Cornwall Day Trip

Imagine waking up at 5 am, gathering 9 people together, walking 30 minutes to the train station and taking a three hour train ride at 6 am. Somehow we did that, and somehow everyone made it out alive, on our Cornwall Day Trip.

The members in participation of this lovely excursion were James, Will, Eli, Fanny, Jocelyn, Donald, Sydney, Jay and myself

Transportation

Transportation to Cornwall

The train ride from Exeter to Penzance was rather uneventful. Most of us started in high spirits and tapered off into exhaustion as the ride progressed. Jocelyn passed out immediately (go figure) and Will is a force not to be reckoned with unless he’s had coffee. Fast forward about two and a half hours later everyone had woken up just in time to see the double rainbow out the window! We approached Penzance, the last stop on the line three hours after departing Exeter.

Transportation In Cornwall

Since we did not have a personal car we had to depend on the buses. Based on some travel research I had us all purchase a plusbus ticket that allows for unlimited use of the bus system in both the departure and arrival destinations off your train ticket. The plusbus ticket can only be bought in conjunction with a train ticket.

James likes to poke fun of itinerary tendencies, but I’m pretty sure no one complained about me being organized on that day.

As you exit the train station across the street you will find the designated bus stops to connect you to other areas in Cornwall.

Exploring Cornwall

St. Michael’s Mount

We hopped on a bus heading towards Marazion, which was about 15 minutes away from Penzance. St. Michael’s Mount, has a well-known sister castle, Mont St. Michele, which sits directly across the water of the coast of France.

There are no words or pictures that can adequately justify the beauty of this castle. The only way to reach it is to cross a causeway during low tide, or by boat during high tide. We made sure to make it our first destination in Cornwall because the tide would be low enough for us to cross the causeway for free.

The castle is closed one day a week, Saturday, and low and behold we were visiting on a Saturday. Due to its location on the southern coast the Castle maintains a subtropical atmosphere and has many beautiful gardens year round. I would definitely like to revisit one day and see the inside of the gardens and the castle.

It takes about 5-10 minutes to cross the causeway, but naturally we took photo after photo so it took us significantly longer.

We came across the Castle Wall which had a great view overlooking the water. It’s amazing how clear and blue the waters are here, however it was very windy and cold that day so we didn’t stay too long.

Lunch in Penzance

After St. Michael’s Mount we hopped on a bus back to Penzance to grab some lunch. We opted for Admiral Benson based on a recommendation. The pub was decorate to mimic a pirate ship, there were ships, wheels and mugs everywhere.

Unfortunately the food at the pub did not justify the wait time. We waited for almost an hour before we got our food, and mind you we were one of the few people in the pub. I ordered a cheese sandwich. Unless the chef made the cheese fresh, I don’t think it should take an hour to throw a slab of cold cheese on some bread, but maybe that’s just me.

Porthcurno Beach

After our less than inspiring lunch we quickly made our way to catch a bus heading to Porthcurno. The double deck bus ride took about 45 minutes and was quite exhilarating. Imagine a fairly sized bus maneuvering the tiniest of dirt roads.

Once we reached the bus stop in Porthcurno we made our way to the beach. To get to the beach you need to take a nature trail down to the water. Never had I expected to see a beach that beautiful in England. I may be biased, cause I thought England was all rain and clouds but that beach was comparable to those in the Caribbean that I grew up on.

Hiking to Minack Theater

On the right hand side of the beach, there is a path that winds through the edge of a cliff. The path leads you to the Minack Theater which sits at the top of the cliff.

The path gave impressive views of the ocean below us and it was fantastic up until I realized we lost James. “Where’s James?” I called out to the front of the group. Cue my instant panic and worst case scenario thoguhts that he fell off the path onto the massive rocks below and died. Why else wouldn’t he be responding to his name? A handful of the group continued forward to see if he went ahead of us, while Eli and I back tracked. I could not stop worrying about if he was okay and how I would explain this to his mother.

Low and behold my boyfriend decided to go up a random path he found, tell no one in the group, and take selfies. You can imagine the slew of words I had ready for him when I learned this. Disappearing on a narrow path along the steep side of a cliff is probably not the best idea. Now we have a running joke of asking “Where’s James?”

Minack Theater

Hot, sweaty and panting, we made it to The Minack Theater at the top of the path. The theater looks like it was plucked from the past and plopped into our time. The view of the ocean was breathtaking. I believe it’s mainly used for concerts and plays though I did see signs stating a Prom was to be held there. Imagine a Prom on an Oceanside open air theater. How do you top that?

After exploring the theater we went back down to the beach to spend some time before catching the last bus back to Penzance. When we got on the bus we were promptly told our plusbus ticket was not valid for this area and we could not go on the bus unless we paid £5 for a ticket.

Thank goodness for Sydney because she piped up and stated that it wasn’t our fault as the bus company allowed us to come out here, and had the ticket not been valid we should’ve never been allowed to get on a bus from Penzance to Porthcurno to begin with. The bus driver quickly admitted defeat and let us on.

Total Cost: £48.20

Cost Breakdown

• Transportation:
  • Train ticket & plusbus for James and I: £27.10 + £3.10 = £30.20
• Attractions:
  • Minack Theater: £4.50 per person = £9 total
• Food = £9
  • Cheese Sandwich: £4
  • Pork Sandwich: £5

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