must post the full travelogue from our first ever trip down there when we got engaged at some point.

In Padstow we only had a few hours on Monday morning between the drive down and checking in at The Scarlet Hotel. So it was a whistle stop visit, we had lunch from Rick Stein's deli, the whole place is basically Padstein, a look around the shops and a walk to my favourite beach up past the war memorial. One of these days we'll have enough time there to get the ferry across to Rock, or eat at Ainsworth's number 6 that I've heard so much about or visit Constantine Bay.




From there it was to the Scarlet Hotel for a night, again I've written all about it over here on SYGM, it was pure heaven. The best views, spa, food, snuggly hotel gowns, hot tub, breakfast, sunsets, beach. We would definitely go back for longer next time. And if you go, be sure to book a hot-tub.








The next day we left for St Ives. Probably one of my top three favourite places in the UK. It will always be special as we stayed here on our very first trip to Cornwall back in 2012 when we got engaged. We've been three times now, all in September, and every time has been bright blue skies! Although it would still be just as gorgeous on a grey day I bet. It's full of art galleries, lovely shops, has five beautiful beaches, cobbled old streets, the cutest nautical cottages and a big harbour filled with fishing boats bobbing around. There are ice cream places, {Moomaids of Zennor is my fav}, bakeries, pasty shops, fish & chips as well as more upmarket restaurants. Last time we ate at the tapas place overlooking the beach. Porthmeor Beach by the Tate is best for sunsets. We stayed at Headland House for the second time, it's in Carbis Bay {a 25 min pretty walk around the coast from St Ives which is good for burning off your ice cream} or there's a train that goes back and forth. Again, I'll review it properly over on SYGM this week but it really is a perfect place to stay. Definitely worth spending a few days in St Ives, there's so much to explore.












Then it was on to Mousehole, just outside Penzance where we were staying at the Chapel House. Penzance is nice but more of a town. Mousehole is proper Cornwall, a true fishing village which we loved wandering around. I'd heard a lot about it but we'd never got round to this side of the coast before, it's almost right at the very bottom near Lands End. If it had been a sunnier day we would have driven around the coast, stopping at Cape Cornwall or Kynanze Cove. There are sweet streets to walk around and not really a great deal there which is part of it's charm, but there are enough little cafes and a few shops to have a look in as well as the main harbour.