Penzance 2013

Exeter Cathedral

I travelled to Cornwall in June, 2013.

Exeter Cathedral

I chose to fly to Exeter and decided to have a quick look at Exeter Cathedral. It looked stunning and was definitely worth a visit.

Then I took the train to Penzance, located in West Cornwall, passing by many nice towns such as St. Austell, Truro and  Helston to name but a few. It was very warm and sunny when I arrived. To reach my guest house, I had to walk along the harbour to the Western Promenade, passing the Jubilee Pool, a lido designed in the early 1930s.

Jubilee Pool

The room at my guest house was very pretty and had a sea view. All rooms were given flower names and were decorated in this theme. Mine was called "Rose". The proprietor was very hearty and gave me lots of tips where to eat and where to go off the beaten track, so I really enjoyed staying here.

Western Promenade

Penzance is flat towards the harbour area but hilly in the town centre. All the little shops and pubs create an attractive urban scenery.


St. Mary's Church is the biggest in town. Its graveyard is wonderful but looks more like a garden with all the palm trees there. Another sample of a unique garden is ''Morrab Gardens", which is full of  subtropical plants.

In the case of rain, there are a number of museums and galleries to visit such as ''Penlee House Museum", ''Exchange Gallery" and the ''Egyptian House".

The pub I liked most was named "Admiral Benbow"! It's furnished in a maritime style and full of atmosphere, complete with very attentive staff and good food with reasonable prices. A must: Cornish cider :)

St. Mary's Church

If you walk along the coastline in both directions, you can reach beautiful fishing villages, for example Newlyn, Mousehole and Marazion.

Penzance is an ideal base to explore other parts of West Cornwall such as St. Ives, the Minack Theatre close to Porthcurno, Land's End or St. Michael's Mount for example. Besides that, there's the ferry to the Scilly Isles.

Western Promenade

A very special gift for friends was a soap made by Jean Barry. I found it in the tourist office and bought one of each scent. I also noticed some special glass art there. I appreciate the work of local artists and producers and like to support them.