St Ives, GB

The white art-deco beach restaurant sitting on Porthminster sand, doing Mediterranean- and Asian-leaning seafood with the bay laid out in front of you. It's the town's destination lunch and dinner, open year-round; the curry and the whole fish are the long-standing orders.

The buzzy cafe under the Tate on Porthmeor, running from build-your-own breakfasts through tapas to evening drinks. Origin coffee, a wide veggie and seafood small-plates list, and the best sunset terrace in town for watching the surfers.

A laid-back cafe-restaurant tucked into the small sheltered cove between The Island and the harbour. Mediterranean plates, seafood linguine and cream teas on a sun-trap terrace; it feels more like a quiet local secret than the bigger beach cafes.

A long-running family seafood restaurant in the old fishing quarter on Fish Street, away from the harbourfront crowds. Cosy, candlelit and dinner-only, with locally landed fish and shellfish; it leans romantic rather than scenic.

A small seasonal seafood shack at the western end of Porthmeor doing inventive plates well beyond standard fish and chips. The Korean fried monkfish and the mackerel scotch egg are the dishes people come back for; expect a short, changing menu.

A tiny, fiercely independent burger joint in The Warren that has been a cult St Ives order for years, big on local meat and sustainability. Cornish beef, lamb, veggie or vegan patties with homemade sauces and triple-cooked chips; mostly takeaway now.

A harbour-overlooking Thai kitchen with a cocktail lounge downstairs, serving sharing-style Thai dishes to a steady local following. The room is small and it doesn't take bookings, so it draws a wait on busy nights.

A Neapolitan pizzeria on the harbourfront with an open oven you can watch from the room, turning out properly charred, from-scratch pizzas. Generous toppings, sea views, and good lunch deals make it the reliable casual choice in the centre.

A bright-painted old coaching inn on the wild coast road past Zennor, run as a serious dining pub with a daily-changing menu built on the day's catch and local game. Worth the drive out for a long lunch; the Sunday roast is the constant locals plan around.

A characterful country pub just outside town in Halsetown, run by the crew behind Blas Burgerworks with the same focus on ethical Cornish sourcing. Contemporary pub plates, open fires and a strong Sunday roast make it the cosy off-seafront option.

A long-standing town cafe doing simple things properly: artisan sourdough sandwiches, pasties, sausage rolls, cakes and good coffee. The kind of unfussy daytime stop locals return to, with solid gluten-free and vegan options.

A small glass-fronted bakery that locals point to for the town's best pasty and sourdough. The steak pasty and the cheese-and-veg are the orders; there's usually a queue, which tells you most of what you need to know.

The harbour parlour for ice cream made on the family dairy farm on the cliffs at Zennor. Dozens of flavours churned a few miles up the coast; the honeycomb-laced Shipwreck is the one regulars steer you to.

A cocktail bar above the harbour with a famously long menu and a team that takes the mixing seriously. The terrace is the contested seat on a clear evening; come for pre- or post-dinner drinks rather than a full meal.

An intimate rum bar down granite steps off Fore Street, dimly lit with a back bar of well over a hundred rums and regular live jazz. Small, moody and made-to-order; the antidote to the loud harbourfront pubs.

The short loop around the grassy headland at the edge of town, topped by St Nicholas Chapel. Under a mile, paved and grass paths, and the reward is a full circle of views over both beaches, the harbour and out to the Atlantic.

An easy-to-moderate two-mile climb up Worvas Hill through Steeple Woods to a tall stone obelisk above town. The path winds past old mine workings and stiles to a summit with wide views over the bay to Godrevy Lighthouse.

A gentle coast-path stretch along the bay, linking the sands at Carbis Bay to Porthminster and into town, mostly above the railway line. Easy and well surfaced, with one of the most photographed views of the bay along the way.

The genuinely tough stretch of the South West Coast Path west out of town, around six and a half miles of switchbacking cliff path with rocky scrambles and few easy exits. Wild, empty and spectacular, ending at the Tinners Arms or Gurnard's Head for a well-earned lunch.

A waymarked twelve-mile pilgrim route from Lelant church across the Penwith peninsula toward St Michael's Mount, the only British path on a European Cultural Route. Moderate to strenuous, mixing coast, farmland and the Knill's Monument ridge.

An easy clifftop walk on the far side of the bay around Godrevy Point, looking out to the lighthouse that inspired Virginia Woolf. Roughly three miles out and back over flat headland, with a seal colony hauled out in the cove below in autumn and winter.

Hour-long skippered boat trips from the harbour out to Seal Island to see the grey-seal colony, with the skipper narrating the coastline and wildlife along the way. The reliable, family-friendly way onto the water from St Ives.

A long-running surf school on Porthmeor Beach recognised as a centre of excellence, running lessons for all levels plus coasteering along the rocks. Friendly instructors, gear included, and a genuinely good first-time-surfing experience on a town beach.

A hands-on gin-making class and shop on Fore Street where you distill and bottle your own gin to take home, guided by the team behind the Cornish distillery. An indoor, adult-leaning afternoon that works whatever the weather.

The working studio founded by Bernard Leach, where you can watch potters at the wheel — the original kiln and museum collection are not accessible while the site undergoes a major restoration until November 2026. The pop-up shop remains open for buying studio pieces.

A free artist-run gallery in a converted pilchard works, rotating shows of painting, print and ceramics by the Penwith Society. A calm, indoor alternative to the Tate that shows the working local art scene, with most pieces for sale.

An independent local brewery producing craft beers brewed in town, with a taproom and shop to drink the range at source. A relaxed, low-key option for an afternoon or evening pint away from the busy harbour pubs.

A dimly lit basement rum bar off Fore Street stocking well over a hundred rums and running live jazz nights. Small, intimate and evening-only, it's the grown-up nightcap spot rather than a rowdy harbour pub.

The modern-art gallery built on the old gasworks site above Porthmeor Beach, showing 20th-century and contemporary work tied to the St Ives art colony. The curving top-floor cafe looks straight out over the surf, and entry pairs with the Hepworth museum on one ticket.

The studio and garden where sculptor Barbara Hepworth lived and worked until her death, left largely as she kept it. Over thirty bronze, stone and wood pieces sit among the planting she chose herself, and the workshop still holds her tools and half-finished blocks.

St Ives' big Atlantic-facing surf beach, right below the Tate, with half a mile of sand that holds up even at high tide. This is where the surf schools run and where the town goes for sunset; the cafe at the back does tapas and drinks into the evening.

The sheltered, palm-fringed beach below the railway station, calmer than Porthmeor and built for families. Soft sand, gentle water for swimming and paddleboarding, and a serious beach cafe at one end make it an easy full-day spot.

The working harbour pier built in the 1760s that shelters the boats and frames the classic view back over town. Walk to the far light at high tide when the harbour is full, and you'll often spot seals nosing around the moored boats.

A tiny stone chapel on top of The Island, the grassy headland at the edge of town. It seats barely ten people but the real draw is the 360-degree view around it, taking in both beaches, the harbour and the open Atlantic.

A members' gallery in a converted pilchard-packing works showing painting, print and ceramics by artists of the long-running Penwith Society. It's free, quieter than the Tate, and a window onto the working side of the St Ives art scene rather than the tourist one.

The working studio founded by Bernard Leach in 1920, the cradle of British studio pottery. The museum and gallery are closed for a major restoration until November 2026, but the studio continues throwing pots onsite and a temporary pop-up shop is open for buying studio pieces.