During the less stormy months you can take part in yoga classes on the beach. Showcase Studios St Ives offer a great selection of yoga classes and retreats, both on and off the beach. If you look in the tide line after big winds or a storm on the beach, you will find pieces of seaglass. These are pieces of glass that have been lost into the sea and churned and polished by the waves. They make beautiful momentos and my daughter loves to turn them into pictures and mosaics. The best places in St Ives to collect seaglass are Harbour Beach and Porthmeor Beach. Boat trips don’t run all year round due to the weather conditions. However, they do start running around March time and keep going after the Summer as long as possible. Smeaton’s Pier has 2 lighthouses - the smaller one halfway along was built when the original pier was much shorter. They extended the pier is 1890 and built the new, larger lighthouse.

It may sound like a big claim, but I think the train ride from St Erth to St Ives one of the most picturesque train journeys on earth!! The train hugs the coast round the estuary around Lelant and Porthkidney Sands. It then turns towards Carbis Bay, along the cliffs and through to St Ives and Porthminster Beach. It is simply breathtaking! Allison was in St Ives to see an exhibition at the Tate and was wandering through town in the vain hope of seeing something up for rent, when she saw that a café had closed. The St Ives Arts Club (the wooden clad building on Westcott’s Quay) is a brilliant place for events. They host art events and exhibitions, music, poetry, drama, comedy and films. You can hire a lovely little beach chalet on Porthmeor, Porthgwidden or Porthminster Beach. They are teeny tiny but perfect for storing all your beach gear in. You have to admit, it would make life a lot easier for most of us harassed parents, in our attempts to lug the kitchen sink to the beach!Harbour Amusements on Wharf Road is a lot of fun, especially for the young at heart. It has a range of quintessentially British seaside amusements, such as the shooting gallery and 2p machines, plus ride on things for the very small ones and arcade games for the older ones.

Work is being done on setting up a fish market on Smeaton's Pier. Once I know more about this I will post more information. For the dreamers, here is the house that many people would love to live in! It is called Quay House and sits right on Harbour Beach in St Ives.Gaze at the lapping waves and watch the fishing boats between delicious bites of smoked salmon sandwiches, and sips of champagne. The St Ives Jumbo Luggers are the small open sailing boats with rusty red, almost square looking sails. There are 3 of them that sail from St Ives harbour. Its uses have been varied; as well as a place of worship it was used by revenue officers on the lookout for smugglers, smugglers as a lookout for revenue officers, and it was later used by the war office during WW2. Try another classic Cornish delicacy; fish and chips! Read 10 Fish and Chips in St Ives: The Complete Local Food Guide!

The Market Place Tea Rooms is at the top of Lifeboat Hill in St Ives by the round(ish) Market Place building and the St Eia Church. It is a super pretty tea room that do delicious cream teas, as well as lots of other amazing treats! Penbeagle Hill/Carnstabba. This is a favourite of ours and we often walk up there via the park and St Ives Community Orchard. The oldest house in St Ives is found at 5 Fish Street. It is reputed to have been built in the 1600s. There were of course much older houses than this, but in the 1930s they were cleared in the slum clearances. The most notable of these was the demolition of Pudding Bag Lane. Porthmeor Beach Café is one of St Ives’ hospitality gems. Located just below the famous Tate St Ives, Porthmeor Beach Café is the perfect place to stop for a scenic bite to eat. There are 5 main hills to climb up around St Ives, each which gives a wonderful view across the land to the sea. If you are into walking, nature and views then give them a go!

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The St Ives Surf School there is really top notch. They give lessons to all levels and seem incredibly good and patient with beginners. You can hire equipment there too if you just want to give it a go. For such a small town there is a wonderful array of things to see and do. We don’t have fairground rides, water parks or multiplex cinemas, but we do have lots of fun, quirky and delightful things on offer.

Just out of the crowds, Café Art is located on Chapel Street. They offer a selection of cakes, sandwiches and cream teas. St Ives has tennis courts! They are just above Porthminster Beach on Primrose Valley. They are synthetic clay courts and are open all year round. Visitors can use the courts on a pay and play basis - just give them a ring to book. The Rugby Club in St Ives isn’t just for car parking! The St Ives Hakes play there regularly and have both senior and junior teams. Come and watch them play - their fixtures are announced on the board by the Consols Pond junction into St Ives. Sitting partway up Lifeboat Hill, The Market Place Tea Rooms is a dog-friendly café serving afternoon tea in St Ives. You can buy lovely fresh fish in St Ives. When the fishermen are landing their catch you can buy it from Smeaton's Pier or around Mount Zion. The Beach on Wharf Road has a wet fish counter. Mathew Stevens on Penbeagle Industrial estate does sell direct to the public (give them a ring). Celtic Fish and Game do home deliveries too.They sell a wonderful array of locally sourced food, such as breads, cheeses, Cornish pies and pretty much anything you could want for the best picnic ever! Their menu offers a range of creative yet classic dishes, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. And cream tea and cake of course! The Barnoon Workshop is a lovely little workshop up by Barnoon Car Park overlooking Porthmeor Beach. They hold lots of courses and workshops, including outdoor painting and drawing. There are lots of great places in St Ives to have a Sunday Lunch. A couple of my favourites are The Loft Restaurant - simply yum, and The Queens on the High Street. Living in St Ives, I’ve become something of a cream tea connoisseur! I’ve tried many many places and have got it down to my top 5 places. 1. Olives