Lunch on the hotel terrace in lovely St Mawes

We crossed from the north shore of Cornwall to the south, still in search of that picture-perfect seaside town, since Padstow hadn’t quite fit the bill. St Mawes got us quite a bit closer. Set on a beautiful sheltered harbor, it’s been called “Britain’s finest seaside village.”

That same writer compared it to St. Tropez in France or the Amalfi coast in Italy, which is going too far for two good reasons. First of all, you’re never going to see the kind of lemon-growing glorious sunshine that frequents those places. We actually got quite lucky and saw a partly sunny day with a high of 67°F (19°C). But that was in late August and everyone here was amazed! And we’re not complaining either; Jim finally managed to get in a nice brisk swim.

And second, it’s a pretty sedate place, truly little more than a village. The harbor is lined with the stately holiday homes of well-heeled Britons. The village includes a couple nice hotels and a handful of places to dine or grab a pastry or a beverage. And not much else of great interest. No charming shops to browse in. But also no swarming crowds in search of all that either.

My view from my reading spot on a park bench by the harbor. Turns out the painting students were all from coastal Massachusetts.

A view of our hotel, with blue umbrellas on the terrace and the multi-tiered “beach club” in the foreground

The road into town from the hotel

Old gas pumps in town

Pre-dinner libation on the beautiful terrace of Idle Rocks in town

The view from our dinner table

Early evening on the harbor

Town lights reflected on the water after dinner

A cemetery on a hike just out of town

Loads of blackberries along the hike

Our biggest adventure here was taking the ferry across the Fal Estuary to the much bigger town of Falmouth for lunch. The estuary, at the mouth of the Fal River, is also known as Carrick Roads, and it is one of the world’s largest natural harbors.

It was actually nice to walk along Falmouth’s busy high street with lots of shops, bars, and restaurants to peek into. After lunch at a fun, friendly tapas bar, we returned to our sedate, tasteful St Mawes for another lovely dinner on the terrace. Two nights here was just right to get a good taste of Cornwall before we turn back east and make one more stop in Devon.

Ferry trip to Falmouth

Leaving St Mawes by ferry, you sail past St Mawes castle…

…and then Pendennia Castle monitors the estuary from the other side above Falmouth

Our quirky but fun tapas restaurant on the edge of Falmouth

Wonderful tapas and a glass of rioja

Wildlife on a car in Falmouth

St. Anthony’s lighthouse welcomes you to the Fal Estuary, also known as Carrick Roads

Jim finally gets a chance to swim!

Looking happy in the old fishing village of Padstow

Let me quote from Lonely Planet:

“If anywhere symbolizes Cornwall’s increasingly chic credentials, it’s Padstow. This old fishing port has become the county’s most cosmopolitan corner thanks to the arrival of a bevy of celebrity chefs, and restaurants and boutiques now sit alongside pubs and pasty shops. …[I]t’s hard not to be charmed by the seaside setting.”

Not to be too negative but in our two-day stop we never saw anything remotely chic and we weren’t charmed a bit. And to make it worse, the little town was absolutely filled with tourists such that you couldn’t so much as go into a drug store because everything was so crowded. I find it amusing, though, that Mark managed to take some photos that make it all look attractive. Trust me, more illusion than reality!

The Camel Estuary

To be fair, much of the problem could have been that the weather was not great – overcast, periodic light rain. So not as beautiful as it would have been and maybe those hordes of tourists expected to be on the beach but instead were all crowded together on the town streets trying to get into the same drug store. And of course we’d just come from Hotel Endsleigh in Dartmoor, probably my favorite stop on the whole UK Explorer so I was bound to be let down.

And then there was Rock, the town across the Camel Estuary (the River Camel empties to the sea in Padstow) described in Lonely Planet as “an uberexclusive getaway.” Given that ferries run back and forth between Padstow and Rock every 15 or 20 minutes or so, it was not remotely exclusive, much less uberexclusive. We went over for lunch one day and it was … fine. It’s a mystery to me though why people would go out of their way to get here. As Mark asked rhetorically one day, “Have they ever seen Greece?”

The view from a coffee break in Rock

One of the primary attractions for Padstow and Rock is the dining scene. A couple of celebrity chefs have opened restaurants that were supposed to be really special. We ate at three of them and they ranged from pretty good to not so good; I thought even that part of the stop was over-hyped.

A sashimi appetizer in The Seafood Restaurant, the one genuinely good restaurant we found

Of course, there were some bright spots in the stop. The Camel Trail is an old railroad bed converted to a walking/running/biking trail heading inland out of Padstow that I enjoyed a great deal. We spent part of one morning sitting outside at a coffee shop reading with great views of the estuary and all the boats bobbing along. We had a nice water view from our room. All in all though neither of us understood the charm of Padstow or why there were SO MANY tourists there.

I guess all the stops can’t be perfect, right?

A water view from our hotel room

Celebrating our 21st wedding anniversary with a Negroni

The town looks charming, right?

Tons of tourists in Padstow’s small village center

Early morning on the Camel Trail

A nice path leading down to the beach at St. George’s Cove

Picturesque boats at the town pier

On the ferry over to Rock

Part of the walkway from town down to St. George’s Cover. It was a pleasant walk with lots of benches to sit, read, and enjoy the views.

Hotel Endsleigh

For many years I’ve wanted to see Devon and Cornwall, the two counties that make up the southwestern tip of England. I picture elegant country estates and postcard-perfect seaside villages.

Our first stop checked off that elegant country estate box just perfectly. We spent two nights at Hotel Endsleigh on the edge of Dartmoor National Park in western Devon. The hotel is a destination unto itself, and I don’t think I ever left its expansive grounds. It sits on a hill that descends dramatically to the River Tamar, which forms much of the border between Devon and Cornwall.

Built between 1810 and 1816, Endsleigh Cottage was a favorite home to a famed aristocrat, arts patron, and socialite named Georgina Russell. Born to a noble family in Scotland, Georgina was originally supposed to marry Eugène de Beauharnais, a stepson of Napoleon. When that fell through she was intended to marry Francis Russell, the 5th Duke of Bedford. But he died before the wedding, so she instead married his younger brother, John, who became the 6th Duke of Bedford.

Giorgiana chose this spot for a summer home for her growing family, which included the Duke, three children from his previous wife Giorgiana, and 10 more children from the second Giorgiana. In 1823 artist Edwin Landseer was commissioned to paint a portrait of the duchess. He also gave her art lessons and had a very long affair with her. Landseer is best known as the sculptor of the lions at the base of Nelson’s Column in London’s Trafalgar Square.

We didn’t do much more here than enjoy Giorgiana’s beautiful home and spectacular gardens. All has been lavishly restored by Olga Polizzi, a famed English interior designer and hotelier. What a magical place she has created.

The reception hall

The flower gardens are spectacular

A pre-dinner cocktail in the library, anyone?

The public interior spaces are stunning

Lunch on the terrace

Lunch on the terrace

Walking paths along the Tamar River

The grounds include 1,000 acres of gardens, lawns, grottoes, and forest

Jim lost in a book

Did I mention the flower gardens?