Cornwall travel guide
Historically, the extreme southwest of Britain has been cut off from the mainstream of British culture both by geography and choice. The peninsula was settled by hard-working Celts from Brittany who scraped a living off the essentials of the land. They dug tin and copper, grazed their sheep and cattle on windswept moors, and braved treacherous currents to take fish from the sea.
Places to visit in Cornwall
Tintagel Castle
Tintagel Castle is where tradition claims Arthur was born or washed ashore, and built a castle for Guinevere and the Knights of the Round Table. All that remains are the ruins of a 6th-century Celtic monastery and a 12th-century bastion, most of it washed away by the sea.
St Ives
The fishing village of St Ives has been popular with artists since the end of the 19th century. Among them was the sculptor Barbara Hepworth (1903–75) whose home is now the Barbara Hepworth Museum. The works of other artists from St Ives’ heyday – including Ben Nicholson, Peter Lanyon and Naum Gabo – form the permanent exhibition at Tate St Ives, which occupies a stunning building by Porthmeor Beach.
Land’s End
Penwith is the name given to the windswept piece of land that juts out into the Atlantic at the end of Cornwall. At the southwestern extremity is Land’s End. The Land’s End Centre offers a discovery trail and exhibitions.
Isles of Scilly
Offshore, to the west of Land’s End, are the Isles of Scilly (pronounced “silly”), which can be reached by ferry or helicopter from Penzance. Tresco, one of the five inhabited islands, has the Abbey Gardens, while St Mary’s is home to the Isles of Scilly Museum.
Eden Project
Cornwall’s biggest attraction is the Eden Project. It comprises several huge futuristic-looking greenhouses called ‘biomes’ – a humid tropical one and a warm temperate zone – plus a large outdoor landscaped area, all mimicking the planet’s various climates.
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