English beach at Its best…read more Situated in the shadow of the iconic Tate St Ives gallery, Porthmeor is a sandy, safe beach, popular with surfers and swimmers alike. It's in an ideal location just a stone's throw from the centre of St Ives, where you'll find ancient pubs, trendy cafes and lots of art galleries the town is famous for. A perfect place for a beach picnic - you can easily get all you need from the town, the beach is busy in summer with families who enjoy the easy access, and in winter the surf brigade from the town have all those rollers right on their doorstep. Porthmeor is one of only eight beaches in Cornwall that hold the prestigious Blue Flag Award 2021, given in recognition of water quality, safety, environmental management and education. Lifeguard cover from Easter until the end of October (2021). Parking - the car parks in St Ives get full very early in main season, and the large car park at the top of town can bit a hike back up. Why not try parking at St Erth station or Lelant Saltings and enjoy the scenic branch line into the heart of St Ives. Please note: Dogs are welcome on this beach except between 15th May and 30 September (10am - 6pm) when a seasonal dog ban is in place (2020).

After driving down from Newquay, managing the narrow roads through St. Ives, my sister-in-law…read morewanted nothing more than the pancakes called out in the Guardian's recommendation of this place. We only had to wait a few minutes at the car park just up the hill, and we were seated almost immediately, though we were told that the kitchen was quite backed up (10am on the last Saturday in August, beautiful morning), so we'd need to wait about 10 minutes to order. No bother, we started with hot chocolate and a carrot-ginger juice (made in house). Drinks were great. Unfortunately, when we did get to order, we were told that they were out of pancakes. So both J and J ended up with poached eggs and toast. Jimmy got the side of chorizo. I got the scrambled eggs, cornish crab, crème fraiche, lemon and rocket. Though the kitchen was backed up, the food came decently quickly. My eggs were delightful and mixed quite well with all the other toppings. The views of the beach and surf school were entertaining, as were the menus with the clippings mentioning the historic shipwrecks and even the subsequent capsizing of a lifeboat during the rescue. It's a charming spot, but you'll need to get there early if you want pancakes.

If you're in the area, this is an iconic must stop location!…read more Huge portions: My husband and I can barely finish sharing one of the large sizes. Fast service: even though there's always a queue, it moves quite quickly. Fair amount of options: if you're not into the hype, there's sandwiches and desserts as well inside. Gluten Free option available if you schedule it in advance. Coffee, loads of merch to buy... Yes the food here is great, they didn't become famous for no reason, but it's the full experience you get to take away with you really!!!

Nom nom nom! My…read morefriends and I had a good chat to the owner of our B&B over breakfast... and she confided that Philp's is her favourite place to grab a pasty.* She also told us the rules for a decent pasty; Apparently it should contain beef, buttery potatoes and swede.** Anyway, I am not a expert on pasties...but I thought these were really good! Waaay better than the rubbish, greasy pasties you an buy in train stations in London!! - If you come at lunch you'll have to wait...it seems like this place is pretty famous...we had to queue for about 10 minutes. - I also bought some saffron buns for £1...they were yummy too. *I actually misheard her and wrote myself a note to look out for "Phelp's" ...but I assume that was just my inability to listen properly as I couldn't spot a shop called Phelp's!! ** Later my other Cornish friend told me that "swede" isn't actually swede(!) it refers to a Cornish turnip.

This is my favourite place to eat in St Ives. It's an unassuming and small cafe on the corner just…read moreat the top of the harbour wall. The food and owners are Italian and you couldn't find friendlier people. Both savoury and sweet foods are a delight with the ingredients sourced locally from the best available. Tagliere for me is a complete highlight but the Panino and Chocolate Torte are also stunning. Can't recommend this place highly enough.

Fabulous little coffee shop right on the pier, beautiful Italian pastries so light and delicate…read more They also do a fabulous pressecco and bottles of Italian larger. Friendly staff lovely and clean.

My first cream tea ever.... did anyone else know there was a scone involved with tha? And a darn…read moretasty scone at that. Coasters is bright and cheery. The service was great. Tea was very good but the scone was the big star. Warm, soft, moist, really unlike any scone I have ever had. Came with a little dish of jam and clotted cream. Per local practice (after a little coaching from my UK friends and the instructions on the menu) I put jam on first then clotted cream. Delicious! When you pour your tea the proper way is to add milk to the tea cup first... otherwise it is obvious you are American.

Fab, fab, fab!…read more Rustic but modern decor, right on the front at St Ives. Even on a rain lashed Friday, it was cosy and welcoming. We couldn't get a table right away but staff ushered us in so we could wait for our table and shelter from the rain. Food options look lovely - the menu board was so tempting and appeared to be very Cornish in flavour by combining options composed of lovely local produce. I came for the proper Cornish cream tea - even gluten free and it comes with authentic Cornish tea (tea made in Cornwall) - yummy! Seriously, a great place. I found it on google after searching for gluten free in St Ives and it was amazing. They cater for 'normal' people, but most of the menu can be catered for in gluten free form - breads, cakes, scones, quiches, pastry products which I was so impressed by. The menu is marked G which shows the GF options available. Makes a change from the one or two options - usually soup or salad... The scone was to die for - two scones actually in a cream tea with clotted cream and jam and a pot of tea - £5.95 but well worth it. The scones were the best GF ones I've come across and my mum, although not a huge scone fan, raved about her non-GF ones all day! I even had an extra scone - purely to use up my left over jam and cream of course as it was so great. The jam was lovely - clearly local and home made and definitely not from a supermarket jar - I could have ate buckets of it with my scone it was so good. If I'm in Cornwall again, I would definitely make the trip to St Ives to check out The Tea Room - there was so much on the menu I would have had, if I wasn't maximising the cream tea opportunity. Staff were friendly and helpful and certainly not judgemental about the GF girl and the three scones... :-)

A nice, simply laid out cafe on St Ives harbour, where I enjoyed a very tasty leek and potato soup…read more One of our group received something they had specifically asked not to have with their meal, but it was an easily rectified problem.

Absolutely lovely place to try your first cream tea (as I did:). Maybe it's not the cheapest place…read morearound, but definitely offers sweet and homey atmosphere, especially on the 1st floor, where you can run away from the crowds of tourists. Apart from lovely scones with famous Rodda clothed cream and jam, the place offers salads, wraps, sandwiches cupcakes and selection of alcoholic beverages. And if you feel a need to but a souvenir to a member of family and you don't know what to choose, the place also sells selection of ciders brewed locally, packed in nice boxes. I'd give 5 starts, however the bliss was disturbed by a waitress having a private conversation about condoms with another member of the stuff, not to mention her flip flops, dress so short that we almost could see her knickers and bra strips lurking from beneath. I wouldn't mind if it was a beach bar, but from place of this class, I'd expect a bit more of taste.

Bijou and quirky, and the only place to sell gluten free Cornish pasties in St. Ives (eat in or…read moretake away) - and they are wonderful too.