Ideas for places to visit and things to see near Port Isaac, Cornwall, UK?

February 20, 2006 1:48 PM

Ideas for places to visit and things to see near Port Isaac, Cornwall, UK?

I am going on holiday for a week to Port Isaac in Cornwall and do not know the area at all. Can anyone advise about good places to visit / eat (particularly as I know there are lots of good seafood restaurants but my husband is veggie so they are probably out)? We have a car so can travel around.

posted by blacksky to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

Port Isaac itself is really nice, and you could spend a happy few days just wandering up and down the narrow streets there. Less than 10 miles away is Tintagel, "birthplace" of King Arthur and steeped in history. You can even walk there along the South West Coast Path. If you fancy heading down to the south coast, Fowey is an awesome little place about 20-25 miles away. The King of Prussia is a great pub full of character that does (or at least did) pretty decent food. If you want to venture further west, make sure you spend time in St. Ives, possibly my favourite place in Britain. That's about 40 miles west, though.
posted by nylon at 2:12 PM on February 20, 2006

Oh, this one's a definite: The Eden Project.
posted by rc55 at 4:19 PM on February 20, 2006

Port Isaac is the location for the TV Series Doc Martin. Might be interesting to watch a few episodes if you haven't already.
posted by hmca at 4:57 PM on February 20, 2006

We stayed in Tintagel in 2003 and found nothing good at all in the way of food (and we were also travelling with a vegetarian). There's a Rick Stein restaurant down the coast towards St. Ives that might be a nice place to eat, but it's mostly fish-based stuff (with some vegetarian dishes as well).
posted by NYCnosh at 1:18 AM on February 21, 2006

Have a few beers in the Golden Lion pub - try to get a seat on the tiny balcony overlooking the harbour.
posted by kenchie at 2:00 AM on February 21, 2006

NYCnosh is overestimating the distance to Rick Stein's, his stuff is all in Padstow, where he has 11 (IIRC) different kinds of outlet, from fish and chips through to expensive restaurant. As you can see here, Padstow is not too far away, I'd be very surprised if you can't find something veggie and decent there, though the accent is on fish/seafood. Padstow itself is a nice little walkabout opportunity.
The nearest town to Port Isaac is Wadebridge; don't bother to stop there it's grim.
The North Coast down from Padstow is generally nice though Perranporth is a bit seaside town shutdown for winter. I recommend St Agnes as one of the prettier villages on the way to St Ives where you'll find an out post of the Tate, personally I find the gallery not to be worth it, its not cheap and there's only five smallish rooms, much of the rest of the town is very tourist tatty.
Cornwall is also known for its gardens, you can find ones near Port Isaac here.
Delabole, a bit to the east of Port isaac was the site of the UK's first commercial windfarm and has recently had a visitor centre open, if you fancy a proper look at a windfarm then you might give that a go - you can get right up to the turbines apparently. Should be fairly easy to find.
posted by biffa at 2:44 AM on February 21, 2006

The nearest town to Port Isaac is Wadebridge; don't bother to stop there it's grim.

Very true - but if you're a bicycle sort of person, then the Camel Trail bike ride between Wadebridge and Padstow goes through some really lovely countryside along the shore of the estuary. If the weather's good (a big if), it's a really nice way to spend a day. Cycle to Padstow, eat in one of the excellent restaurants near there (Rick Stein, or the marvellously named Nathan Outlaw), cycle very slowly back, and then leave Wadebridge as quickly as possible.

Also second the Eden Project - it's absolutely stunning, and you really shouldn't miss it if you get the chance.

On the restaurant side, Viner's Bar and Restaurant near Newquay is somewhere I've heard some nice things about, with (I think) decent vegetarian options. I've not been there myself, but the guy's previous restaurant was one of the best around.
posted by flashboy at 4:19 AM on February 21, 2006