On the beach in St Ives, Cornwall
The best-laid plans of mice, men and parents often have more than a few hiccups, to misquote a phrase. Especially when you add three-year-olds to the mix.
I’m not shy about the fact I think travelling with kids is (a) doable and (b) fantastic. But it’s not always smooth sailing, as our day out in St Ives went to show.
On paper, it’s unbeatable: sand, sea, ice-cream, a fantastic child-friendly lunch at Porthmeor cafe, little streets to wander around, no real rush. In practice, we had all those things, a lovely time – and several meltdowns which make me blush to remember them.
Despite navigating down some tiny twisty streets from Gwel An Mor and finding ourselves in an unexpected car park, we were off to a good start.
Clambering down the steps to the nearest beach, we found ourselves at Porthgwidden with its brightly coloured beach chalets, a great viewpoint above us, rocks to sit on and lots of sand.
Minnie was having so much fun running away from the waves and burying herself that she had to be carried off kicking and screaming. Literally.
Salvation came in the shape of lunch at Porthmeor Cafe, overlooking the next beach along. Only their second day open of the season, it meant their stash of kids’ entertainment was almost untouched – crayons still with a sharp point, a sticker book with all its stickers in.
Minnie was in heaven, I had a great crab sandwich followed by a truly phenomenal salted chocolate tart, and we watched one brave (freezing?) surfer manfully battle the swell from our viewpoint by the window.
The sun had even come out, and the glassed off terrace was faintly like sitting in a greenhouse – after a shivery start on the beach, I loved it.
After sprinting around the beach singing ‘Let It Go’ at the top of her voice, Minnie seemed back to her more usual sunny self, albeit with her equally usual selective hearing when it came to leaving.
That still left time to amble through some of the little side streets, looking at the bright paint on the white houses, window shopping in some of the quirky boutiques, pootling along the cobbled alleys and the harbour front, and finally picking up a few pasties.
The Tate St Ives was closed when we visited, otherwise I’d have tried to persuade Minnie to pop inside.
For more ideas of things to do in St Ives with kids, check out my top 15
As it was, we fairly quickly ditched the idea of walking to Carbis Bay – which sounded lovely but best done with a less recalcitrant preschooler in tow – or even a wander to Porthminster Beach, one of my top beaches in Cornwall.
The annoying icing on the mixed cake of our day? Discovering that I’d accidentally flicked the camera onto the wrong setting, meaning anything taken with my DSLR was wildly overexposed. Which made for some rather interesting effects!
St Ives, I feel we haven’t appreciated you properly. Next time, I’m bringing a more cheerful small girl and a better ability to check my camera – but I’d like the same chocolate tart…
For more of the best beaches in Cornwall, check out some of my favourites, as well as my guide to Cornwall with kids…
All images, even the really weird bleached out ones, copyright MummyTravels
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At least you tried Cathy…10 out of 10 for that. You never know until you try…and it will be different (hopefully better) next time! Looks lovely nevertheless
Absolutely – you never do know. And I ended up with a mouthwatering chocolate tart as compensation!
I do love St. Ives too, but admittedly haven’t been there in awhile. Kids will always love the beach in whatever weather, won’t they? I love that about them 🙂 Enjoyed watching your video btw. x
Thanks! And yes, it’s never too cold for beach or ice cream as far as my daughter’s concerned 🙂
Loved the video Cathy and we are so with you on toddlers carried away screaming and kicking when they have too much fun … St Ives is so stunning & boho, we spent few days when our son was a baby – Porthmeor beach cafe was our favourite out of all Cornish venues – it’s even more gorgeous in the summer ! Greetings from the grey London, I’m still stuck in here 40 weeks tomorrow and still very itchy feet…:)
Thanks! I am hoping this is a new boundary-testing phase which is *over*… I can imagine in summer I’d just park myself on the beach and go back and forward to Porthmeor cafe for food and drink as I needed it. Would love to go back.
It looks lovely – i’ve never been to Cornwall! Despite the intermittent tantrums, it seems like you all had a great time – and you’re totally right – you can always return when your daughter is bigger! I’m sure it’ll bring back nice memories when you do too 🙂 x
It is such a lovely place – and we did have a great day, despite the tantrums, which proves how good it is to survive those!
Please don’t let this experience put you off! I’ve been to St Ives several times now and always been lucky enough to catch it on a warm sunny day with the kids in a good mood. It’s great when it’s like that 🙂
Perhaps your photos could be adjusted with photoshop? There’s always hope! 😉
Oh absolutely not – we still had a lot of fun, despite the grumps, which proves how lovely St Ives is. And it’s a good excuse for me to go back. Sadly the photos are pretty well unsaveable – the ones in the post have already been Photoshopped, and most are just white. Not a clue what setting I knocked it onto, but evidently the sunshine plus that exposure meant I got a lot of light and not much else. Thankfully I took a few (and the video) on my phone which has less opportunity for me to hit the wrong button…
I haven’t been to St Ives since I was a child, definitely somewhere I would like to take my girls too when they are older. Well done on making the effort, children are so unpredictable x
It is pretty perfect with kids – and 99% of the time she surprises me with how brilliantly she travels, so I suppose I should expect the occasional 1% 🙂 And I got sun and chocolate, so still a winner!
Eek I’ve done that with the exposure on my camera once too – so annoying when you realise back at home! We went to St Ives with Tyler when he was 15 months, I do like it’s quaint and quirky little streets, but there were far too many steep streets to walk up for my liking! Still, it’s a great place for taking beautiful photos. I love Cornwall 🙂
Sabrina xx
Definitely – I didn’t spot it until the next day at the Eden Project (where we stopped in on our way home). Fortunately there, I realised early enough to retrace my steps for the bits I’d missed. And yes, lots of hills and twisty streets, so I think it was much easier with a 3 1/2 year old and no buggy!
wow looks like such a wonderful place, I’ve never visited there but it isn’t too far from us actually so probably will have to stop making excuses soon and make a day of it.
some great photos too 🙂 they really are beautiful hun.
x
Do! It’s such a lovely spot, especially when the sun shines.
Beautiful pics! I remember visiting Cornwall as a child – truly wonderful experience 🙂 H x
It’s a lovely part of the country.
Looks like you still had a pretty good time though regardless. The pictures are stunning. That first one in particular. Your food sounded amazing. I love crab so a crab sandwich sounds divine x
Thank you! It was still a lovely day out – hard to go too wrong with a beach, sunshine and a gorgeous lunch 🙂
Its a beach we haven’t made it to yet but if we are ever down that way again its on our list 🙂 Its funny isn’t some days you just have to roll with the punches. Money would be the same about getting off the beach he loves it so much. I quite like the over exposed photos!! xx
I’ve got to admit, I do rather like the effect for the ones which survived – just a bit cross about the others. And definitely, for all the great days out, there are always a few to balance!
We usually bypass St Ives, because it’s so busy. It does look lovely and a good move to go at the beginning of the season. I love those beach side huts/houses. Assume they can be rented. Wouldn’t that be wonderful. #CountryKids
I can imagine it’s hectic in summer – a sunny March day was definitely a lot quieter. And I think you can rent the huts too, how fab would that be.
St Ives is one of my favourite places – the beaches really are beautiful. What a pity that The Tate was closed though 🙁
#countrykids
It’s a shame – they seemed to be doing fairly major work, so it makes sense to arrange it out of season. And plenty to keep us entertained all day instead.
This place looks so pretty, I have added this one to our travel list. We have just bought the National Trust membership and so we are trying to do as many places in Devon and Cornwall as possible 🙂
Lovely – there are so many to choose from.
I have done the camera mistake so many times, usually I’ve left it in Macro then tried to take a landscape, very annoying though I rather like your last collage, the effect together looks rather good. I think all our days out are a mixture of the fun bits you want to remember and someone not playing the same game as the rest of us, that’s just family life. St Ives is beautiful, though that said we’ve not been down in years. Lovely to see a little reminder thorough your photos and lunch looks lush. Thank you for sharing with me on Country Kids.
The surviving ones did look quite fun – I actually have no idea what setting I knocked it on to, but quite a few are just entirely bleached out! At least I had my phone too. And absolutely, it’s rare there’s a day where it’s 100% according to plan, especially with a three-year-old! Definitely worth popping back to St Ives, if only for lunch on the beach. So delicious.
St Ives is on my list for this summer as we never got there last Easter. I’m going to pin your other post too for some ideas. sorry the day didn’t go quite as planned #CountryKids
Thanks! From all my visits to Cornwall, it’s the first time I’ve made it down but it’s really lovely – even with a few strops thrown in.
We love St Ives, its so pretty. Its a shame when things don’t go site as well as planned though x
It really is lovely isn’t it – just felt a bit of a shame that we didn’t both have quite as much fun as I’d hoped and expected. Very glad we went though.
Oh wow! What a trip! It sounds like your three year old has the same problem with her ears as mine. They’re so clever!
Looks like you had a brilliant day. That beach is phenomenal; I’d be sad to leave too!
Visiting from #countrykids
They are indeed! And it was a gorgeous beach.
Stunning place and your photos are just lovely! My fave is the colorful beach chalets! #countrykids
Thanks – they were fabulous, such a lovely surprise too.
I love St Ives. We didn’t have as good weather as you – in fact it was peeing down! But I love the winding streets. Shame the Tate was closed. And I love the effect of the over exposure! I think it looks fab!
Thanks! And it is a lovely place to wander around.