Things to do when in St Ives
St Ives is a picturesque fishing harbour and seaside town with beautiful golden beaches. It has been voted the best family holiday destination by Coast magazine and has one of TripAdvisor’s top 10 European beaches.
The town has been a popular tourist destination since the St Ives Bay Line opened in 1877, allowing visitors to easily get to the town. It has been named the best UK seaside town by The Guardian in 2007, and by the British Travel Awards in 2010 and 2011. The town has the second highest visitor-related spend in the UK, with tourists spending a whopping £85 million per year. Around 540,000 day trippers and 220,000 staying tourists visit every year.
When you are not on one of our Boat Trips there are lots of other things to do in and around the area, here are some of our favourites.
SEA LIFE TRUST Cornish Seal Sanctuary
The Cornish Seal Sanctuary is a charity that rescues and rehabilitates grey seal pups from around the Cornish coastline.
Each season (September – March), the Sanctuary rehabilitates over 70 seal pups that have been rescued for various reasons, from malnourishment to being separated from their mum.
The Sanctuary also provides a permanent home to animals that need special care from our team of marine animal experts.
When visiting the Sanctuary, you can experience wonderful marine animals up close and personal and learn all about their individual stories.
Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary
Situated in Hayle on Cornwall’s north coast, five miles from the holiday resort of St Ives and seventeen miles from Land’s End. Free Parking.
You’ll meet amazing wildlife, including stunningly colourful birds including many rare and beautiful parrots, Humboldt’s penguins, Caribbean flamingo (currently off show), Red-billed Cornish choughs, Golden and Bald eagles, kookaburras, hornbills and so many more. A dedicated team of Zoo Keepers care for over 1,200 birds plus, beautiful Red pandas, rare Red squirrels, cute otters and tiny Harvest mice and farm animals, there is a wonderful selection to see. Many species are in conservation breeding programmes.
In 1920, St Ives Old Cornwall Society was formed by a group of locals led by Robert Morton Nance to preserve the history of the town. The first Museum was formed by this Society.
It is now 80 years since St. Ives had its very first Museum, and it all started as a small acorn planted in Pudding Bag Lane, later transplanted in the library building and which has now been firmly rooted and grown into a mighty oak here at Wheal Dream. It could well be said that it is a dream come true for those early pioneers of the Old Cornwall Society.
Enjoy effortless cycling exploring the stunning hills and coves of West Cornwall.
Join their experienced British Cycling qualified guides on a fantastic day in West Cornwall. Their customers regularly tell us our guided tours are one of the best things to do in St Ives. They offer daily group rides (2hr) and extended touring and mountain biking tours.
They offer bike rental and guided tours in St Ives with a fantastic fleet of high-end electric and regular bikes. Their workshop also offers servicing, repairs and eBikes for sale.
