There are so many lovely towns in Cornwall to visit but as we only had a few days, we could only visit a few. We had a low-key horrific time driving in Cornwall but it was definitely fun to see such a variety of places. These are the 7 that we liked the most, from Port Isaac towards the north down to Mousehole near “Land’s End.”

Polperro

Polperro is one of the more popular towns in Cornwall and it’s a good balance between the touristy and the local. It has a cute harbor and charming stone buildings, and a lot of places to get a cream tea or a Cornish pasty (FYI you are not allowed to leave Cornwall without trying a pasty!). And on top of that, plenty of vegan options. I personally enjoyed a nice vegan fish n chips at The Blue Peter Inn, though it wasn’t as good as the one in St Ives (see below).

There are also quite a few shops ranging from the traditional tourist shops to nicer quality goods. We got some nice decor at a gallery selling locally handmade art. There’s also the Polperro Model Village plus a Harbour Heritage Museum. Once you get down to the quay and the small beach area, you can also find signs for boat tours. It’s just an all around cute little place.

If you want to park at Polperro’s car park, you need to have cash. There are some machines that turn notes into coins but there’s no ATM at the car park and no app you can pay through.

St Ives (one of the most popular towns in Cornwall)

I don’t think you can look at a list of towns in Cornwall to visit without seeing St Ives. It actually looked a lot bigger and more modern than what I was looking for but kept it on our itinerary because so many people recommended it. And yeah – I get the appeal. It’s definitely a lot bigger and more crowded than other places in Cornwall but it’s also quite lovely.

The buildings are a lot older than they seemed to look in some of the photos. Of course there’s the wharf which is the main street that goes along the large sand beaches. (St Ives is definitely one of the better places to go if you’re looking for a sandy beach holiday.) It’s a bit more kitschy but I love a kitschy beach town. It’s also at the Rum & Crab Shack that I happened upon a delicious vegan fish n chips!

The back streets are mostly filled with vacation lodges but there’s also some more independent shops on Fore St. If you’re into modern art, don’t forget to put the Tate St Ives on your list.

St Ives has a few large parking lots and still, parking was a nightmare and had me on the verge of tears. We ended up parking at a church that accepted donations in exchange for parking and it was a bit of a walk down to the town. Thankfully there is a shuttle you can take to and from the St. Ives Trenwith Car Park because the hills around St Ives are steep. If you are able, I’d recommend taking a bus or train in instead.

Port Isaac

Port Isaac is one of the most popular towns in Cornwall because it’s the filming location for “Doc Martin.” It’s also why my mom had to visit, but yes, Port Isaac definitely lives up to the appeal. The town dates back to ancient times but has actually relied more on tourism in the past few decades than fishing. Here you can find a lot of souvenir shops, ranging in souvenirs from the cheap stuff to quality nautical home decor.

There’s also a bunch of places to eat including a Michelin Star restaurant called Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen, which is said to be housed in Port Isaac’s oldest surviving building. Though the local specialty in Port Isaac is seafood, I had no issue finding something vegetarian to eat.

If you like Doc Martin, we did the Doc Martin tour and found it quite educational. Our guide was also an extra on the show.

It is quite crowded and driving in town is horrendous so I strongly encourage you to park in the designated lot before the entrance of the town. It is also very hilly and the hills are quite steep so that’s something to keep in mind if you have more limited mobility.

Mousehole

Mousehole is just as charming as its name (even though it’s pronounce “mow-zull”). It dates back to the medieval era and is one of the smallest towns on this list. But despite its size, it still has a nice sand beach and a decent selection of places to eat.

We spent our time walking around, dipping into the water, and then getting something to eat. We also took a stroll over to the rock pool but didn’t get to see any sea life.

But Mousehole, in the shadow of Penzance, also has a lot of lure I wish we’d gotten to know. A walking tour would’ve been great. If you want to learn some of the history and legends, I recommend Cornish Bird Blog and Cornwall Guide because they both get a lot more in depth about Mousehole’s and Cornwall’s history. Otherwise it’s still such a cute place to stroll around and just relax.

If you want to park in the parking lot, they cake Coins or the JustPark app only. So it helps to have some loose change with you.

Truro

Truro is technically Cornwall’s only city and the county town. It dates back to the medieval era and became a thriving port town, despite being more inland than other Cornish towns. It also grew to prominence as a trade city with the growth of tin mining.

Seeing Truro was a bit of a failure for us since we came after everything closed (i.e. 5:00pm). Even though we could only walk around the deserted streets, we found Truro to be very charming. As it is inland rather than the water, it feels a lot different from the other towns in Cornwall. We liked seeing the stunning cathedral, the cute buildings, the small streams that run through the town. Obviously it would’ve been much nicer if we’d gotten there before closing time, but Truro was still cute enough to put on the list of towns in Cornwall to visit.

Fowey (& Polruan)

Honestly I wasn’t too keen on visiting Fowey based on photos that make it look like a big resort town, but the lure of being Daphne du Maurier’s home drew me in. But I did love it! The Esplenade, which a lot of the photos are from, is a bit boring as I expected, but the main part of town (Lostwithiel St, Market St, Fore St, etc) is super cute. It’s a mash of British architecture from different eras, and a few fun paint colors, and I really enjoyed walking around.

Of course, I got back and realised that I too didn’t have many photos of this section. There were a lot of people about. But take my word for it that near the Town Quay, there’s a nice selection of stores and places to eat and some cute buildings. I understand the appeal now.

You can also see Daphne du Maurier’s house, “Ferryside,” which is across the way at the Bodinnick ferry. Unfortunately it’s privately owned and closed to the public.

We were planning on taking the ferry to Polruan but got there later in the day, and apparently the ferries stop running at about 5-6:00pm in the summer so we couldn’t visit unfortunately. If you’d like to do both, I advise going earlier in the day. You can also drive over the Bodinnick Ferry, which operates ’til later in the day.

Are you a Daphne du Maurier fan? We had a great time visiting the museum at Jamaica Inn – the same place her novel is based on. I heard it was quite small but there actually have a huge collection of letters, photos, and objects that belonged to du Maurier herself. I definitely recommend it!

Cadgwith

Cadgwith dates to late medieval times and is definitely one of the smaller towns in Cornwall. The parking lot is about a 5 minute walk down a dirt path to the town. It’s very sleepy and there’s about a handful of restaurants and vacation lodges with a rock beach. It definitely doesn’t take much time to “see” Cadgwith if you’re just passing through.

That being said, we thought it had real charm. Many of the houses have thatched roofs and strangely enough, it was the only place that really smelt of the sea. I know some people don’t like that but I do. If you’re going down to Lizard Point and have some extra time on your hands, then it might be worth checking out Cadgwith.

Now that I’m writing in retrospect, I think my favorite towns in Cornwall were actually St Ives and Mousehole. Though St Ives is a lot larger, they both had a good balance between things to do and just the charm of walking around. But all the places on this list were quite lovely to visit and I’d recommend them all.

I hope this helps you plan your trip to Cornwall and you have an excellent time. If there are any towns in Cornwall that are not on the list, let me know in the comments.

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