Boat Trips With Dogs Cornwall – Even if you don’t have a car, if you dream of exploring Cornwall with your dog, with a little planning (we’ve done it for you in this article), you can! At the end of the summer my husband Argo and I took a 4 day city break and went to West Cornwall making the most of the trains and buses. This was our experience with a proven plan that you can use for your trip. If you prefer to travel on four wheels, this article has some tips.
Every year we try to discover a new place in the UK. After visiting Edinburgh last year, we crossed Cornwall off our bucket list last September. We also decided not to hire a car this year and to make the most of our 4 days in Cornwall we chose Penzance as our base for our 4 day stay which has plenty of bus and train connections. Due to public transport restrictions, we limited our research to the Penwith Peninsula, in the most westerly part of Cornwall.
Boat Trips With Dogs Cornwall
In this article you will find our itinerary and plan, an overview of our trip and lots of tips for getting away.
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Our experiences and dog adventures in West Cornwall DAY 1: Train travel and your first day with your dog from London Paddington to Penzance
On a very sunny Saturday morning I left London Paddington on the 9.03am train and arrived in Penzance at 2.27pm. The train arrived on time and during the journey we were able to take in the wonderful views from the windows, including Brunel’s Royal Albert Bridge. But after Plymouth the weather changed suddenly and became so foggy and wet that I could not even see the sea within a few yards of the railway.
The host kindly picked us up from the train station in his car and within minutes we arrived at the Airbnb (more on that at the bottom of this post), took us to our room and met Bertie, our adorable seven year old cocker spaniel. . A young man his age obsessed with food. Our en-suite room was cozy and comfortable and the house also had a beautiful fully enclosed garden where Argo and Bertie ran. Instead of dining out on the first night, we opted to have dinner with the Airbnb host (for a fee) and she gave us lots of tips for exploring Penzance and the surrounding area over the next few days.
We planned to go to Mount St. Michael after leaving our luggage at the Airbnb, but due to the very bad weather we thought it was not ideal conditions to visit that attraction, so we rethought our plans.
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We decided to walk past Penzance. We started wandering and stopped a local to ask for recommendations; He was very welcoming but advised us “not to worry too much” and said there wasn’t much to see or do in Penzance. We walked around the high streets including Chapel Street and the Promenade and found out that the shops close very early and had a drink at the historic dog friendly pub The Turks Head (and found out that the beer is very cheap ). Penzance also has an art deco jubilee pool that hosts the annual dog swim event in October, which I visited in the following days.
Argo on the Train to Penzance with matching Dog of Adventure Growlees tag (a kind gift from Growlees to Caroline and Frida)
I later learned that the area was one of the poorest in the country, which explains the rotting shops and buildings. However, if you don’t have a car, Penzance is a good base camp for exploring West Cornwall as it is larger than the other villages and is served by trains and buses that take you almost anywhere in West Cornwall. . .
If you’re traveling by car and arrive at lunchtime, and weather permitting, I recommend an afternoon visit to one of the wonderful National Trust gardens in the area. You can access Trewidden Garden which is particularly dog friendly. (Visitor information: Open daily from Sunday 24 February to 22 September 2019, 10.30am-5.30pm, last admission 4.30pm; Buryas Bridge, Penzance, Sat Nav. TR19 6AU; Tickets: £7 adults to £16 and dogs free).
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The next day was the most glorious day of the festival. Thanks to the sunny and warm weather, we enjoyed every minute of the planned program. Normally we like to walk and explore places without worrying too much about time, but this time because there were very few buses during the day, we had to plan carefully to fit in as many excursions as possible . I couldn’t afford to miss them (see the full timetable below and all the useful information about the buses at the bottom of this post).
We boarded the A1 First Kernow double decker at 8.25am. from the Poltair Hospital bus stop near our Airbnb and bought three-day passes. The trip to Botallack (arriving just after 8.50am) was great as we got to explore the area a bit more, seeing fields, farm animals, forests and trails from the top deck of the bus.
We disembarked near Botallack and started our journey from there. The bus driver confirmed where we would be heading on the route and we immediately knew we were on the right track as a National Trust landmark indicated we were in Botallack.
The first landmark we reached was the Wheal Owles Mine, 1893. the site of a mining disaster, as the sign reminds us. From there we enjoyed walking the coastal path along the cliffs and taking in the stunning view and the sea below. Our next stop was the Levant Mine.
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Today, the Levant Mine, which housed the Beam Engine, is a dog-friendly landmark that also houses a small mine store and offers guided tours. Dogs are welcome on leash (although I believe they are allowed underground, but double check as we were told this but not confirmed) but it was still closed when we arrived so we could only watch from the outside. . If you are traveling by car, there is a car park above.
We then continued our walk along the road and passed Tine Geevor Mine which leads to the Boscaswell Escarpment and the amazing view from the top is very impressive. Argo enjoyed the ride too! We are a little concerned that we saw a moth caterpillar at Boscaswell Crag. We don’t know if they are endemic to the area, but be careful with your dogs if you visit as they are poisonous to dogs (I don’t know if the UK species are as dangerous as the Italian one, but we did). you know a dog who lost his tongue last year and licked a moth caterpillar during a summer holiday in Puglia).
We would have liked to go further and reach the Pendeen Watch lighthouse, but due to time constraints we descended the Boscaswell Escarpment to visit Tine Geevor Mine. Something interesting: Pendeen Watch Lighthouse (link to Rural Retreats) has been converted into two holiday cottages and today one of them, the beautiful Argus Cottage, is dog friendly and allows up to 2 well behaved dogs for a small extra charge. dog. (minimum 2 nights). So if you are planning a romantic stay, this can be a good choice.
There are many mines on the tin coast. I chose the Geevor Tin Mine (the website doesn’t really do it justice) as the top attraction because it showed the biggest and accepted dogs as leaders.
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Dogs are allowed everywhere except the Wheal underground mine in Mexico, which is quite reasonable: they even provide a long robe to prevent stains on your clothes, and if they let dogs in, they’d probably get out. different color. Dogs are also not allowed in the mining shop or the Count House Cafe, but there are picnic tables outside so if it’s a nice day you can bring your own food and enjoy your meal outside.
Dogs are allowed in all other areas, including the mill where the ore is processed, the drill shop, the Dry (where the workers change), the Hard Rock Museum, the Compressor House and the Sample House. It is very interesting to visit the mine because the whole ore process is clearly explained and you can see all the machinery as well.
The mine opened relatively recently (it went into decline in the 70s, but only closed in 1990), and Dry still has the original miners’ clothes and more.
