A WEEKEND IN ST IVES, CORNWALL: 2-DAY ST IVES ITINERARY

Discover the best things to see, do, eat, and drink in St Ives during this two-day itinerary. Lace up your hiking boots for coastal walks along the South West Coast Path, explore sandy beaches, visit art galleries, enjoy harbour views, and indulge in local cuisine.

Artistic Heritage St Ives, a charming Cornish seaside town, has long been a magnet for artists. From JMW Turner to Barbara Hepworth, painters and sculptors have been drawn here by the clear light and scenic vistas. The town boasts museums, art galleries, and an annual St Ives Festival celebrating music, arts, and literature.

Coastal Delights Beyond its artistic allure, St Ives offers more. With five sandy beaches, a historic harbor, wildlife-spotting boat trips, and coastal walks, there’s plenty to explore. Don’t miss out on the delectable local seafood while you enjoy your perfect weekend getaway in Cornwall!

HOW TO SPEND A WEEKEND IN ST IVES FRIDAY EVENING

Check into your accommodation, then start your weekend in St Ives with a stroll around the harbour. St Ives has a long history as a fishing port, and the old heart of the town lies in the narrow, cobbled streets running off the harbour, known as the Down-a-long.

The fishing industry is much smaller today but you’ll still see boats in the harbour, protected by Smeaton’s Pier. The pier was built in 1767 and is unusual in having two lighthouses – the original Smeaton’s lighthouse halfway along and another at the end, built in the 1890s when the pier was extended by 300 feet so the harbour could hold more boats.

SATURDAY MORNING

The following morning, start the day on Porthmeor Beach. It’s one of five beaches around St Ives and lies on the northern coast, with a long stretch of golden sand between two rocky headlands. (If you’re travelling with a dog, note they’re not permitted on Porthmeor or most of St Ives’ other beaches between 15 May–30 September, 10am–6pm.)

Porthmeor is rated as one of Cornwall’s best surfing beaches, and you can usually spot a few surfers in action. If you fancy joining them, St Ives Surf School run a mix of group and individual surf lessons on Porthmeor Beach, starting from complete beginners.

Otherwise if the weather’s not looking good or you prefer a more relaxing start to the weekend, call into the Tate St Ives overlooking the beach (open from 10am). This Cornish outpost of the famous London art gallery opened in 1993 inside a former gasworks.

It’s worth visiting just to explore the building, which was expanded in 2017 by digging into the hillside behind it to make more space. But it’s the artworks which draw in the crowds. There’s a focus on twentieth-century British works, including many by artists who were inspired by St Ives, as well as a varied mix of temporary exhibitions.

Then head across the road to the Porthmeor Beach for lunch. cafés has a fantastic location on the beachfront, with a terrace for sunny days and a glass-walled dining area and cosy alcoves where you can wrap up with a blanket when it’s cooler.

The menu is a mix of lunch dishes like salads and frittatas, alongside a bigger tapas menu with internationally inspired options, like salt and pepper squid, chipotle chicken tacos, and lemon and ricotta arancini made using local produce wherever possible.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

After lunch, take a walk along the coast eastwards towards the ‘The Island’ – which despite the name isn’t an island at all. It’s really a small peninsula connected to the mainland, and is a popular place to spot seabirds. Species like guillemots, Manx shearwaters and gannets are all commonly seen here, as well as the occasional puffin.

St Nicholas Chapel sits on top of the island, and is dedicated to the patron saint of sailors. This simple stone church dates from the 15th century and has been used as a lookout both by smugglers and by revenue officers who were trying to catch them.

Continue along the path and you’ll pass the lookout for the National Coastwatch Institution – a voluntary organisation that keep watch over the coastline. If they’re not too busy the volunteers are happy to show you around. Then carry on along the edge of sheltered Porthgwidden Beach with its block of white beach chalets available to hire.

On the way into the harbour you pass the St Ives Museum at the end of Smeaton’s Pier, where you can learn about local history. It covers a bit of everything, from tin mining and fish curing to a recreated traditional Cornish kitchen and wartime memorabilia.

The waters around St Ives are home to a colony of Atlantic grey seals. We spotted one swimming off the island, but the best chance to see them is on boat trip to Seal Island, a small rocky island 3.5 miles west of St Ives. Trips depart from the harbour, last around an hour and run several times a day (weather permitting), and you might see dolphins too.

That evening, have dinner at the Cellar Bistro, a cosy underground restaurant with a friendly feel that serves big portions of tasty dishes like steaks, butternut squash tagine and their signature dish Parmesan and herb-crusted Cornish hake.

Then finish the evening off with a drink in one of St Ives’ historic pubs. There’s the Pilchard Press Alehouse, a micro-pub in a stone-walled cellar once used to process fish, tucked away down an alley near the Lifeboat Inn. Or The Sloop on the harbourfront, which is one of Cornwall’s oldest pubs from ‘circa 1312’, with low ceilings and wooden beams.

SUNDAY MORNING

After breakfast, head out on a coastal walk along a stretch of the South West Coast Path. The whole pathway is 630 miles long and runs all the way from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall to Poole Harbour in Dorset.

Start by catching the train from St Ives. If you want a short, fairly flat walk it’s only 1.2 miles from Carbis Bay to St Ives, with the coast path running above the railway line. Trains from St Ives to Carbis Bay take 10 minutes and usually run every 30 minutes. And you can explore Carbis Bay’s wide golden sands or paddle in the bay before setting off.

If you fancy a longer walk, you can stay on the train to the next stop in Lelant. From there it’s a 4.2 mile-walk back to St Ives along part of the St Michael’s Way, running through a nature reserve near Hayle, across sand dunes and along Carbis Bay.

Back in St Ives, head to the Porthminster Beach Café for lunch. This upscale beach restaurant looks out across sandy Porthminster Beach towards St Ives harbour in one direction and Godvrey Lighthouse in the other. It’s a popular spot on a sunny afternoon (so book ahead), but they do also have a heated terrace if the weather’s not so good.

The kitchen takes fresh local seafood and produce they’ve grown or foraged themselves and adds Asian and Mediterranean touches. Look out for the delicate Cornish lobster on the menu as well as Porthilly oysters, Fowey mussels and a fragrant fish curry.

If you have any room left after lunch, the Moomaid of Zennor on the way back towards the harbour does fantastic ice creams, made using milk from Friesian Holstein cows farmed in nearby Zennor. Flavours include Cornish clotted cream and the ‘Shipwreck’ with its dulce de leche caramel and honeycomb, and there are dairy-free sorbets too.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

Next pay a visit to the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden. Barbara Hepworth was a 20th-century Modernist sculptor who lived at Trewyn Studio in St Ives with her husband, fellow artist Ben Nicholson, from 1949 until her death in 1975.

Her former studios have now been turned into a museum, where you can see her workshops and over 30 sculptures made from stone, bronze and wood. The highlight is the sculpture garden where giant bronzes are tucked in among lush subtropical plants.

Artists still flock to St Ives today. And if you want to pick up a St Ives artwork to take home with you, head to Fore Street where you’ll find galleries selling paintings, sculptures and photographs by local creatives – Porthminster Gallery is one of our favourites.

Finally, finish your weekend in St Ives with a local classic a freshly baked Cornish pasty from St Ives Bakery. Pasties were originally made for tin miners to take down the mine for lunch. The traditional recipe has golden pastry stuffed with minced beef, potato, swede and onion, but you can find lots of different versions now, including vegetarian.

Just watch out for the seagulls St Ives’ gulls are notoriously greedy and aggressive, and will happily snatch a pasty right out of your hands if you’re not careful!

We are the best property for day out on beach in St. Ives, England

Entire rental unit in St Ives, United Kingdom

Newly renovated with a thoughtful, contemporary interior, Penvounder is a welcoming 2-bedroom apartment right in the centre of St Ives.Located perfectly in-between three St. Ives beaches.Just a 2-minute walk to:

- Harbour beach,

- Porthmeor surfing beach

- Porthgwidden beach.

The Wharf and Fore street with all shops and restaurant is also 2 min walk.You’ll have everything you need on your doorstep.

The space

Through a lengthy hallway, with plenty of space for your beach gear, shoes and coats, you enter a spacious open plan living and kitchen area with high ceilings, characteristic, original wooden beams and lots of light coming through the three windows.The lounge area has a 3-seater sofa with a coffee table and a TV.

The brand new fully fitted kitchen with an extendable dining table is created to make your stay comfortable and pleasant. Kitchen is equipped with Bosch appliances also including a dishwasher, washing mashing, a Nespresso coffee machine and a wine/beer fridge to start and end your day with comfort.From the open plan living area, you enter a hallway leading to the two bedrooms and bathroom.

The generously sized master bedroom has a double sized bed, a closet with hanging and additional shelving space for your clothing, a large mirror and a multifunctional desk.In the second bedroom you can set up two single beds or a queen bed, as you prefer and there is a chest of drawers to put away your belongings.The aesthetically pleasing bathroom with a contemporary touch and bamboo finishing has a large walk-in shower with a big waterfall showerhead and high-quality fixtures and fittings.

Guest access

There are a few steps up to the front door so the apartment may not be suitable for people with mobility issues.

Other things to note

This apartment does not have any parking, please see below suggestions for long stay car parks:The Island Car ParkBurrow RoadTR26 1SYTrenwith Car ParkSt IvesTR26 1DDPark Avenue Car ParkSaint IvesTR26 1QEBarnoon Car ParkClodgy ViewTR26 1JFSt Ives RFC Car ParkAlexandra RoadSt IvesTR26 1ERParking at the St Ives Rugby Club, although a little further out, is well organised and can be arranged via their website and spaces can be reserved for the week if necessary. They also offer a shuttle bus service to and from the town.

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