Lady’s Guide to a Weekend Break in St Ives, Cornwall

I’ve been traveling a lot this year. I’ve only been in London for one full week since April, splitting the rest of them between home and away or just abroad completely. Don’t get me wrong; I love to travel and I’ve been to some amazing places in the last few months. But sometimes I want to stay a bit closer to home, and recently that has meant an amazing weekend break in St Ives, Cornwall.

Weekend Break in St Ives, Cornwall

This lovely town seemed just the place to relax and experience the English seaside.

To that end, my boyfriend and I hopped on the sleeper train from London to Penzance on Friday night and woke up to a beautiful sunrise in the Cornish countryside.

Now that we’re here, I can’t keep my eyes off the misty fields as the long rays of morning sunshine lift the sleepy heads of sweet little sheep in their pastures.

Changing at St Erth for the train to St Ives, we wind around the waterfront as the sun teases gold out of sandy beaches and illuminates turquoise blue water in the sea. It’s suddenly so tropical that I have to remind myself I’m in England.

St Ives, Cornwall

We arrive in St Ives just after 8 o’clock in the morning and can’t believe our luck with the weather. It’s a good omen for the rest of our time in Cornwall, which turns out to be one of the best weekend trips I’ve taken in England.

St Ives Restaurants

Like any good weekend break in St Ives, this one starts with great food. We head down to the beach and have breakfast by the waves at Porthminster Beach Cafe.

The meal is great, and the cafe lives up to the reputation St Ives has gained over the years as one of Cornwall’s major foodie hubs.

Along the waterfront in the town center, we explore more of the best cafes and restaurants in St Ives. We have a sinfully good Cornish cream tea at a stylish cafe and a good dinner on the terrace above the marina at the Porthminster Kitchen.

Some of our best meals are over on Porthmeor Beach, where the cafe of the same name serves great small plates on terraces overlooking the sand.

Everything from monkfish to chorizo wins us over, and we can’t help going back for a second round to try more.

And that’s to say nothing of the ice cream stalls and traditional Cornish pasty shops that dot St Ives with their colors and scents. It’s almost unfair to only have two days to eat here.

Town Walks and the South West Coast Path

But we can’t indulge our taste buds for the entirety of our weekend break in St Ives, and when we’re not eating we’re walking.

The town is compact and easy to get around on foot, and there are mazes of little streets with pretty houses and colorful accents.

Names like Puffin Cottage and Star Gazy grace the sides of whitewashed cottages, and I could spend all day taking in the little details.

But the bigger picture is worth seeing, too, and it comes in the form of an amazing coastal trail on either side of St Ives.

We walk off some of our calories on the South West Coast Path, England’s longest long-distance footpath. It stretches for 630 miles from Minehead in Somerset to Poole Harbour in Dorset.

We walk only a short stretch along the Cornish coast, but we’re rewarded with spectacular cliff views and more of that impossibly turquoise water.

St Ives Museums, Galleries, and Artists’ Studios

Back in town, we spend the rest of our weekend break in St Ives exploring the town’s artistic treasures.

St Ives is home to a small branch of London’s famous Tate as well as the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden. The latter is located in the sculptor’s former home in the town center.

But Hepworth isn’t the only British artist to have taken up residence in St Ives. The town is quite a magnet for artists, and this weekend we’re lucky enough to be here during the annual St Ives Festival.

Throughout the two-week celebration of music and art, artists open their studios to visitors. We walk from studio to studio, talking with the artists and learning about their work in a way that brings the town’s artistic identity to life.

St Ives Apartment

After all of our walking and eating, we head to our apartment in St Ives, which is situated at the top of a hill overlooking the town.

As great as the views from Tregenna Castle Resort are, they lose my attention to the even more amazing gardens.

Waterfalls cascade down hills as giant ferns and colorful flowers climb up them. Walled gardens hide pretty green hedges and stone arches lead to even larger-than-life floral displays. I can’t think of a prettier place to spend my night in St Ives.

Weekend in St Ives

And when the night is over, I return to London glad to have discovered this part of Cornwall. I’ve traveled all over the world this year, but staying close to home for my weekend break in St Ives has resulted in one of my most memorable trips.

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