St Ives Travel Guide

Tourist Guide
St Ives featuring a sandy beach, a coastal town and a bay or harbour
St Ives showing rugged coastline, boating and a coastal town
Porthmeor Beach showing a beach and a coastal town as well as a large group of people
Porthminster Beach featuring swimming and a sandy beach
St Ives featuring boating, outdoor eating and a coastal town
With its white-washed cottages and white-sand beaches, this seaside village is as pretty as a painting and a magnet for artists and artistic happenings.

The town of St. Ives curves around a harbour overlooking the clear waters of its eponymous bay. Beyond the shoreline lie a cluster of fishermen’s cottages and narrow cobbled lanes where galleries, cafés and craft shops proliferate. Splash around in the surf and explore the impressive artistic offerings in town.

Though once just a regular fishing village, St. Ives has attracted many prominent artists since the early 19th century, including J.M.W. Turner and James McNeill Whistler. The town’s reputation as an artistic hub still remains and many renowned galleries are now based here.

Stop by the Tate St. Ives near the popular swimming spot of Porthmeor Beach. See works from modern British artists, including painter Ben Nicholson. Another important figure in the art scene of St. Ives is modernist sculptor Barbara Hepworth. She is honored at the Tate-owned Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden. Continue your artistic explorations at the Leach Pottery museum, where displays are devoted to the work of the master British potter Bernard Leach.

For relaxation during the warmer months, hit the golden sands of Porthminster Beach. From here, admire views of the Godrevy Lighthouse, the inspiration for Virginia Woolf’s famous 1927 novel To the Lighthouse. Adventurers surf, kayak and paddleboard here too.

Explore the labyrinthine streets in the old heart of the town, known locally as Downalong. To learn more about the town’s history, visit the St. Ives Museum. Exhibits focus on its mining, fishing and boatbuilding industries.

When dining, seafood is the obvious choice. Eat beer-battered fish and chips at a cosy gastro pub or try some other delicious Cornish seafood. In between meals, snack on traditional Cornish pasties, savoury baked pastries filled with minced meat and vegetables.

There is lots to keep you excited and amused in St. Ives, but consider a boat excursion out to Seal Island, where a colony of seals reside.

St. Ives is located in Cornwall on England’s southwest coast. Make the 3-hour drive from Bristol or use rail or coach services instead. Enjoy simple seaside pleasures and artistic delights at this picturesque harbour town.

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Reviews of St Ives

4.6
Top destination
5 - Excellent
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" "5 - Excellent 69%
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" "4 - Good 27%
3 - Okay
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5/5 - Excellent

Verified traveller

Recommend Crab & Rum Shack

5/5 - Excellent

Verified traveller

My partner and I stayed at the Mustard Tree over New Year and I cannot praise Mark and Anna (the owners) enough. Lovely B&B and even lovelier people. They made the trip. facilities were great, breakfast was excellent. Best part was Mark and Anna.

5/5 - Excellent

Verified traveller

Fabulous for NYE celebrations

5/5 - Excellent

Verified traveller

We visited St Ives for NewYear and really enjoyed the evening.

5/5 - Excellent

Verified traveller

Great place to visit

5/5 - Excellent

Verified traveller

Fantastic stay ! We're definitely coming back next year 

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