Oh my! St Ives is absolutely stunning isn’t it!

[imaginethemdragons]

Just watching the news all about G7, lots of shots of St Ives that looks like it could be abroad it is so utterly gorgeous!
I’ve never been to that neck of the woods, but my goodness, no wonder people say that Blackpool is a hole, when you compare the two!
I expect it’s an absolute fortune to visit for a holiday. But would absolutely love to go there.
Any one been? Was it a fortune?

Why Porthcurno beach?

Yes Carbis looked great, I love Cornwall as pp said many many gorgeous little spots

@Malteser71

How long does it take to walk to the Gurnards Head?

My memory says it’s eight miles or so? But I usually had a baby in a backpack, some of its quite steep, and I wasn’t going fast anyway, so I probably took three and a half hours or so? The views are worth lots of pausing.

It really is a beautiful and wonderful place to holiday.

We’ve stayed here - and it was amazing!

www.trevalgantouringpark.co.uk/

Would highly recommend!

You were brave walking that path with a back pack!

Strives to gurnards could take around 3 hours but sometimes more. It is graded ‘strenuous’. I walk the path a lot and have for decades. It is one of the least favourite IMO - some really tough spots and the walk into (or out of) at Ives is long. It’s steep - the only time ever I got bruised toe nails was on this walk.
The carricks are fun (islets with seals - need binocs).
The walk up to the gh is long if at the end of a walk.

We just stayed in Carbis Bay, we love it down there.
St Ives is beautiful if you don’t actually want to go there
The last few times we did, it was a sea of people, all moving as one homogenous mass, we just got swept along with everyone. It was like being in a parade!
Hated it, one time we took a buggy, lasted about half an hour and got out of there again.
It’s best admired from afar for us

@NecklessMumster and the seagulls are thugs We go every year and they are absolute ruthless and cunning bastards !
We stayed in Wales for a week over half term and were confused by their polite seagulls who waited for people to vacate benches so they could then swoop down and pick up the crumbs left !

I’m not surprised they are angry. Last time I was there I saw a couple parked on the harbour wall with an open bag of chips on their dashboard.

That seagull was livid 😂

I love st Ives but agree parking is a nightmare ! We stayed in carbis bay in an Airbnb and went to st Ives for dinner every night. I’ve asked my parents to come and visit me when quarantine is removed for foreigners and my plan is to take them there

Yuk I live in Cornwall and would only go to st Ives when the tourists aren’t there . Example of a beautiful place that has been essentially ruined by tourism

Porthcurno is stunning, turquoise waters, soft sand, sheltered and warm.

My main observation on Cornwall, we go a lot, is the walking is far nicer than just beaching. For beaches, the better weather is May and June. Come July and August you are more likely to get cooler and wetter days more than sunny days and flat seas. Last August when the rest of the U.K. had a warm, sunny two weeks west Cornwall was shrouded in mists and the temperature was a good 10 degrees cooler. Earlier in the season is best. Don’t forget it is a peninsular sticking out into the North Atlantic so wet weather is to be expected.

How did you get there and back? I always stayed in CB but got a bit tired of having to wait for the hourly train to get there/back.

I’m well aware you can walk, it’s just not always what you want to do

Park at the top of the hill next to the sports centre and walk down. I’ve never failed to get a space ?
Or train from St Erth that has a huge car park . The journey from St Erth to St Ives is short but breath taking.

@paradisaea

Porthcurno is stunning, turquoise waters, soft sand, sheltered and warm.

My main observation on Cornwall, we go a lot, is the walking is far nicer than just beaching. For beaches, the better weather is May and June. Come July and August you are more likely to get cooler and wetter days more than sunny days and flat seas. Last August when the rest of the U.K. had a warm, sunny two weeks west Cornwall was shrouded in mists and the temperature was a good 10 degrees cooler. Earlier in the season is best. Don’t forget it is a peninsular sticking out into the North Atlantic so wet weather is to be expected.

Haha so true and then the tourists take bad weather SO badly ! Like ‘what have to done with the sun?!’ Lol

Sorry, my question was aimed at the person who said they stayed in CB and went into st Ives every night.

It’s limiting always waiting for the train

We used to go regularly when I was a kid 30 odd years ago and it was lovely so I wanted to revisit with dh and the kids a couple of years ago, it was June and we were staying in Perranporth so went for the day, omg it was horrendous, the traffic was chaos from miles away so we decided to park and ride in.

When we eventually got there the pavements were packed, cars were crawling through the town trying to avoid the people who were having to walk in the road, we made it to the harbour beach and looking back to the prom you couldn't put a pin between the people. Never again.

Scenery wise it's nice if you stand and face the sea.

I prefer the coastline further north though around Newquay, Mawgan Porth, Bedruthan Steps etc, much more rugged and beautiful, some of the beaches around there have rock pools big enough to swim in.

I live just outside of St Ives. It is definitely picturesque but in the summer months I'm happy with the view from Hayle. Don't ever stay in St Ives, as long as you have a car there is plenty of places to stay which don't cost a fortune and you could then park your car at St Erth and get the train in which is not to be missed.

I've been to Blackpool and they are two different to compare,

Very unusual for it to be like that in June. August, yes.

Don’t forget it is a peninsular sticking out into the North Atlantic so wet weather is to be expected

We drive down from Yorkshire to see the see through blue sea even in wet weather ! Have never had to get 'the big coat' out in any weather down there, always T-shirt weather weather in August

It’s heaving in August to the point where you have to shuffle along the main street in single file…it’s really pretty, certainly, but far too busy to be enjoyable or relaxin in the summer. I wouldn’t go again. And the sea was too rough for swimming.

I love Penzance, if I could move down to Cornwall, that's where I would love to live.

We love St Ives. In many ways it's the perfect family holiday destination, because there are five beaches within walking distance and plenty else to keep adults sane, e.g. the art galleries. And, as you say, it's utterly beautiful.

The downside is that if you go during the summer school holidays it gets incredibly crowded, it is very expensive, and if you need to drive anywhere the roads are almost always congested. But most of the crowds tend to go away in the evenings and some of my most cherished memories are of walking on the beaches at dusk and watching the sunset.

I did wonder last year what the seagulls round there did when there were no tourists from whom they could steal food. They must have been quite bewildered, and very hungry.

St Ives is beautiful, there is no doubt about that, but during the peak holiday season the place is an unbelievably overcrowded nightmare. It’s impossible to drive into the town, with traffic queuing for miles, it’s impossible to park anywhere and it’s impossible to get out of the town once you’re in it.

I’ve been to St.Ives & Blackpool.
Give me Blackpool any day of the way.