The best thing about the UK bank holiday is that it would normally fall on Friday or Monday, making it a long weekend. So was the Summer bank holiday which was on 26th August, the monday. Since it was a long weekend, I planned to travel to the One destination, I had been waiting to travel to, Cornwall. The destination for summers since it has some amazing beaches in the UK. I started searching for hotels and trains in the Cornwall area. Since it was the perfect destination in the UK for this long weekend, most of the hotels, BnB's, hostels were booked. Luckily I found one single room in a hotel in the Newquay near the beach. Not wasting time, I booked it for myself and then the train
to Newquay from London.
The journey from London to Newquay was almost a 5 and half hours long from the London Paddington station, with a change at the Exeter St. Davids, which was almost 2 hours away from London. I started from Ilford around 05:45, By the time I reached the Ilford station, I realised that the next TFL train was in 13 minutes (06:16 train). This triggered my race against time since I had to board the 07:03 Great Western Railways train from Paddington to Exeter St. Davids. Missing this train meant boarding the next train at 07:30 which was a slower one, putting me an hour and half behind schedule. I reached Liverpool St. Station, rushed to board the Circle line to Paddington, reached Paddington and rushed to board the GWR train to Exeter St. Davids, just 2 minutes before departure.
The train departed on the right time. Since I had a reservation, I saved myself from the trouble of finding an available seat and sat down to have a short nap. 3rd station on the way was Exeter St. Davids, where the train dropped me at 09:20. Here I had to change the platform and board another train to Newquay. This was a way slower train which took 3 hours to reach Newquay, which was shorter distance than London to Exeter St. Davids. Finally around 12:30 I reached Newquay.
First I found a Burger King just outside the station and had a burger to satisfy the hunger. Since my check-in was at 15:00, I headed towards the city center to find way to the beach. But since I was carrying my rucksack with everything in it, it was getting difficult to roam around. So I decided to reach the hotel and wait for the check-in. The hotel was a 15 min walk from the center. I reached there at 14:00 only to find that they have prepared the room and I could check-in and settle down. I had booked a single room in the hotel and hence did not expect it to be much spacious, but still it was okay to move around and definitely worth the money. After resting for about half an hour, I went out.
I found the path towards the cliff adjacent to the Tolcarne beach, which was a private beach. Since it was a cliff, there was amazing wind blowing which was pleasant. I spent 15-20 minutes over the cliff and headed down to the beach.
The entry to the beach was through the hotel, but it was open for visitors. As soon as I entered the beach, I was surprised to see the beauty. Though there were a lot of people on the beach, it had maintained its beauty. The water was clear and because of the sunlight, it emitted all shaded of blue color. This reminded me of the Pangong Lake in India, which similarly emits different shades of blue. I was mesmerized with the beauty of the water. Conscious of carrying a DSLR, I could not go much deeper into the water to feel it but stand at the shore feeling the chilled water passing through my feet. I spent almost 2 hours on the beach, walking and roaming around, feeling the breeze and water. Post which I headed back towards the hotel.
Since the hotel had an indoor swimming pool, I headed towards the pool and spent almost half an hour in it, relaxing the body.
Post this, I headed towards the city center to explore. But by the time I reached the city center, it was already 19:00, most of the shops were closed and the rest were closing up. I reached back the same cliff, sat there, called up a friend to chat for some time and post this headed back to the hotel to have dinner and off to sleep.
Day 2
Since living in London, I had an impression that the public transport will be reliable to move around the Cornwall and hence I planned this trip solely on the public transport. The itinerary for this day was to go to the Land's End attraction, which was almost 60 miles from New Quay only to later realize that the public transport in this area was something not to rely on. In order to reach Lands end from Newquay, I had to change 4 buses and this would take me 4.5 hours, only to cover 60 Kms. But there was a bus leaving at 06:40 that could reduce 1 change and save me more than an hour and hence I started early from the hotel. I reached the bus station at 06:00 and waited for the bus.
This was a National Express coach to Penzance which started from Newquay at 06:40 and reached Penzance at 07:50. The first bus to Lands End was at 08:30 and this meant waiting at the bus station. Since I had started very early, I was feeling hungry and no cafes or restaurants were open. So my plan was to reach Lands end and search something to eat there.
The bus took almost 1 hour 15 minutes to reach Lands End. I was dropped at the parking of the Land's End hotel and started exploring the place around. I found some cornish pantries, but they were scheduled to open at 10:00. I waited for another 10-15 mins for them to open.. just before 10:00, 1 of the guys from the pantry called me up saying the food was ready and I could come in. I went in there to find the famous cornish pasty ready, which I had for my breakfast, along with hot chocolate.
There was a small digital exhibition to show the Journey in time where a Royal Enfield was put up that covered the distance between Lands End and John O' Groats in 1990. Post this I went to the Lands End point and explored the area. This was on a Cliff, facing the Celtic Sea. A few miles into the sea, you could see the Longships Light house and ona clear day, you could even spot the Isle of Scilly.
Post this, I went back to the parking and waited almost 30 minutes for the bus to Porthcurno. Once I boarded the bus, it took half an hour to reach Porthcurno, where I reached at 12:00. Since I had to use public transport and knowing the condition of it, I was keeping my stays short.
In Porthcurno, I went to the Porthcurno beach. The route to the beach that I could find was through the bushes with a trail so narrow that even 1 person couldnot cross. But the walk was pleasant. There were bushes of Raspberries, Blueberries and Black Current. Instead of spending time on the beach, I preferred walking the trail through the bushes till the cliff end, post which I returned to the bus stop and waited for the bus. There was a wait of 15 minutes before the bus arrived and I was headed back to Penzance. I reached Penzance at 14:00.
My next (and last stop as per plan) for the day was St Michaels Mount. This was a few miles from Penzance in the Marazion area. This is a small castle atop the hill island and during the low tide, 1 can even walk to the island. For the rest of the time, there are ferries taking tourists across the water. But before the bus could reach the stop and drop me, there was another bus accident happened on the way, which blocked the road. Hence the bus had to drop us off there as it could not move ahead. I walked to the Marazion beach exploring the beach and the Marazion town. Since the water was high, there were very few people walking to the mountain and a huge rush of people going into the mountain through ferries.
After spending almost 2 hours there, now the plan was to head back to Newquay. I headed towards the bus stop that would take me to the Hayle Viaduct, from where I could board the direct bus to Newquay. Though this would have take almost 3 hours to reach Newquay, but involved lesser changes. I reached near the bus stop only to realise that it was on the other side of the road and the road was a carriageway with heavy traffic, making it really difficult to cross. In about 15 minutes while I was still trying to cross the road, I could see the bus leaving the bus stop and I could do nothing.
After another 15 minutes, the traffic reduced and I managed to cross the road. Now I had to wait for the another half an hour for the bus. Once the bus came in, it took almost 1 hour to reach the Hayle Viaduct. The Google map showed that the next bus to Newquay was soon arriving at the same stop, but it never did. Because of me missing the bus, the last bus to Newquay had already left. So I was left with the only option to take a train to Newquay from Hayle, which was another challenge since I had to take the train to Par and then change for Newquay. But since I had no option and that was the last train, I boarded it.
The distance between Marazion and Newquay is 43 Kms, but because of the poor public transport, it took me 4.5 hours to cover it. Finally around 21:00, I reached my hotel in Newquay and since I was already exhausted, I had my dinner and headed to sleep.
Day 3
Day 3 started light an easy. The plan was to visit the Perranporth beach which was almost half an hour from Newquay, spend some time there and come back to Newquay to board the train to London Paddington.
The first bus to Perranporth was at 09:00 which had its stop just outside my hotel. Though it was almost 15 minutes late, but I boarded it and was off to Perranporth beach. In about 40 minutes, the bus dropped me at the beach.
Visit to the Perranporth beach was suggested by a friend. Well visiting there was worth it. It was probably the best beach I visited ever. Sandy, long, clear water and shacks, what else could you demand. I spent almost 2 hours at the beach, first by roaming around on the beach feeling the waves and then at the shack having breakfast. Breakfast at the beach was an experience in itself.
Later around 12:00 I went back to the bus stop and waited for the bus to Newquay. By 13:00, I was in Newquay. My train was scheduled to leave at 15:07, since I was early, I thought of exploring the market and eating the last Cornish Pasty of the trip. Post which I headed back to the station.
The train departed on time and I reached London Paddington at 20:40 post which it took me another hour to reach my place in Ilford, marking the end to a beautiful trip.
Some Learnings:
1. Public Transport in the area is not very good. If you plan a trip based on the public transport, ensure that you do not miss any bus or have backup planned.
2. Newquay was a nice place to stay if planning a trip with personal vehicle. If public transport, prefer Penzance.
3. Public transport bus routes are costly. Buy a day rider pass if your travel involves more than 2 buses.
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