St Ives
(Ancient original blog post with ancient photos.)
The train ride to St. Ives is one of most spectacular train journeys in Britain.
Make sure to sit on the correct side to catch the sea views as the train trundles along, and witness the amazing tribute to Victorian engineering as the track hugs the cliff and somehow doesn’t topple straight over.
The train stops just at the top of the steps leading down to Porthminster Beach: Step off the train, turn to the right, and meet a subtropical climate you’d never in a million years believe was in the UK. Palm trees? Balmy breezes? Magnificent stretches of silky white sand? The town is a working port, as it has been for eons, where fishermen still land their daily catches, much of it shipped off to some of the finest restaurants in the world.
It’s a perfect town to base yourself while exploring the area. For one thing, there are plenty of buses to take you hither and yon across the wild, rugged corner of the country.
Then, when you want a break from hither and yon, St Ives offers winding cobbled streets leading off to even smaller streets and passageways—to shops and tearooms and rugged trails along the coast, restaurants and pubs and famous art galleries, staunch stone buildings that have survived furious storms longer than you’ve been alive, and colorful doors and explosive displays of flowers. Is there anything else?
The train stops just at the top of the steps leading down to Porthminster Beach: Step off the train, turn to the right, and meet a subtropical climate you’d never in a million years believe was in the UK. Palm trees? Balmy breezes? Magnificent stretches of silky white sand? The town is a working port, as it has been for eons, where fishermen still land their daily catches, much of it shipped off to some of the finest restaurants in the world.
It’s a perfect town to base yourself while exploring the area. For one thing, there are plenty of buses to take you hither and yon across the wild, rugged corner of the country.
Then, when you want a break from hither and yon, St Ives offers winding cobbled streets leading off to even smaller streets and passageways—to shops and tearooms and rugged trails along the coast, restaurants and pubs and famous art galleries, staunch stone buildings that have survived furious storms longer than you’ve been alive, and colorful doors and explosive displays of flowers. Is there anything else?
Step off the train, cross the parking lot, and meet the sea.
St Ives is also beach and rocks and surfing and boating.
It's also the South West Coast Path, which runs wild and dangerous alongside the sea.