Wondering whether to spend some of your well earned time off visiting Cornwall?
Read on to discover a brief guide of what Cornwall has to offer. I will cover individual topics in more detail in later posts, but here are just a few ideas to whet your appetite for visiting Cornwall.
When I think of Cornwall I think of steaming hot Cornish Pasties, Cornish Clotted Cream Teas, sand castle building, beautiful scenic coast paths, fish and chips by the sea, aqua blue water and miles white sand to name just a few things.
Cornwall is famous for many things aswell as its pasties, cream teas and beaches.
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Cornwall is fabulous for surfing
Its actually the UK capital for surfing! The North coast of Cornwall is particularly popular with surfers. Popular surfing beaches include Fistral, Perranporth and Padstow. I will look at these places in more detail in future articles.
Cornwall is the home of the Eden Project
The Eden Project, near St Austell in Cornwall is a tourist attraction. In a previous life it was a clay quarry. It is now an eco centre with three biomes which are home to all sorts of wonderful plants by creating artificial climates. There is a humid tropics biome which re creates a tropical rainforest (the largest in the world), a warm temperate biome which houses plant life from warm places like Southern Africa, The Mediterranean and California. The third biome is the Roofless biome with varied plant life from around Cornwall aswell as similar climates. There are a lot of opportunities to be educated at the Eden Project and it makes a perfect day out, especially if it is cold and wet outside! The indoor biomes get very warm and humid!
If you like thrilling activities then perhaps have a go on the famous Eden Project Zip Wire. It is England’s fastest zip wire and it soars over the biomes travelling speeds of up to 60mph!
If you enjoy running, you may enjoy taking part in the weekly parkrun at the Eden Project which is held every Saturday at 0900 (check Eden Project facebook page or parkrun web page) before setting out incase its been cancelled for any reason. Want FREE ENTRY to Eden Project? Runners, supporters and parkrun volunteers get free entry on a Saturday morning after parkrun. Definitely worth getting up early on a Saturday for as entry to the project is quite expensive. I enjoyed a nice bacon roll and coffee there after the parkrun and after exploring the biomes and other attractions I had lunch from one of the outlets before heading home. The food served at the Eden Project is in line with its values and is fair trade, responsibly sourced or local and freshly made.
Cornwall is famous for Lands End
A highlight of a visit to Cornwall for me recently was visiting Lands End for the first time. Lands End is the most South Westerly point in mainland UK and boasts amazing coastal views. I caught an overnight train down to Penzance from Taunton. That train was actually the overnight sleeper service from London, which I can highly recommend taking if you want to make the most of a day out to Cornwall or if you want to make the most of your first day of your holiday in Cornwall. It is a train journey that I will definitely be repeating as it was so handy!
From Penzance I caught the Lands End Coaster bus. It is an open top bus that runs a circular route from Penzance to Lands End and is the most jaw dropping, spectacular bus ride that I have ever been on! Its hop on and hop off so you can explore lots of places on the route and a day ticket (for use on any bus in Cornwall) is just £5! (Summer 2022).
I adored Lands End. The views were incredible! I was not so keen on the shopping complex there but did enjoy the very strong coffee (especially after not sleeping on the overnight train!) from one of the cafe outlets. You can watch my youtube video of my open top bus trip to Lands End and other places on route here:
Cornish foods to consider
Aside from the very popular Cornish cream teas and Cornish Pasties there are other foods that are very popular or tradition in Cornwall.
Cornish Yarg Cheese – There are many cheeses made in Cornwall but it is Cornish Yarg that is the most popular. We used to serve this on the cheese board at a conference centre that I worked at and it was always very popular amongst the guests. It is a semi hard cheese which is wrapped in stinging nettle leaves to form a rind which you can eat. The stings are removed so there is no risk of stinging your tongue with it! It is only made near Truro by Lynher Dairies.
Saffron Buns – If you fancy something sweet and spiced try a Saffron Bun. It is a little bit like a tea cake that you would toast. They have saffron in them which make them yellow in colour, but as saffron is very expensive, a lot of the yellow colour comes from food colouring. Its a very luxurious addition to a bun as it is the most expensive spice in the world!
These are just a couple of Cornish foods. I will write another article all about a wider variety!
Keep checking back for more Cornwall content
This is just the very beginning of my blog and it would be impossible for me to write everything about Cornwall in one blog post, but I hope the small amount of content in this post has whetted your appetite for visiting Cornwall.
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