Have you visited St Ives?
Those of you who have followed our adventures and my ramblings on here and Instagram the past few years will know that we fell in love with Cornwall in 2018 and have been visiting every year since. For the last two years, we stayed in Portloe, a harbour village hidden on the Roseland Peninsula, which we adored. However, after taking a day trip to St Ives, we decided to try something different for our 2024 visit to the gorgeous Cornish Coast. And we are so glad to have done so.
St Ives has stolen our hearts and on the drive home, we booked next year’s trip!
England, and the Cornish Coast is stunning. All those sandy beaches, crystal clear water, picturesque harbour towns and viewpoints. What’s not to love? We were so excited to be exploring somewhere new. What better way to spend our half-term than a week in Cornwall as a family, it’s our annual dog-friendly holiday and St Ives did not disappoint. We did so much research ahead of our trip, I thought I would share it with you ahead of our return next year.
The KA Edit Family Travel Guide: St Ives
Where we stayed
The In-Between Cottage – St Ives run by Orange Roofs, a fantastic agency and people to deal with. A beautiful cottage nestled in a nook on the famous Digey is where we stayed. It is a quaint and rather peaceful nook despite being on the path that connects Porthmeor Beach and The Harbour. You are within a few minutes walk to many beaches and as mentioned the St Ives Harbour. It was a perfect location. We also drove out to Fistral, Lusty Glaze and Crantock in Newquay, which was a 45-minute drive. The Cottage is outstanding, and beautifully decorated whilst retaining its period features that offer the ability to sit and relax in style and comfort.
What is there to do in St Ives?
Where do I start? Wander through the maze of narrow cobbled streets, independent shops, and fisherman’s cottages in the heart of St Ives. Check out the many beaches or walk along a coastal path to see one of the breathtaking vistas. What did we do? We took surfing lessons on Porthmeor, wandered around the island and played on the beaches – there are 6 to choose from, all with a different and spectacular view of St Ives! We played mini-golf on Porthminster Beach, walked along the coastal path to Carbis Bay, and grabbed food in some awesome spots which I’ll tell you more about below. We played ball, crabbing on the Harbour, many beach games, boarding, and so much more.
My initial concern when booking St Ives was whether there would be enough to do in the one area, would we (or Mr H and George) get bored being in the same place for a whole week. I enjoy slowing down on holiday, however, as a family we enjoy venturing out and exploring. We all loved having the ability to be minutes from the beach and the vibe of the harbour. We all missed St Ives.
Where to eat in St Ives
As with the above, where do I start? I’ll pull together posts about our favourite dog-friendly places to eat and food stops outside St Ives. For a whistle-stop tour of our favourites places to eat, here goes. A few of our recommendations as we explored St Ives…
Breakfast and pasties from St Ives Bakery, Pizza and Meatballs from Onzo Pizzeria, burgers from The Hub, Thai from Talay Thai, fish & chips from The Harbour, Greek food from West on Porthmeor, lunch at Porthminster Beach Cafe.
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THE KA EDIT FAMILY TRAVEL GUIDE: CORNWALL
We cannot wait to explore more of St Ives in 2025. Cornwall is special and this trip is one for the memory book as it was so different to previous years. We usually stay quite remote and therefore spend much of our time driving out to beaches and villages with little or nothing to do in the place we stay. Not this year.
I would love to hear your recommendations and do drop a comment below if this blog post helped. We love sharing our adventures and hope they help you plan and inspire you to try the spots we love exploring. In the meantime, if you are visiting with your four-legged friend take a read of our favourite dog-friendly beaches in Cornwall post.