Cornwall base

I stayed in Falmouth when I was in Cornwall last year, and I really liked it there. It was convenient to a lot of places. It was large enough that there was plenty to do, and it made a very good base in my opinion. And most of all, it's easy to drive a car in and to get close to your hotel.

It is also big enough to absorb the crowds that you will find in the summer in Cornwall. Port Isaac will be overrun, and the Lizard probably will be as well.

So that would be my choice. But a lot also depends on where you plan on going to in Cornwall. I would make a list of the places that you really want to see and figure out what's a good base for those.

If you're going to be there for more than a few days, you might want to move to two separate bases. That's actually what I did. I stayed in Falmouth for my time in Cornwall, then when I was touring Devon, I moved up to Plymouth.

Of course, there are other places as well. But I do think in the summer you'd probably be better off staying in a larger town rather than one of the quaint villages on the coast. That's my opinion of course. 😊Regardless, Cornwall is a beautiful area, and I really enjoyed my time there.

I agree with what Mardee says above. Falmouth is more of a town and I think it will be easier for you to stay there than some of the smaller places. Depending on where you want to go, we also liked staying in Penzance, which has train access to St Ives and Falmouth. Anywhere on or near the coast will have great hiking, since the entire coast of Cornwall is part of the Southwest Coast Path: https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/trails/south-west-coast-path/

Good luck with your planning!

Port Isaac is a very small village without good transport links. The Lizard really isn't a village, it's just the southernmost point of the British mainland. It's interesting to see but there's not much there.

Falmouth is a town and has a railway station as well as buses - although the line is a branch from Truro.

Cornwall is much easier with a car.

Falmouth is a town and has a railway station as well as buses - although the line is a branch from Truro

Not strictly true, depending on definition. By next July the mid Cornwall metro should have been launched , which will have through trains from Newquay to Falmouth (and a much improved frequency from Newquay), so although it will still be a change of train somewhere in Cornwall (arriving from London) it can be anywhere in the county, same platform, not necessarily the county and Cathedral Town of Truro.

For the Lizard you would more want to be staying in the town of Helston, rather than down at the Lizard itself.

Port Isaac is a lot quieter (scarily so for the villagers) now that Doc Martin has finished, but in terms of facilities and not drastically over run I wonder about a bit further up the coast towards Bude.

Bude is not far from the County Border with Devon, and the coastal hiking is as good over the Devon border as on the Cornwall side. And Bude does have bus service from Plymouth, Barnstaple (via Hartland), Okehampton (the closest rail connections) and Wadebridge (for Bodmin rail connections) via Port Isaac and Tintagel- all of which are pretty good given where it is. Even the former Canal from Bude is interesting hiking, if secondary to the coastal delights.

The bus services in Cornwall are not at all bad, and in peak season, in many ways better than having a car. Even Port Isaac has a quite reasonable service.

I know some people here who have never used a bus in Cornwall and never looked at a timetable will argue otherwise (based on very out of date information) but that is them, in some ways.

We recently stayed near St Austell and in St Ives for three days each, which enabled us to go to the places we wanted to see.
If driving, it is vital to have accommodation with a car park, as it is almost impossible to park in the popular places.

I like staying somewhere nice and quiet when I go to Cornwall so would avoid larger towns like Falmouth and Helston is not recommended unless you particularly enjoy Wetherspoons and vape shops. The Lizard is a good place to stay because it’s far away so therefore quieter but you can’t really go wrong in Cornwall.

Tourism to Cornwall is significantly down year on year at the moment so there’s actually an over supply of accommodation even at peak times. Reasons: high costs (accommodation and eating out) and a perception that it’s too busy. Also antipathy of locals towards tourists. Service isn’t always that friendly, for example.

HI all
Great info! Following up:

@isn31c - We're always tempted to skip the car and take public transport. With my prelim research it sounds like the roads are often backed up in summer and car parks can be distant/up hills/etc, I'm wondering if we should start giving more thought to the bus system, and possibly even taking a train to our base town?

@Mardee and @Cat VH - From Falmouth, could you walk or easily take a bus ride to the SWC trail?

And...anyone have a few more insights into Port Issac? Good transportation links? Crowds? Amenities?

Thanks all. Appreciate your feedback.

You absolutely could get from Falmouth to the Southwest Coast Path very easily- in fact it goes thru Falmouth! But something else you could do would be to take the very short ferry ride across to St Mawes and you could pick up the trail there. From there you could start a very nice walk around the Roseland peninsula.

You can see it on the map here, if you zoom in on Falmouth: https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/trails/south-west-coast-path/trail-information/

I know you mentioned the Lizard peninsula above- that is also a really nice place for walking, especially to Kynance Cove. The day we did that we had rented a car so I'm not sure about public transport. What we did when we went to Cornwall was rent a car for two of the days and rely on public transport the rest of the time. You might want to think about that, so you save all the hard to get to places for the day(s) you have the car. We rented the car from Penzance and it was very easy. If you're not so keen on the bus there are a lot of great places you can get to by train. I won't blame anyone for not being super keen on the bus, as a non driver I spend a lot of time on buses (including in Cornwall) and I much prefer the train.

For bus timetables go to the Transport for Cornwall website, timetables and right down the bottom is the full county book.
Bear in mind it's the winter version. Most services are year round, but some of the beaches services, the buses around Lands End and the enhanced Mousehole service are seasonal or partly so.
Port Isaac is the #96. If going by train I would go to Bodmin Parkway, half hourly bus to Wadebridge, then the 96. While I am supporting them because of how fickle tourism has plummeted after the end of the TV programme, the big shops and a wider restaurant choice are in Wadebridge- even if the American Diner there is no more.
So I'm not sure if it's ideal for your wish list
It's the same for the Lizard. Whether or not you want to be derogatory about the town that is where the big (very big) shops are. Both well served by bus even though they are on the outskirts - Tesco and Sainsbury from memory.
Due to that convenience I usually change bus at one or the other, not the Seven Stars pub in the town centre.
If I was staying in the Port Isaac ish area one day I would take the bus to Rock, walk down through the village then the little cross estuary foot ferry to Padstow.
On both sides the departure point changes depending on the state of the tide.
Rock is quite a well liked seaside village.
I believe the ferry is part of the SWC, although it may go round the estuary.
Then bus back via Wadebridge.
Bude has good shops, but again mainly on the outskirts (quite well bus served).

The only places in Cornwall that I’ve seen really too busy are St Ives and Padstow. During summer holidays (when you’re travelling) it can also be difficult to park at any of the beaches, and if the weather is nice the beaches themselves can get very busy. Best advice is to get there early. You always have the option of parking a bit further away and walking to any beaches you want to visit.

In general parking in Cornwall is a pain. You won’t find free parking anywhere and you’ll probably need various apps to pay. Some car parks are app payment only now, some take card payment. Read any instructions carefully as charging methods vary - eg do you pay on entry or on exit?

At Penzance the car rental places are now at Long Rock, on the outskirts, as the really useful one at the railway station has closed.
Likewise the one at Truro station - gone, moved to somewhere on the edge of town.

Of the three places, I recommend Falmouth.
However, after research, it was clear that the big problem with visiting Cornwall is that it fills up big time with tourists in the warm season. The roads are narrow and traffic is terrible. Getting from place to place can be a problem.
We decided to take a Rabbie's Tour. It was WONDERFUL. We took a five day tour from Victoria's station with about 15 others in a small but comfortable bus.
Cost was about 1,100 GBP, but lodging was extra. Also, we had to do a couple of meals on our own. Lodging was for four nights and Falmouth was one of the places we stayed for two nights. Lodging was about $600 total and it included great breakfasts.

The advantage to this tour was that the tour guide/driver knew the roads in the area and could check where the traffic backups were. We avoided traffic backups altogether. He was a super good guide as well.
Port Issac was great to visit.
St. Ives was a great place to visit, but VERY crowded.
Penzance is good.
Devon is worth some time as well, especially Exeter.

One other thought for a base would be Wadebridge. This is a bus or taxi ride from Bodmin Road train station and has good access to a number of places including walking (or hiring a bike) to go down the old railway trackbed to Padstow with nice views of the estuary of the River Camel which are hard to get to any other way. Wadebridge is a town, but smaller than Falmouth, rather than a village but has a number of shops, supermarket etc and I guess pubs and restaurants although I have never eaten there.

Buses to Port Isaac go from there. I think the bus goes on to Tintagel which has a spectacular ruined castle, buit has rather over-done the King Arthur theming in my view,

Thanks again all. Great info.

So far:
Leaning towards Falmouth as it seems to be a good fit.
--access to SWC
--amenities (grocery/restaurants/shopping)
--big enough to absorb crowds
--good public transport connections to other parts of Cornwall and SWC (and then back again to London)

Research continues!

There is also the National Maritime Museum Cornwall at Falmouth.

I like jumping on the little ferry across to the historic village of Flushing (where there are several pubs), then the little OTS red bus back to Falmouth.

Also you may get lucky and find one of the boat trips up river to Truro - well worth doing.

OTS run several services around the tight little lanes locally including several of the gardens, the Gweek seal sanctuary and to Helford Passage. That's a great place to eat, but there is also the fun 'on demand' ferry across to Helford. Time it carefully and there is the scenic bus route through very narrow lanes back to Helston.

You can do ferry one way to St Mawes and bus back to Truro.

Also hourly bus to Penzance via Marazion (St Michael's Mount).

Loads of options by public transport from Falmouth.

Activity Girl, if you do decide on Falmouth and are looking for lodging, I would highly recommend the Royal Duchy Hotel, which is where I stayed. It is located right off Gyllyngvase Beach and was one of the nicest hotels I’ve stayed in. I had a single room that had a Nespresso machine, heated towel rack and radiator (good for laundry) and other amenities. The hotel also had a fitness room and swimming pool. Breakfast was included and was delicious and my single room was around £75/night (I was there the end of March, 2024, and double rooms were probably more). Best of all, there was a view of the sea from my window.

I especially enjoyed the large lounge area on the ground floor, which opened out to a patio sitting right above the coast. You could have a drink, snacks or even order a meal here and just watch the ocean. There was a formal restaurant as well, but I liked the lounge and ate here on several nights, as the food was delicious. There was also plenty of parking, and it was a short walk down to the beach.

Pendennis Castle, the ruins of Henry VIII's coastal fortress, was an easy one mile walk from the hotel, and the harbor was even closer (also the National Maritime Museum that isn31c mentioned above). The hotel was close to the main road as well, which made it easy to get out of town for day trips relatively quickly. I highly recommend this hotel and would love to stay here again. Here is a page from my personal blog if you want to see photos of it.

We spent 11 days in Cornwall last summer based in Wadebridge. We also went to St Ives for 3 nights. Our focus was touring the costal towns near Wadebridge and St Ives and taking coastal walks from these towns. We enjoyed the Camel Trail that connected Wadebridge directly to Padstow. There was reliable frequent bus service from Wadebridge to many interesting towns including the above mentioned Padstow, Port Isaac and Tintangel. To get to the train for further trips we took a bus from Wadebridge to the train station on the outskirts of Bodmin. Since our focus was the 3 costal towns above Wadebridge and a costal town near the tip of Cornwall, our two bases worked well for us without a car.

Edit: we were doing a house exchange in Wadebridge I have no hotel to recommend there. St Ives seemed to be full of charming hotels.

Hey ive been living in Cornwall for 3 years so im pretty well versed now!

All three are great options, but each offers something slightly different.

Falmouth has the best mix of amenities, restaurants, and public transport, making it a solid base with plenty of coastal walks and day-trip options nearby, though it’s one of the busier spots in summer.

Port Isaac is a beautiful, classic Cornish fishing village with fantastic hiking on the South West Coast Path, but it can get crowded and parking is limited and it's also very remote, you have to drive everywhere!

The Lizard is soo dramatic, good walking, and a very slow quieter pace, with just enough cafés and pubs on one hand, you also have to drive a lot here down small narrow lanes but ideal if you’d prefer somewhere more peaceful.

If you’re open to other suggestions, Penzance or St Agnes and Truro are also worth a look for a good balance of charm, amenities, and space to breathe.

My favourite beach in cornwall is Pedn Vounder Beach, you need to go, although i think its shut now??!

Thanks all...things are coming together! Good advice as usual here!

My favourites are Falmouth if relying on public transport. Trains and many foot ferries will keep you occupied for a week. Porthleven if you have a car. Much smaller than Falmouth but lively, with a variety of shops and restaurants. A harbour facing apartment at St Elvans Courtyard is a delight, watching fishing boats coming and going.