Experience the best of St Ives

St Ives clusters around a harbour on the north coast of the Penwith peninsula in Cornwall, a tangle of narrow lanes between granite cottages, with the church of St Ia and its tall tower above the water. Smeaton's Pier, built in the eighteenth century, curves round the harbour, and the headland known as the Island separates two sandy bays, Porthminster and Porthmeor.

Artists settled here from the late nineteenth century, drawn by the light, and the St Ives School of the mid-twentieth century included Ben Nicholson, Patrick Heron, Peter Lanyon and Terry Frost. Barbara Hepworth lived and worked in the town, and her studio and garden are open as a museum, while Tate St Ives overlooks Porthmeor beach. The coast path leads west to Zennor, with moorland and prehistoric sites beyond, and on the south coast St Michael's Mount stands in Mount's Bay.

Cornish pasties, fresh fish, crab sandwiches and saffron buns are on every street, and cream teas arrive with jam and clotted cream. The Atlantic light is bright, summers are mild, and winter storms can roll in off the sea.