Have to see it all: The sights of Cornwall

I saw so much of Cornwall it needs it's own post! All thanks to my host Liz who took me to see places like the Minack Theatre and got me onto a bus tour around Land's End, and so many more things. It's so great to be able to stay with a local who knows the absolute best things that aren't to be missed.

The weather caved in on my trip down to Land's End and St. Ive's unfortunately, but at least it was just grey and misty rather than raining. It was a hop on-hop off bus that left from Penzance and went around the coast on the peninsula, stopping at a beach called Sennen Cove, Land's End, and a large fishing village called St. Ives. Thanks to a tip from Liz I knew to not get off at Land's End straight away, but to wait and get off at Sennen Cove. There was a great, easy cliff walk that was about 30mins that went back around the coast to Land's End where I could get the next bus. It was a beautiful cliff walk as it had great views of Land's End, and you could see things like an old shipwreck that you wouldn't have seen coming from the other direction. It's fun to say I've been to Land's End! Though it's very touristy and geared towards to big coach tours - if you want a picture with the sign post you have to pay a guy £10, just as well it was a misty day or would have been more upset about only getting a quick pic from behind the fence.

Sennen Cove

Land's End (top of pic)

St. Ives was a very large, pretty fishing village that is a big 'day at the seaside' type place. with every second store selling ice cream and the next selling fish and chips. The ice creams here came with a warning - be careful of the seagulls! They'd learnt to swoop in and just grab your ice cream as you take a bite. All the fishing villages around this coast have man made harbour walls, so every town you see has it's own little calm bay or beach area.

An awesome day was spent checking out Minack Theatre and the Porthcurno Beach area. Liz loved bringing people here, with good reason - it was so beautiful! First there's an amazing lookout point over the huge, hidden beach with it's giant cliffs. Apparently at the right time of year you can look down and see basking sharks.

Then, after paying a small fee you go into the Minack Theatre, which is an extremely unusual, very interesting and jaw droppingly beautiful sight. It is a completely man made open-air theatre, and they play shows throughout the summer. It would be an amazing place for a concert or a play - if it's at night they light it all up and during the day it's just gorgeous anyway. The amazing story behind it is that it was created by one woman, by hand, over decades, with just the help of one or two people. She carted building materials down and mixed all the concrete. Every single seat and step has a different design or name drawn into the concrete. There is a little visitor centre detailing the history, as well as a cafe with the best view. It was a really cool place and I could definitely see why this lady poured her heart and life into building it!

I also spent an afternoon exploring every nook and cranny of the castle on St. Michael's Mount, which is the little hill of an island right in front of Penzance and sticks out for miles.

The cool thing about this 'island' is that it can be reached on foot at low tide, across a wide cobblestoned path. You can take the tiny ferry boat if the tide is up but it's much more fun to walk across. It only takes about half an hour to wait for the tide to draw out enough and walk over once it's low enough to see the path. It's a decent sized castle, and there what used to be a tiny village on the lower part of the island for all the servants and other people working for the castle. There are fantastic views, especially on the amazing day I saw it on. There are also huge formal, pleasure and botanic gardens on one side so once you've had a look in the castle you can have a wander around outside and have a picnic on the lawns.