What is it like for a mid-winter break with the wife?
I find Cornish towns either really shite (Cambourne), or really great (St Ives)
Any advice would be great...
Camborne is really shit.
Weather is a bit hit and miss. Currently we are experiencing liquid sunshine just outside Truro.
I guess the important question is what do you want to do in Penzance?
(and that liquid sunshine is giving way to blue skies, hurrah)
I live in Penzance, what do you want to know?
Penzance is an ok base to explore from, Porthleven a few miles along the road is a much nicer place to stay.
We used to take winter breaks in Cornwall. You can get a great beach cottage for a fraction of the summer price, and get the whole place to yourself. Log burner, fresh local produce to cook, local pub. Sorted!
We used to stay in the Vellan Dreath valley above Sennen Cove.
My ex came from Penzance, nice place to have as a base in West Cornwall.
Handy for Sennen Cove/Lands End area, Truro / St Ives etc just up the road.
A really handy place to stay if surfing's your thing, if Sennen was blown out there's always Newlyn/Penzance/Praa to go to.
If you could mention any good pubs/resturants would be great
We've spent Christmas and New Year in Devon years back, as above cottage rental generally easier. Traffic less of a nightmare too. I love bracing winter walks by the sea (cold clear sunny day or sea whipped into a frenzy by a gale), deserted beaches etc pint in the pub, roaring fire etc ... make sure place has decent heating and that it's been switched on a few days before you arrive
Can't comment on Penzance as never been but the idea is a good one imho.
basically st ives is nice but a theme park, penzance is more local and this time of year more going on. i wont even comment on camborne.
absolutely loads of small galleries, quirky shops (chapel street) decent pubs, restaurants, leisure centre with pool etc. decent bags of chips too if thats your thing. but with all these sort of places, there are more tourist places to eat and and there are more local places to eat.
penzance to newlyn is a flat walk along the prom (best chippy is in newlyn on the corner). penzance to mousehole can be walked, about 3 miles i think, or its a flat easy cycle. same goes for marazion the other way, but the coast bike path is broken and the council too stupid to see its value and fix it.
away from pz, yes a ton of beaches and quite a few hidden ones. the coast around zennor is utterly stunning and also the high moors that are simply beautiful, covered in ancient villages and stone circles, and even at height of summer very rarely will you see other people.
marazion might be worth looking at to stay, but not as much to do at night if you want to walk.
if you want more beach and more quiet look at sennen. great food in both the pub and bens at sennen, and a great beach. the blatant plug is my house there www.littlebeachhouse.co.uk that this time of year is a fraction of the high season price.
And obviously, take a bike. The coast paths and moors around there are great.
I live near Camborne. No, definitely not somewhere for tourism.
Some good riding nearby though 😉
whatever you do, don't go to lands end. its horrible. go to cape cornwall instead.
can we just clarify that Jambo, Lands Ends 'complex' is a wanna be theme park and i agree best avoided but less than 100m either side is utterly stunning.
Ok. Go to cape Cornwall and walk to lands end.
Second the chippy on the corner in Newlyn. First class!
Pubs - Gurnards Head near Zennor, Halzephron Inn on the Lizard.
Porthcurno Telegraph Museum is ace as is St Michaels Mount though not sure if either is open all year. The West Cornwall moors Gav refers to are wild with some great walks connecting the ancient stones. The coastal walk from Sennen to Lands End, Cape Cornwall or up near Bosigran would be great on a fierce day!
I think Penzance would be a great out of season base and St Ives would be both easy to get to and easy to park.
Lands Ends 'complex' is a wanna be theme park and i agree best avoided but less than 100m either side is utterly stunning.
+1 My kids insist on going to Lands End every year just so we can go to Greeb Farm which is 200 yards from the gate of the Lands End complex.
I think Penzance would be a great out of season base and St Ives would be both easy to get to and easy to park.
Go on the train to St Ives for the best views you'll ever see from a railway carriage. Park and ride at Lelant Saltings.