Found at the north coast, St Ives is one of the most loved and well received destinations not just within Cornwall, but across the UK. When you see the scenery, the reason becomes obvious with the built in town on the narrow peninsula, surrounded by many gorgeous sandy beaches.

St Ives & Why You Need To Go

In this article, we will dissect the reasons why you need to visit; the things you can do and the sights you can see within St Ives Cornwall, UK.

Things To Do In St Ives, Cornwall

To start, we will go into depth about the things you can do within St Ives, and then we will look into the jaw-dropping views.

Tate St Ives

Tate is a recently built gallery within St Ives that opened its doors in 1993. During the construction stages, it was a talking point throughout Cornwall itself as many speculated this new arrival. The Tate gallery overlooks the Porthmeor beach, giving you the true Cornwall experience right at the iconic entrance of this building.   Tate provides an intriguing collection of art that you can freely roam around to see, including artists such as Alfred Wallis.

Surfing

Surfing is not as uncommon as you think within Cornwall as many love to surf upon these luscious vibrant waves.   St. Ives provides the most popular surfing destination within Cornwall, mainly because of it’s shores. During the winter, Porthmeor offers one of the most ‘challenging’ waves for surfers wanting this challenge. However, surfing doesn't end at Porthmeor, you’d be surprised at the amount of hidden areas in St Ives that also produce fantastic waves.

Seal Island

Cornwall is known for its wildlife and has many seal sanctuaries across the area. Seal island is just off the beaches at St Ives an d as the name suggests, the island is populated with grey seals.   You can get to this island by using the St Ives harbour that does trips on a daily basis. From this island, not only can you see the seals and their natural habitat, but you are able to soak the views of Porthmeor and surrounding beaches.

Sights To See

We could be here all day explaining to you what makes St Ives a great tourist destination and what you can do, but what could you see in St Ives?

The Beaches

The main attraction to see at Cornwall has to be the sea views and the glorious geology of the beaches across the coast.   The beaches are quite easily the blessing in Cornwall with 4 main beaches along the coast. Porthmeor is the best known of these main beaches as it looks out to the Atlantic ocean. There are many other signature beaches like; Porthminster Beach, Harbour Beach and Porthgwidden Beach, but I’d recommend you read our other article going into depth of the best sea views within Cornwall.

Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden

There is no doubt that one of the places you need to see is the Barbara Hepworth garden full of artistic sculptures.   Barbara was most well known for her abstract sculptures she had created which were placed in a museum before she was tragically killed in 1975. Her workspaces and gardens are open to the public to visit after her death.   We hope you found this list interesting and wish you luck on your future endeavours to Cornwall, we would love to see you!