Better still, it is a town made for wandering. Almost everything you could want – independent shops, exceptional food, three glorious beaches and some of Britain's greatest modern art – lies within a few minutes' walk. So put away the car keys, wear comfortable shoes and follow us.
It Begins With Good Coffee
Begin at Yallah Coffee, whose pretty blue hatch overlooking the harbour is just the place for a first caffeine hit of the day. Yallah roasts its own speciality coffee in Cornwall and takes sustainability seriously, from direct sourcing and financial traceability to renewable energy and plastic-free packaging wherever possible.
We love the charmingly enthusiastic people serving it, who know everything there is to know about coffee and look as though they might be heading directly for the surf once the morning rush is over.
Coffee secured, make for St Ives Bakery on Fore Street. You will know you're there from the snaking queue – and from the window crowded with baked goods that make resistance more or less futile. The bakery has been making bread using traditional artisan methods for some 20 years, but it is the cruffins that stop us in our tracks. Buy one. You are on holiday.
If you'd rather sit down for breakfast, head instead to Crowst on The Digey, a lovely all-day café occupying a former dye house once used in the town's fishing industry. It is particularly good for brunch, with excellent coffee and a focus on Cornish produce. The whitewashed walls and narrow lanes surrounding it have an almost Greek-island quality: for a moment, you could be somewhere in the Cyclades rather than Cornwall.
Hit The Shops
Suitably fortified, it's time to shop – and, as it transpires, it’s one many things St Ives happens to be very good at.
First stop: Cornwall SoapBox, which cunningly entices passers-by with its selection of beautifully scented creams and potions outside. Inside are handmade soaps, skincare, candles and aromatherapy products made using natural and organic ingredients. We defy you to emerge empty-handed. Our particular weakness is the lavender shampoo: at around £12 a bottle, it is pleasingly reasonable compared with many organic alternatives and smells divine. The warm and knowledgeable woman running the shop only makes it harder to resist.
Continue along Fore Street to Atlantic Shore, a family-run St Ives stalwart that has been here since 1984. This is the place for proper British wool Guernseys, Aran knits and gloriously cosy slippers – the sort of things that suddenly seem essential after a few days of Atlantic weather.
Next, make for St Ives Bookseller. Bijou, packed to the rafters and deeply seductive, it is exactly what we want an independent bookshop to be. There are all the holiday reads you could possibly require, alongside a particularly good selection of books by and about Cornish writers. Allow more time than you think.
For presents – whether genuinely destined for other people or mysteriously ending up in your own suitcase – is another excellent hunting ground, filled with maps, stationery and all manner of small, The Paper Sailor covetable things. There is no Insta or website so, simply, you’ll have to come by to see for yourself. r
While wandering Fore Street, it would be remiss not to pay a visit to Tarquin’s Gin. Its St Ives shop is a suitably jolly temple to the Cornish distillery, with bottles of its original dry gin alongside more adventurous concoctions and plenty of very good-looking things to take home. If nothing else, it provides an excellent opportunity to convince yourself that gin counts as a souvenir.
Back towards the harbour, The St Ives Co appeals first to the nose: you tend to smell it before you properly see it. Step inside for beautifully packaged bath salts, candles and stylish bits and pieces for the home.
Dress Like A Local
You don't actually need to be a fisherman to enjoy The Fishermen's Co-op. Sitting right on The Wharf, it is a proper working outdoor and fishing shop selling everything from tackle to serious weatherproof clothing. It may inspire you to book a boat trip in search of seals and the occasional elusive dolphin; alternatively, buy an oilskin and simply stride around looking magnificently prepared for a squall.
For something rather more colourful, Sweet Lime is a treasure trove of bright jewellery, clothes and accessories with a wonderfully artsy sensibility. The owner also does irresistible little Instagram walk-throughs of new stock, meaning the temptation can continue long after you've returned home.
And, since Cornwall inevitably makes one start fantasising about autumn fires and windswept cottages even in August, stop at Atlantic Blankets too. Its classic herringbone blankets are designed in Cornwall and sustainably made in the British Isles: exactly the sort of thing you'll be grateful for when the first chilly evening arrives. Oh, and do check out their collab with Tracey Emin, which is a sheer joy.
Lunch With A View
By now, lunch is calling. There is nowhere we'd rather answer it than Porthmeor Beach Café. Perched directly above the great sweep of Porthmeor Beach, it is pure St Ives magic. Bag one of the coveted outdoor pods if you can and order freely from the menu of local, vegetable-led and seafood tapas while surfers bob about in the Atlantic below.
It is almost impossible to imagine a better lunchtime view – although the café makes a persuasive case for returning at dinner, too, when it lays claim to 'the best sunset in the west'. Frankly, we aren't inclined to argue.
An Afternoon Of Art
Refuelled, cross the road. Quite literally. Tate St Ives is only a few steps away, and for lovers of twentieth-century British art, this is truly hallowed ground. St Ives has been home to an extraordinary roll call of artists, and the Tate brings together old favourites and less familiar discoveries in a setting that makes perfect sense of why they came here in the first place.
Expect the likes of Patrick Heron, Alfred Wallis – whose former cottage you may well stumble past on your wanderings – Vanessa Bell and Barbara Hepworth, alongside artists new to you. On our visit, we were particularly struck by Aleksandra Kasuba and her immersive Shelters for the Senses.
The building is part of the pleasure. Originally designed by Evans & Shalev and later expanded by Jamie Fobert Architects, its great curving form feels almost Art Deco in spirit, responding beautifully to the town and sea around it.
And whatever you do, make time for tea at the rooftop café. You get much the same extraordinary sweep of Porthmeor Beach as you did at lunch – only now from several storeys higher.
In The Footsteps Of Barbara Hepworth
Hungry for more? Good, because no visit to St Ives is complete without the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden. Hepworth lived and worked at Trewyn Studio for 25 years, and following her death in 1975 it was preserved as a museum according to her wishes. It remains profoundly beautiful and unexpectedly moving.
There is an intimacy here that even the finest conventional gallery struggles to reproduce. The studio feels as though Hepworth has merely stepped out for a moment and might return at any second to pick up her tools. Outside, her bronzes sit among palms, ferns and lush planting in the garden she herself helped to shape.
It is one of the most beautiful places to see art in situ that we know – perhaps precisely because it was never conceived as a museum at all, but as someone's home, workplace and garden, assembled gradually over a life.
Climb To The Island
From there, head back towards Porthmeor and climb The Island, the grassy headland separating Porthmeor from smaller Porthgwidden Beach. The ascent to St Nicholas Chapel is mercifully short and easy, but the reward is disproportionate. From the top, St Ives spreads out below you while the Atlantic seems to occupy almost everything else. Look one way across Porthmeor; turn the other and the waters of Porthgwidden twinkle below. It is a good reminder, amid all St Ives' restaurants, galleries and shops, that its greatest attraction remains its geography.
Time For A Tipple
All that culture and climbing is thirsty work. For something rather special, make for St Eia, a tiny, beautiful wine bar and bottle shop just moments from Porthmeor Beach. Bijou in the truest sense, it is the sort of place that makes you want to settle in for the duration: low-key, lovely and very serious about what it pours. You can eat here too, with small plates designed to accompany the wines. Be warned: both can make the bill mount up with alarming alacrity.
Alternatively, for something with more than a century of St Ives history behind it, head instead to John Wines. Established in 1894, Johns remains a family affair, now run by brothers Tom and Sam Hanson, the great-great-grandchildren of founder Elizabeth Johns. Its WSET-qualified staff know their stuff, and the selection runs from fine wines and craft spirits to local beers. Settle in with a good bottle and something salty to nibble while watching life around the harbour as late afternoon turns into evening.
Beer drinkers, meanwhile, should seek out Mine Taproom, the St Ives outpost of local Mine Brewing. Cosy and convivial, it pours Mine's own beers alongside changing Cornish guests and ciders. Cheese straws keep both drinkers and smaller folk content, which is the sort of thoughtful detail of which we strongly approve.
Supper, Two Ways
For dinner, Ardor is one of the most exciting additions to St Ives' already impressive food scene. Chef Dorian Janmaat spent nine years at Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, rising to Head Chef, before returning to Cornwall as Executive Head Chef at The Idle Rocks in St Mawes. Ardor is his first solo restaurant and draws on both his Cornish roots and the childhood years he spent in Spain.
The result is a buzzy, packed restaurant serving Spanish-inflected food with serious technique behind it. The Manchego and truffle croquettes are things of rare beauty. Order them immediately and worry about the rest afterwards (think chicken shawarma flatbread, fried aubergine with honey, kalamata olive, and chistorra sausage with garlic yoghurt and pea salsa).
If you simply cannot wrench yourself away from the sand, however, Porthminster Beach Café offers a very compelling alternative. With dazzlingly white sand below and blue water stretching beyond, on a sunny evening you could almost persuade yourself you were in Barbados.
The cooking wisely lets the setting and ingredients do the talking. Seafood comes from practically within sight of the kitchen: the Porthminster squid with black spice, citrus miso and Asian salad is frankly unbelievable, while you will never go far wrong with the catch of the day, cooked simply and served with olive-oil mash.
Want to keep things simpler still? Harbour Fish & Chips does exactly what its name promises, but with rather more choice than the average chippie. We particularly approve of being able to order grilled fish rather than battered – rare indeed is the fish-and-chip shop where you can pick up grilled sea bass and chips and eat them on the beach.
One For The Road
Replete? Excellent. You're still not going home. There is one final stop, and it is perhaps our favourite of all: The Pilchard Press Alehouse. Do not be deterred by its decidedly unpromising entrance down an alleyway off the harbour. Press on and you will find one of St Ives' great little secrets: a tiny former pilchard cellar with whitewashed stone walls, maritime murals and room for only a few dozen drinkers.
It is Cornwall's first micropub, opened in 2016, and specialises in changing local ales and ciders. On the night we visited, an impromptu round of sea shanties broke out among the drinkers. A tiny pub, good beer and a roomful of people singing songs about the sea: what more could you ask for?
Getting There
St Ives is particularly lovely to reach by train. Hop on a GWR service (be sure to book your seat; they get crowded in the busy months) and change at St Erth for the short branch-line journey around the coast, where the track hugs the edge of St Ives Bay before delivering you into town above Porthminster Beach. Once there, forget transport altogether: almost everything in this guide is best reached on foot, and getting pleasantly lost among St Ives' tiny lanes is the point.
FAQs: St Ives, Cornwall
Is St Ives worth visiting?
Absolutely. Few British seaside towns combine beaches, food, independent shopping and serious culture quite so successfully. Tate St Ives and the Barbara Hepworth Museum alone make it worth the journey; add three beautiful beaches, excellent restaurants and its maze of whitewashed lanes and it is easy to see why people return year after year.
How much time do you need in St Ives?
You can see many of the highlights in a day, since the centre is extremely compact, but St Ives rewards a slower pace. A long weekend gives you time for the galleries, beaches, shops and restaurants without feeling as though you're racing between them.
What is St Ives famous for?
St Ives is renowned for its artistic heritage, particularly the group of modern artists who settled and worked here during the twentieth century, including Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, Patrick Heron and Peter Lanyon. It is also famous for its exceptional light, sandy beaches and historic fishing harbour.
What are the best things to do in St Ives?
Visit Tate St Ives and the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden, wander the harbour and Fore Street, climb The Island to St Nicholas Chapel, spend time on Porthmeor, Porthminster or Porthgwidden beach and leave plenty of time for the town's independent shops and restaurants.
Where should I eat in St Ives?
For brunch, try Crowst; for lunch with a spectacular sea view, Porthmeor Beach Café is hard to beat. Ardor is an excellent choice for a more substantial dinner, while Porthminster Beach Café combines superb seafood with one of the prettiest settings in town. For something casual, take fish and chips to the beach.
Where are the best independent shops in St Ives?
Our favourites include St Ives Bookseller for books, Cornwall SoapBox for natural beauty products, Atlantic Shore for traditional knitwear, Sweet Lime for colourful fashion and jewellery and Atlantic Blankets for beautiful British-made blankets.
Which is the best beach in St Ives?
It depends what you're after. Porthmeor is the great surfing beach and has the Tate and Porthmeor Beach Café on its doorstep; Porthminster has powdery pale sand and calmer water; while smaller Porthgwidden has a tucked-away charm of its own.
Can you walk everywhere in St Ives?
Yes – and you should. The centre is compact and much of its charm lies in wandering its cobbled streets and narrow lanes. There are some hills and steps, but the main harbour, beaches, shops and galleries are all within easy walking distance of one another.
Is St Ives good without a car?
Very much so. In fact, arriving by train is one of the loveliest ways to visit. The branch line from St Erth has spectacular coastal views and deposits you within walking distance of the town centre. Given St Ives' narrow streets and limited parking, leaving the car behind can be considerably more relaxing.
When is the best time to visit St Ives?
Late spring and early autumn offer a particularly good balance of decent weather and fewer crowds. Summer is glorious but busy; outside peak season, St Ives takes on a quieter, more local character and its galleries, restaurants and windswept coastal walks become especially appealing.
