Short notice 3 day trip around Cornwall

[Tubby Isaacs]

We did this old board, so apologies for asking again. No car, train only.

Some Coast would be nice, provided you can assure me Neil Oliver won't be there. St Ives' art scene attracts me. Tintagel is a possible but seemed hard to get to.

Are sleeper trains ludicrously expensive?

Thanks in advance.

[Andy C]

Short notice 3 day trip around Cornwall

The little trip from St Erth to St Ives is one of the nicest railway journeys anywhere in the world.

[Bill Poster]

Short notice 3 day trip around Cornwall

Seconded about the St Erth to St Ives journey.

The end of the line is Penzance and while it's not a great town in itself the journey to it affords a great view of St Michael's Mount (you can walk across when it's low tide).

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Short notice 3 day trip around Cornwall

I imagine some of Cornwall's nicest attractions are a bit of a bugger to get to without a car. Padstow's well worth a visit if you're touring the north coast - even if you don't want to fork out £30 to say you've eaten in Rick Stein's place (although I'm sure it's worth every penny), you'll get a very nice seafood meal in pretty much any of the pubs in town.

The Eden Project near St.Austell is almost certainly better served by public transport, and is a fascinating day out - yes, it's only plants and stuff, but the scale of the place does take your breath away, and it is amazing when you first step into the tropical biosphere - you really can imagine that you're in the jungle (wear layers that you can take off, it's like a sauna in there). My top tip for the Eden Project is plan your day so you can get to the restaurant (there's only one on site) slightly before 12, because the place is normally full of coach parties of kids or grannies, and when they all pile in at the same time, the queues at the counters (not to mention waiting for a free table in the first place) can get very long.

[Guest]

Short notice 3 day trip around Cornwall

Seconding Rogin's recommendations. If you're up for it you might try train to bugle then cycle the 4-5 miles to Eden (there's a big bike hire place in Bugle). It's all off road and you get a couple of quid off Eden entrance I think.

There's also the China Clay Country Park nearby (Get your Lev Yashin shirt out for the day!). My Mum says it's good but she does work in the marketing of it (not exactly sure doing what, I'm not Fabio Capello).

Also in that area is Charleston. Nice little harbour with good pubs. Home to some stunning tall ships as well. Further west I love the road from St Ives to Lands End. Nothing but cliffs, sea and abandoned tin mines. Saint Just is gorgeous at Cape Cornwall. The cafe with a 2nd hand bookshop (cook bookshop? There can't be many in the village!) does the best cream tea in the county! No idea how erratic the buses would be down there though.

National Maritime Museum at Falmouth is a more obvious but nonetheless good reccommendation if that sort of thing floats your boat (very much intended, I can only apologise).

[Eggchaser]

Short notice 3 day trip around Cornwall

The Maritime Museum is very good even if you're not majorly into boats; there's lots of human endeavour stuff there and interactive bits for the kids.

You could pop in to see my ancestral farm in St Keyne, but you would need a car.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Short notice 3 day trip around Cornwall

Thanks for the help, but we're going to the Lake District instead. 3 days in Windermere which has a station and is apparently "the hub for Stagecoach".

any ideas for this?