Best Scenic Place in Cornwall, England - Map and Reviews

The Bodmin and Wenford Railway is a heritage steam railway operating in Cornwall, England, and it stands as the county's only standard-gauge steam railway still in operation. The line runs for roughly six and a half miles through the scenic Cornish countryside, connecting Bodmin Parkway — the mainline station on the Great Western Main Line — with Bodmin General station in the town itself, and continuing onward to the northern terminus at Boscarne Junction, where it once linked with the now-disused Camel Trail. What makes this railway genuinely special is the combination of authentic steam haulage, beautifully restored Victorian and early twentieth-century rolling stock, and the dramatic wooded river valley it passes through. Visitors can enjoy the sight and sound of working steam locomotives in a landscape that feels almost unchanged from the railway's working days, and the line provides one of the most atmospheric and unhurried ways to experience this part of Cornwall. It is a place that appeals not only to railway enthusiasts but to families, walkers and anyone seeking a slower, more evocative pace of travel. The railway's origins lie in the broader history of Cornish mineral and passenger transport. The route follows, in part, the course of the old Great Western Railway branch that once served Bodmin and the surrounding area. The original Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway, opened in 1834, was one of the earliest steam-hauled railways in the country and among the first anywhere to carry both passengers and goods using locomotive traction. The later GWR branch that formed the basis of today's heritage line opened in 1887, connecting Bodmin to the main line at what became Bodmin Parkway. British Railways eventually closed the passenger service in 1967 and withdrew freight operations in 1983. It was following this closure that a dedicated group of volunteers and enthusiasts formed the Bodmin and Wenford Railway Preservation Society, which took over the line and painstakingly restored it to operating condition. The railway reopened in stages during the late 1980s and early 1990s, with full operations running from the mid-1990s onward. The volunteers' achievement in rescuing and sustaining this line represents one of the more determined acts of railway preservation in south-west England. The physical experience of riding the Bodmin and Wenford Railway is deeply sensory and quietly theatrical. From the moment a locomotive raises steam at Bodmin General — a handsome station that has been sympathetically restored with period signage, waiting rooms and a goods shed — there is the unmistakable smell of coal smoke and hot oil that defines working steam railways. The carriages, painted in appropriate liveries, creak and sway gently as the train pulls out. The journey south toward Bodmin Parkway descends into the wooded valley of the River Fowey, where the line threads through dense mixed woodland with occasional glimpses of the river below. The sounds shift between the rhythmic clatter of wheels over rail joints, the laboured exhaust beat of the locomotive on inclines, and the sudden hush of birdsong when the engine coasts. Bodmin General station itself has a station buffet and exhibition areas where locomotives can be seen at close quarters, and the engine shed — sometimes open to visitors — provides a glimpse into the working heart of the railway's operation. The surrounding landscape is quintessentially Cornish in its mixture of wild moorland and sheltered river valleys. Bodmin Moor lies to the east, a high treeless plateau of granite tors and ancient field systems that gives the wider area a brooding, sometimes melancholy character. The town of Bodmin itself, close to the northern end of the railway, is one of Cornwall's historic inland towns and has its own points of interest, including Bodmin Jail — a former Georgian county prison that is now a visitor attraction — and the Church of St Petroc, one of the largest parish churches in Cornwall, associated with the sixth-century Celtic saint whose relics were once housed there. The Camel Trail, a popular cycling and walking route that follows the old railway trackbed along the Camel estuary toward Padstow, begins close to Boscarne Junction, making a visit to the railway a natural companion to a day on the trail. Lanhydrock House, a magnificent National Trust property with elaborate gardens and a largely Victorian country house interior, lies just a short distance from Bodmin Parkway station, and many visitors combine a steam train journey with an afternoon at Lanhydrock. For practical purposes, the railway is most easily reached by mainline train to Bodmin Parkway station on the main London Paddington to Penzance line, from where heritage services connect directly to Bodmin General. By road, the railway is accessible via the A30 and A38; there is parking available at Bodmin General. The railway typically operates a seasonal timetable, running most frequently during the summer months from roughly April through October, with special event days throughout the year including Thomas the Tank Engine events for younger children, Santa specials in December, and evening dining trains. Some of these special events require advance booking and sell out well ahead of time. The terrain at the stations is generally manageable for most visitors, though the older infrastructure means that those with significant mobility requirements should check accessibility details in advance. The volunteers who staff the railway are typically knowledgeable and welcoming, and the atmosphere at Bodmin General in particular has a genuine community feel rather than the polished commercialism of some larger heritage railways. One of the more intriguing footnotes in the railway's story involves its connection to the legend of the Beast of Bodmin Moor, the large feline creature that has been reported in the area for decades and that has become part of Cornwall's modern folklore. While the railway itself has no direct association with the legend, its northern approaches through open countryside skirt the edge of the moor where sightings have most frequently been claimed, and the gothic atmosphere of a steam train emerging from woodland in low autumn light does nothing to discourage the imagination. More concretely, the railway has occasionally been used as a filming location, lending its authentic Victorian and Edwardian infrastructure to productions requiring period railway settings. The line also holds the distinction of being one of relatively few heritage railways in Britain that connects directly with the national rail network, meaning passengers can arrive from anywhere in the country on a through journey and step from an Intercity express straight onto a Victorian steam service — a genuine and slightly surreal juxtaposition that delights first-time visitors and makes the Bodmin and Wenford Railway feel less like a museum piece and more like a living, purposeful railway.

Zennor Cliff forms part of one of the most dramatic and wild stretches of the South West Coast Path along the north coast of Cornwall between St Ives and Zennor village, a section of coastline where the ancient granite of the Penwith Peninsula meets the full force of the Atlantic Ocean in a landscape of extraordinary geological drama and natural beauty. The cliffs here are among the most rugged and exposed on the entire Cornish coast, their faces plunging directly to the sea without the benefit of sandy beaches or sheltered coves to soften the transition between land and water. The coastal geology at Zennor is as ancient as any in England. The granite that forms the cliff faces was intruded into older metamorphic rocks during the Carboniferous period approximately 275 million years ago, and subsequent weathering and erosion by the sea have exposed the massive jointed structure of the granite in cross-section. The characteristic blockiness of the cliff faces, with their rectangular fracture patterns and occasional spectacular rock stacks, reflects the jointing geometry of the granite rather than the horizontally layered structure typical of sedimentary coastal cliffs. The walking along the coast path between St Ives and Zennor is among the finest in Cornwall, a section of approximately seven kilometres that passes through a landscape almost entirely uninhabited and largely unchanged from its appearance centuries ago. The Atlantic views to the north are open and vast, the cliffs rising and falling as the path follows the contours of the headlands, and the combination of maritime grassland, heather and bracken on the clifftops with the dark rock faces and blue-green sea below creates a colour palette of extraordinary richness in good weather. Seabirds nest on the cliff faces throughout the spring and summer breeding season, and grey seals are regularly seen in the water below the cliffs or hauled out on accessible rock platforms. Choughs, whose red bills and feet and acrobatic flight distinguish them from other corvids, are sometimes seen along this section of the Penwith coast.

Brown Willy is the highest point in Cornwall at 420 metres, a moorland tor on Bodmin Moor that rises above the surrounding peat bog and rough grassland to provide the most elevated viewpoint on the peninsula. Despite its modest altitude by the standards of the Welsh or Scottish hills, Brown Willy has the quality of genuine upland terrain, the exposed granite summit rising from a plateau of waterlogged moorland that can be demanding to cross in wet conditions and that provides a genuine sense of wild country in the heart of the Cornish peninsula. The name Brown Willy derives from the Cornish Bronn Wennili, meaning swallow's hill or breast of swallows, a name that reflects the Celtic language origins of Cornish place names on the moor and the long human history of this upland landscape that extends from the Neolithic period through Bronze Age settlements to the medieval and early modern tin mining and farming communities that worked the moor until relatively recent times. The Bronze Age settlements on Bodmin Moor, including the remarkable village and field system at Rough Tor nearby, are some of the best-preserved in Britain. Rough Tor, which lies close to Brown Willy and is in some ways a more interesting summit, is a great rocky outcrop on the neighbouring hill that provides dramatic viewpoints over the surrounding moor and contains the traces of a Neolithic enclosure and Bronze Age cairns and hut circles that make it one of the most archaeological-rich upland areas in Cornwall. The two summits are usually walked together from the car park at Roughtor Farm, providing a circuit of approximately five kilometres across classic Cornish moorland. Bodmin Moor as a whole provides a very different experience of Cornwall from the coastal attractions for which the county is most famous, its dark, open landscape of granite tors and peat bog offering solitude and natural beauty of an austere, northern character that surprises many visitors to what they expect to be a purely coastal county.

Carn Marth Amphitheatre is a remarkable natural granite outcrop located near Redruth in Cornwall, transformed into an open-air performance space that stands as one of the most distinctive venues in the South West of England. Perched atop Carn Marth hill at approximately 750 feet above sea level, this amphitheatre occupies a site of both geological and cultural significance. The venue takes advantage of the natural bowl-shaped depression in the granite landscape, with tiered seating carved into the rock and grass slopes that can accommodate several thousand spectators. The setting provides not only exceptional acoustics but also commanding panoramic views across the Cornish mining landscape, making it a truly unique performance space that blends human creativity with the raw beauty of Cornwall's ancient geology. The site's history is deeply intertwined with Cornwall's mining heritage and community traditions. Carn Marth itself has been a landmark for centuries, its distinctive rocky summit visible for miles around and serving as a navigation point for travelers crossing the moorland. The formal amphitheatre was created in the 1960s and 1970s through the vision and labor of local volunteers who recognized the natural potential of the site. It was constructed to host the annual Murdoch Day celebrations, commemorating William Murdoch, the Scottish engineer and inventor who pioneered gas lighting and worked in the Cornish mining industry. The amphitheatre has since become a focal point for community gatherings, concerts, theatrical performances, and celebrations, particularly hosting memorable events during significant anniversaries and festivals that draw crowds from across Cornwall and beyond. Standing within the amphitheatre itself is an experience that engages all the senses in ways few conventional venues can match. The granite seating, weathered smooth by decades of use and exposure to Atlantic weather systems, retains the warmth of the sun on clear days and provides a tactile connection to Cornwall's geological bedrock. The stage area sits at the lowest point of the natural bowl, with the audience rising in concentric arcs around it, creating an intimate yet grand atmosphere. When performances take place, particularly in the evening, the acoustics are remarkable—the granite walls and the natural contours of the land amplify sound beautifully while the open sky prevents any sense of confinement. On quiet days between events, the site hums with the sounds of moorland birds, the whisper of wind through gorse and heather, and the distant echoes of Cornwall's industrial past that still seem to linger in this landscape. The surrounding landscape is quintessentially Cornish mining country, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that speaks to centuries of industrial endeavor. From the amphitheatre's elevated position, visitors can see across a panorama studded with engine houses, mine stacks, and the characteristic shapes of spoil heaps that mark where generations of miners extracted tin, copper, and other minerals from beneath the earth. On clear days, the views extend to both the north and south coasts of Cornwall, taking in Mount's Bay to the south and the Bristol Channel to the north. The immediate area around Carn Marth is characterized by rough moorland vegetation, granite boulders scattered like giant's playthings, and narrow lanes that wind between small fields and former mining settlements. The town of Redruth lies just to the north, while the historic mining areas of Camborne and Pool spread out to the west. Reaching Carn Marth Amphitheatre requires a degree of determination and local knowledge, as it sits away from major roads in the heart of the mining landscape. Visitors typically approach from Redruth, following minor roads toward the village of Gwennap and then taking even smaller lanes that climb toward the summit of Carn Marth. Limited parking is available near the site, though during major events additional parking arrangements are usually made in nearby fields. The final approach involves a short walk across moorland terrain, which can be uneven and muddy in wet conditions, so appropriate footwear is essential. The amphitheatre itself is an open site accessible year-round, though it truly comes alive during scheduled performances and community events, particularly during the summer months when the long Cornish evenings provide perfect conditions for outdoor entertainment. The best times to visit Carn Marth Amphitheatre depend largely on what kind of experience you seek. For those interested in attending a performance, checking the local events calendar for scheduled concerts, plays, or celebrations will ensure you experience the venue as it was intended—filled with people, music, and the special atmosphere that only outdoor performance can create. For a more contemplative visit, arriving on a clear spring or autumn day when the site is quiet allows for appreciation of the landscape, the views, and the remarkable achievement of those who carved this venue from the hillside. Summer afternoons can be glorious, but the exposed position means the site can be windswept and cold during winter months, and heavy rain can make access challenging. One of the most fascinating aspects of Carn Marth Amphitheatre is how it represents a continuation of Cornwall's tradition of outdoor gathering places, connecting modern community life with ancient practices. The choice of this particular hilltop was not arbitrary—high places in the Cornish landscape have long held significance, serving as meeting points, places of celebration, and sites for important communal decisions. The volunteer effort that created the amphitheatre embodied the strong community spirit that has always characterized Cornish mining districts, where cooperation and collective action were essential for survival. The dedication to William Murdoch, though he was a Scot who came to Cornwall for work, reflects the cosmopolitan nature of the mining industry and how different cultures merged in this landscape. The amphitheatre has hosted everything from rock concerts to Shakespeare productions, from community choirs to political rallies, making it a living, evolving space rather than a static monument to the past.

Bedruthan Steps on the north Cornish coast near Padstow is one of the most dramatic and photographed coastal landscapes in Cornwall, a series of enormous sea stacks rising from the beach in the wide bay below the clifftops, their sheer faces and varied forms creating a scene of raw geological power that has made this one of the signature images of the Cornish coast. The stacks are the remnants of a headland progressively eroded by Atlantic wave action, the harder sections of rock resisting the sea longer than the surrounding material and surviving as isolated columns while the rest of the headland has been worn away. The clifftop viewpoint above Bedruthan, accessible from the National Trust car park, provides the classic view over the stacks and the beach below that appears on postcards and in travel guides. The beach itself is accessible by a steep staircase cut into the cliff face when conditions allow, but the tidal range on this exposed section of the north Cornish coast is considerable and the beach at high water is entirely submerged, making timing essential for anyone wishing to walk at beach level. The stacks have acquired individual names over the years, including Queen Bess, Samaritan Island and Diggory's Island, though the origin and reliability of these names in historical use is variable. The coastal scenery around Bedruthan is part of the extraordinary Heritage Coast that extends north toward Trevose Head and south toward Newquay, one of the most impressive stretches of the south-west coast path and an area where the full force of the Atlantic on an exposed coast can be experienced on all but the calmest days. The clifftop vegetation of maritime heath and grassland supports stonechats, skylarks and in spring the distinctive display of sea thrift that colours this stretch of Cornish cliff in pink every May and June. The National Trust café at the clifftop provides refreshments and the Trust manages the immediate site and the surrounding coastal farmland, maintaining both the visitor infrastructure and the ecological value of this important coastal landscape.

Marazion on the Penzance coast of Mount's Bay is the oldest chartered town in England, a small coastal settlement that serves as the mainland connection point for St Michael's Mount and provides the finest views of the mount from the sea wall and the beach extending eastward along the bay. The view across the shallow waters to the mount, with the castle rising above granite rock above the bay, is one of the most frequently reproduced images of Cornwall. The tidal causeway visible at low tide across which visitors walk to the mount, and the boats that carry visitors at high tide, provide the visual and practical connection to the island that has been used since the medieval period. The combination of this crossing experience and the dramatic profile of the mount creates one of the most memorable coastal encounters in the southwest. The beach east of the town is one of the finer sandy beaches in Mount's Bay and the combination of beach, town and the extraordinary view of the mount across the water creates a destination that justifies a full day for those wishing to combine the beach with a visit to the island.

St Ives is one of the most beautiful and most visited small towns in Britain, a former fishing port on the north coast of the Penwith Peninsula in west Cornwall whose combination of a working harbour, excellent sandy beaches, a long tradition of attracting artists and the Tate St Ives gallery of modern and contemporary art makes it one of the most culturally rich small destinations in England. The town faces north into St Ives Bay with the harbour in the centre and the beaches of Porthminster, Porthmeor and Carbis Bay on either side, each with their own character and the characteristic turquoise water of the Penwith coast. The harbour is the heart of St Ives, its stone quays enclosing a basin where fishing vessels, pleasure craft and the ferry to the Seal Island still operate alongside the tourist activity that has transformed the town since the nineteenth century. The quality of light in St Ives, a combination of the maritime air, the reflection from the surrounding sea and the clarity of the Cornish atmosphere, was identified by artists from Whistler and Sargent onward as being of particular quality for painting, and the artistic colony that developed from the 1880s onward eventually produced one of the most significant concentrations of modern British art outside London. The Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden in her former studio on the Barnoon hill above the harbour, managed by the Tate, provides the most direct engagement with the most important artist of the St Ives school, her sculptures displayed in the garden and studios where she worked until her death in 1975. The Tate St Ives gallery on the Porthmeor beachfront, designed by Eldred Evans and David Shalev and opened in 1993, presents changing exhibitions of modern and contemporary art in a building of considerable architectural quality whose location above the beach gives it exceptional natural light. The town's maze of narrow streets and courts, the independent shops and the quality of its seafood restaurants make St Ives a destination that rewards time beyond the galleries and beaches.

The Zennor section of the South West Coast Path follows one of the most celebrated and dramatic stretches of the entire 630-mile National Trail, hugging the granite clifftops of the north Penwith coast between St Ives and Zennor village through a landscape of extraordinary natural and archaeological richness. The path traces ancient coastal routes that were used by local communities long before the formal designation of the National Trail, connecting the fishing and farming villages of west Cornwall along routes that offered both the shortest coastal journey and the advantage of high ground from which approaching vessels and weather could be observed. The character of the walking is strenuous and rewarding in equal measure. The granite cliffs of Penwith do not provide an easy coastal walk: the path rises and falls repeatedly across headlands and down into the small coves and stream valleys that indent the coastline, and the accumulated ascent and descent over even a relatively short section is considerable. The effort is repaid at every turn by views of extraordinary quality: the Atlantic stretching to the horizon to the north, the cliff faces dropping dramatically to the sea below, and the granite moorland rising behind the coastal strip in a landscape that feels genuinely wild. The section between St Ives and Zennor, approximately seven kilometres, is regarded as one of the finest coastal walks in England, passing through a sequence of headlands and coves each with its own character and wildlife. Seal sightings in the water below the cliffs are relatively common, particularly in the quieter coves, and the seabird colonies that occupy the cliff faces during the breeding season add movement and sound to the visual drama of the route. The path connects at Zennor with the village, the ancient church and the moorland walking routes inland, allowing circular walks that combine the coastal path with cross-country routes through the prehistoric landscape of the Penwith interior. The logistics of a one-way walk between St Ives and Zennor are straightforward, with the infrequent bus service connecting the two points for the return journey.

Zennor is a small and ancient village on the north coast of the Penwith Peninsula in west Cornwall, a scattered settlement of granite farmhouses and cottages in the characteristic Cornish moorland landscape between the high ground of Penwith Moor and the dramatic coastal cliffs that drop to the Atlantic below. The village is known for the mermaid legend associated with its medieval church, the remarkable quality of its prehistoric landscape and its brief but intense association with D H Lawrence during the First World War. The Church of St Senara in the village contains the famous Mermaid Chair, a bench end carved with the figure of a mermaid holding a comb and mirror, the best-known example of a widespread coastal church carving tradition. The legend attached to the carving tells of a beautiful woman who attended services at Zennor and lured a chorister named Mathey Trewella with her singing to follow her into the sea at Pendour Cove below the village, where both were turned into mermaids and can sometimes be heard singing beneath the waves. The chair is estimated to date from the fifteenth century. D H Lawrence and his German wife Frieda lived at Zennor from 1916 to 1917, attracted by the remoteness of the Penwith landscape and seeking relief from the pressures of wartime England. Lawrence wrote parts of Women in Love at Zennor and his time in the village, ended by expulsion under the Defence of the Realm Act following suspicion of signalling to German submarines, is recorded in his memoir Kangaroo and in various letters that describe his intense and contradictory relationship with the Cornish landscape. The prehistoric landscape around Zennor includes the chambered tomb of Zennor Quoit, one of the finest megalithic monuments in Cornwall, visible on the moorland above the village.

Charlestown is one of the most perfectly preserved and most evocative small harbour towns in Cornwall, a Georgian planned port near St Austell that was built in the 1790s by the entrepreneur Charles Rashleigh to export the china clay of the St Austell area and import coal and lime for the local agricultural and industrial economy. The combination of the original Georgian harbour architecture, the lock gates, the china clay cellars and the dramatic sight of the tall-masted sailing vessels that are frequently moored in the harbour make it one of the most atmospheric small harbour experiences in the southwest. The harbour at Charlestown is one of the most frequently used film locations in Britain, its complete Georgian character and the absence of modern development within the harbour basin making it ideal for productions set in the age of sail. Poldark, Hornblower, Alice Through the Looking Glass and numerous other productions have used the harbour, and the sight of a nineteenth-century square-rigger moored in the lock basin against the backdrop of Georgian stone warehouses is one of the most frequently photographed scenes on the Cornish coast. The Shipwreck and Heritage Centre in the harbour area provides an excellent collection of material from the many vessels wrecked on the Cornish coast over the centuries, and the combination of the working harbour, the heritage centre and the beautiful setting above the sea makes Charlestown one of the most rewarding coastal heritage destinations in Cornwall.

Zennor Quoit is one of the finest and most dramatically positioned Neolithic portal dolmens in Cornwall, a prehistoric burial chamber of massive stone construction standing on the granite moorland above the village of Zennor on the rugged Atlantic coast of west Cornwall. The monument dates to approximately 2500 BC, placing its construction in the late Neolithic period when the farming communities of western Cornwall were building elaborate collective tombs to house the remains of their dead and to provide focal points for ritual and ceremonial activity in the landscape. The dolmen consists of a large rectangular chamber formed by four substantial upright stones supporting an enormous capstone that once formed the roof of the burial space. The capstone is one of the largest in Cornwall, measuring approximately 4 metres across, and its weight and the precision required to position it over the upright stones speaks clearly to the organisational capacity and collective effort of the community that built it. Originally the entire structure would have been covered by a long cairn of earth and stone, creating a burial mound visible across the surrounding moorland, but the covering mound has long since eroded away, leaving the stone skeleton exposed on the open hillside. The setting of Zennor Quoit adds enormously to the power of the monument. The open granite moorland of the Penwith peninsula stretches in every direction, the Atlantic Ocean visible to the north and west, the distant hills of west Cornwall rising to the south and east. This landscape has changed relatively little since the Neolithic period, and the sense of the ancient community that chose this elevated position for their burial monument and the effort they invested in its construction is particularly vivid here because the surrounding landscape provides so little visual noise from the modern world. The monument is freely accessible at all times from the public footpath network across the Penwith moors, and the walk from Zennor village to the quoit and back through the moorland landscape makes a rewarding half-day excursion combining prehistoric heritage with some of the finest open moorland scenery in Cornwall.

Mousehole, pronounced Mowzel, is the most completely charming and most frequently cited perfect small fishing village in Cornwall, a community of granite cottages around a small medieval harbour south of Penzance whose combination of the harbour architecture, the tight lanes of the village, the quality of the independent cafés and restaurants and the complete absence of the commercial clutter that has compromised other Cornish villages creates a destination of apparently effortless perfection. Dylan Thomas described it as the loveliest village in England, a claim that Cornish people typically contest. The harbour at Mousehole, built in the medieval period and substantially unchanged in its essential form, provides the visual focus of the village, the granite walls and the fishermen's cottages around it creating a composition that has been painted and photographed since the Victorian period. The passage of time and the gradual replacement of the working fishing community by residents whose primary relationship with the sea is recreational has changed the underlying character of the village, but the physical fabric remains extraordinary in its completeness. The Stargazy Pie tradition at Mousehole, commemorating the legendary fisherman Tom Bawcock who braved a December storm to bring fish to a starving village in the sixteenth century, is celebrated each year on Tom Bawcock's Eve on December 23rd with a procession and the traditional pie whose filling of fish allows the heads to protrude through the pastry lid staring at the sky.

Port Isaac is a small fishing village on the north Cornish coast whose combination of a working harbour, medieval street pattern, whitewashed cottage terraces descending steeply to the sea and global fame as the filming location for the television series Doc Martin makes it one of the most visited and most charming fishing communities on this section of the coast. The village retains its identity as a working fishing port despite the enormous pressure of visitor interest, its narrow lanes, the tiny harbour and the quality of its seafood providing an authentic Cornish experience in a setting of great visual appeal. The village centres on the small harbour where fishing vessels are pulled up on the beach and the fish cellars, once used to process the pilchard catch that sustained the community for centuries, provide shelter and storage around the working waterfront. The fresh fish and shellfish available from the harbour-side fishmongers represent some of the finest seafood available on the north Cornish coast, and the restaurants and cafés of the village serve crab, lobster and fish caught within sight of the tables. The Platt, the small square at the harbourside, is the heart of village life and the location for the Fisherman's Friends concert events, the group of Port Isaac fishermen whose sea shanty singing became an international phenomenon when they achieved a record deal and substantial fame from their informal harbourside performances. Their story, made into a film in 2019, has added a further cultural dimension to a village already well supplied with attractions. The steep lanes of Port Isaac, some barely wide enough for a person to pass through, provide excellent exploration and the clifftop walking north and south from the village along the South West Coast Path gives access to the dramatic north Cornish coastline.

Zennor Head is a dramatic granite headland on the north Penwith coast of Cornwall immediately below the village of Zennor, a promontory of ancient metamorphic and igneous rock projecting into the Atlantic Ocean at the point where the moorland of the Penwith plateau meets the sea in a succession of cliff faces and rock platforms of considerable geological and scenic interest. The headland forms part of the South West Coast Path and provides some of the finest walking available on the north Penwith coast, with the full extent of the north Cornwall coast visible in both directions on clear days. The geology of Zennor Head reflects the ancient origins of the Penwith peninsula, whose basement rocks of schist and greenstone are among the oldest exposed at the surface anywhere in Cornwall, their complex folding and metamorphism recording events that took place deep within the Earth's crust hundreds of millions of years ago. The granite that forms much of the headland was intruded into these older rocks approximately 275 million years ago and its durability has made it the dominant rock of the modern coastline, its massive jointing patterns creating the cliff faces and rock platforms visible at Zennor and throughout the Penwith coast. The coastal walking from Zennor Head south toward Pendeen and north toward St Ives traverses some of the finest and most exposed cliff scenery on the north Cornish coast, the cliffs here rising to considerable height and the views across the Atlantic extending to the horizon in a way that emphasises the peninsula's position at the very edge of mainland Britain. The chough, a rare crow of the Celtic coastline, can be seen on the headland in small numbers and the Atlantic grey seal hauls out on the rock platforms at sea level below the cliffs.

St Senara's Church in the village of Zennor on the north coast of west Cornwall is one of the most atmospheric and historically interesting small parish churches in a county famous for ancient places of worship. The church dates from at least the twelfth century and the oldest fabric of the existing building reflects the Norman period of construction, though the dedication to St Senara, an obscure Breton saint connected to early Celtic Christianity, suggests that the site may have had religious significance considerably before the Norman Conquest. The church is most famous for a carved wooden bench end of considerable age, the Mermaid Chair, which depicts a mermaid holding a comb in one hand and a mirror in the other. The carving is the physical anchor for the legend of the Mermaid of Zennor, one of the best-known of Cornish folk tales. According to the story, a beautiful and mysterious woman attended services at St Senara's church over many years, enchanting the congregation with her appearance and particularly the young chorister Matthew Trewhella, who one evening followed her voice down to the sea at Pendour Cove and was never seen again. Fishermen subsequently reported hearing the couple singing together beneath the waves, and the mermaid warned boats away from the cove where she and Matthew had established their underwater home. The age of the carving is debated but is generally placed in the medieval period, making it one of the oldest surviving examples of this type of figurative church woodwork in Cornwall. The bench end remains in situ in the church and can be examined at close quarters, the mermaid's features and the symbolic objects she carries clearly visible despite the centuries of wear on the wood. The church's setting within the small cluster of granite buildings that comprises Zennor village, with the moors rising behind and the Atlantic coast visible from the church tower, is entirely characteristic of west Cornwall at its most elemental. The village and the surrounding landscape appear in the published writing of D.H. Lawrence, who lived in Zennor during the First World War and wrote vividly about the community and its character.