Whilst staying at the gorgeous Herringbone fishing loft {photos of the interior decor to swoon over in part one here} we set about exploring all that the area has to offer. We adore Cornwall with the sheer amount of beaches, cute fishing towns, great restaurants, seafood and countryside but have never visited in January before. It was unfortunate that the week we'd chosen, just after New Year, was especially quiet with a lot of restaurants and shops closed up if not for the week but some until February or even March! Being so far down I guess they're not expecting many tourists in the midst of Winter. The owners of the Herringbone had left us a list of places to visit and along with some of your Instagram suggestions we had a list as long as our arm of places to eat and hidden beaches to discover. Of course some are much more suited to the summer months but we had a fab few days nonetheless. And we took advantage of having some of the places to ourselves, some of the roads and fishing villages are so tiny down here that in the warmer months it can be a bit of a nightmare to get around. 

There are a couple of small shops and art galleries to wander around plus a deli, a few tea rooms, an ice cream parlour, two pubs {one very very good for food, The Old Coastguard Inn} and a restaurant which was recommended for seafood {although it was shut on our visit}. I had heard amazing things about The Rockpool Cafe - their hot chocolates look insane - but alas it was shut and in a way did me a favour for my detox. I would loved to have visited just for the setting over the sea. Next time for sure. 

There's a sandy beach in the main harbour and in the summer the sea shines bright blue. 

And some adorable cottages on the streets set just behind the harbour. I loved this anchor door knocker. 

Cornwall is so mild and we were amazed to see pretty camellias out everywhere. 

The Christmas light display in the daytime was slightly shabby with the scaffold poles etc but in fact it didn't detract from the overall charm of the place. 

We actually remembered to bring a selfie stick with us on this trip which was just as well as there weren't many people around to ask to take our photo. 

We're not great at selfies but I really like these and I absolutely adore this guy. <3

You can see St Michael's mount in the distance, the castle in the sea near Marizon and Penzance. Also just a couple of miles down the road is Newlyn the working fishing harbour which in the summer is meant to be amazing for buying fresh fish on the cheap. 

{St Ives} - 

I think I've talked before about my love for St Ives, we were staying there back in September 2012 when we got engaged in Cornwall. It's a long way down in Cornwall but SO worth the drive with five beautiful beaches and the best restaurants. It's always our first thought when thinking about Cornwall. So we started our trip there last week. You can see my photos from a sunny summer's day, and the insane beaches, there here and more recently here but even last week it had a buzz about it with nearly everything being open. There's the Tate gallery, gourmet beach cafes, bakeries, fish & chip shops and lots of shops to keep you busy. 

{Sennen Cove} 

Sennen Cove was recommended by so many of you on Instagram and we drove here last week for a walk to Land's End along the coast path from the bay. Again, I keep saying it but on a sunny day this place and the water would look incredible. There's a really nice looking restaurant here called Ben something, like a futher south Jamie's Watergate Bay type affair. I imagine the sunsets here are out of this world too. 

On the way back we stumbled across a daffodil farm!! There were hundreds, thousands, of bulbs all ready for picking and sending to the supermarkets around the country. I'm not sure if we were allowed to walk in and have a look to take some photos but we made sure not to tread on any of the flowers obviously. 

It makes you realise just how much milder Cornwall is compared to the rest of the country, they hardly ever get frosts! 

On our second night at the cottage we decided to go out for dinner so walked the short distance across the beach {!!} to the Old Coastguard Pub. We joked that it was like being in The Maldives again walking under the moonlight on the sand after dinner ha. It was pretty with the harbour lights and all the coloured string lights around the streets. 

We had the fixed price menu which was really good value for such great food and both had the squid and chorizo to start with a curry mayonnaise. It sounds kind of a weird combination but it was the best flavours we've had in a long time. Then I had the plaice and Ben had a fish stew. 

Definitely no puddings eaten during the detox... ooops too yummy to resist. 

A perfect end to a gorgeous couple of days, in fact I just want to go and relive it all again please. Next up, the rest of our stay further up the Cornish coast.

P.S. if you're interested for more on Cornwall see all of these posts I've written on our past adventures here. 

R <3 xx