Hotel and things to do near the Eden Project

[MrsCardone]

Hello, I am planning a trip to the Eden Project for myself and DD. Can anybody recommend a nearby hotel? We will be taking public transport everywhere. Also does anybody know of a restaurant or cafe with vegan options? Many thanks.

What other places are you planning to see? You can get a bus from St Austell train station but in general public transport in Cornwall is very poor and a lot of tourist attractions aren't on public transport routes. I would say stay somewhere in Truro close to the train or bus station if you can.

St Austell is the nearest place. I’m sure they have plenty of B&B type places. How long are you staying there?

The Eden project is off the beaten track a bit, but not far from St Austell at all. Max 10 mins from centre.

You are really close to the beaches as well, I can recommend some lovely places. Lost Gardens of Heligan are nearby as well.

When are you going? What age is DD? I can recommend food places.

Lost gardens of Heligan are lovely.

I went to Eden recently and in all honesty I was quite disappointed, I’d visited years ago and loved it but a lot of the site is now looking quite tired and the external gardens are pretty unloved

The biomes are impressive, but the rest of it, compared to other gardens I’ve visited recently were a disappointment especially based on the entry price, and I completely raved about it in the past.

Yes I agree about Eden. It hasn’t kept up with the times. Zero technology. It does seem dated now. The entry price is a shocker. The biomes are still really amazing. When I first went the Mediterranean biome was better, now it’s a restaurant really. They were going to do a desert biome, but that didn’t happen.

Thank you so much! DD is 9.

I also prefer the Lost Gardens, I am not sure how accessible it would be without a car though.

The food options at both Eden and Heligan are good, I’m vegetarian rather than vegan though and didn’t really look at vegan options.

Are you set on Cornwall though? We visited Kew in the summer on the Tube and had a lovely day out.

Oh and we’re looking at going early December.

I think you will struggle a bit with public transport. It might be easier to get a taxi. In St Austell they have electric car taxis if you are thinking of the green aspect.

Heligan is really good, not sure In December what it’s like. They do usually do events for the holidays. Eden will have Christmas events on I expect. Both Eden and Heligan have vegan food. Even the ice cream hut at Heligan has vegan ice cream.

We can get taxis.

Number for taxi

C&C taxis with their 100% electric fleet 01726 63538

@DobbyTheHouseElk thank you .

We stayed in the youth hostel in Eden which was great, we stayed in a pod. Not sure if they're open this late. I second public transport not being great and I underestimated how far Eden Project is (Bodelva) from St Austell.
In St Austell you can get to many different places as there's a train station. We liked Charleston Harbour, Mousehole, Marizion etc. However I took my car so unsure how accessible this is. You could get the train to Penzance and then get on the lovely (but long) open too bus which goes around the coast to all of those places and onto Lands End.
I think of that holiday so fondly. The best thing with the Eden ticket is you can go back as many times as you like in one year. We live in the South West so went back three times.
Also the owl sanctuary is good nearby. And the football crazy golf! Lady in the staying on site walked there from Eden.

I’d stay in St Austell. They have all the main supermarkets. Big ASDA. Shops etc. it’s a small town, but it’s all easy to walk to.

Public transport to Eden. Taxi to Heligan. Not sure if the bus goes there. Go to Mevagissey it’s a beautiful harbour. Shops and cafes. Watch the fishing boats.

Pentewan sands is a pretty beach. They have HUbbox on the beach which has vegan burgers etc. You could look at staying there. It’s a caravan holiday park. Always looks nice. Right on the beach. Close to St Austell.

@jazzupyourchuff owl sanctuary sounds great 🦉!

Pinetum Gardens are nice - in St. Austell and you can get a nature hit for a fraction of the price of Eden!
Agree that public transport is hard. The infrastructure between towns and village is virtually non existent.
Hotels are rare - Premier Inn would be your best bet, otherwise it's B&Bs.
How old is DD? Camel Creek is a great little theme park for smaller children, but may be hard to get to on a bus.
Check out www.travelinesw.com/ for transport links, you can plan journeys and see routes etc.

I guess we’ll opt for a soulless Premier Inn as the idea of staying in a B&B scares me a bit, as it will only be myself and DD.

You need to go crabbing in Mevagissey. It’s one of our favourite things to do.

Fowey is also lovely for a visit. We love the owl sanctuary.

Oh, the Lost Gardens are great as is Lanhydrock.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/bankside-bed-amp-breakfast.en-gb.html?aid=376362;label=booking-name-ocusVqu2ZjTBWSDZp33*gSM541115883572%3Apl%3Ata%3Ap1%3Ap22%2C563%2C000%3Aac%3Aap%3Aneg%3Afi%3Atikwd-65526620%3Alp1006567%3Ali%3Adem%3Adm%3Appccp;sid=061bd88e0581296f837035cbb00efe9b;alllsrblocks=15922530112693610312210;checkin=2021-11-07;checkout=2021-11-08;desttid=1592253;desttype=hotel;dist=0;grouppadults=2;groupchildren=0;hapos=1;highlighteddblocks=15922530126936103112110;hpos=1;matchingblockkid=15922530126936103112110;norooms=1;reqqadults=2;reqchildren=0;room1=A%2CA;sbbpricetype=total;srrorder=popularity;srpriiblocks=159225301269361031121107000;srepoch=1636273951;srpvid=8f823c0eaddc0160;type=total;ucfs=1;sig=v11_a1H5AxB&
I stayed here on my own with my two kids in a lovely apartment above a garage with the most glorious shower en suite.
The host was so kind and cooked us breakfast in the morning. Lovely to the kids. She might be able to rustle up a tofu scramble and some veggie sausages if you give her enough notice.

It was called Bankside bed and breakfast.

@jazzupyourchuff your enormous link doesn’t work . Can you give me the name of the B&B? It sounds great! Thanks.

Agree with PP about Eden looking dated, tired and unloved now. We went last week, predominantly to take the DC to the ice rink, which is still great fun.

They've had what looks like subsidence problems on the upper gardens and are having lots of repair works done to make them stable. They had to lay off a lot of staff last year and there hardly seems to be anyone around now. Didn't see any gardeners at all, and it does look unkempt.

We've been going since it first opened and it has lost a lot of its wow factor. The only bits I still love are the biomes. The Core is virtually empty now apart from the big blue sculpture that blows out smoke rings. The café there has gone.

It's all looking very overpriced for what it is.

This time of year it's harder to find stuff open. We normally like Wheal Martyn, but that's shut for winter now, as is Lanhydrock (apart from the parkland and top café) and Trerice.

@DukkaDukka

You need to go crabbing in Mevagissey. It’s one of our favourite things to do.

Fowey is also lovely for a visit. We love the owl sanctuary.

Love Mevagissey, one of my favourite Cornwall places to visit

@MrsCardone

I guess we’ll opt for a soulless Premier Inn as the idea of staying in a B&B scares me a bit, as it will only be myself and DD.

Why does the idea of a B and B scare you?

St Austell is not a tourist destination in itself but would provide transport links to other places. Mevagissey is a touristy fishing harbour with lots of places to stay and to eat, with buses to St Austell, Eden, Heligan and Pentewan.