‘It was a bit of an adventure – but so easy to do!’ a car-free holiday to St Ives, Cornwall

by Robin Pointon, Managing Director at GO Travel Solutions 

St Ives in Cornwall is a stunning destination with magnificent beaches, seascapes and a great artistic vibe. It’s no wonder that it was on our holiday hitlist!

My wife Lorraine and I decided to ditch the car and travel by train from our home in Leicester to Porthmeor Beach, St Ives this February half-term.  

We walked to Leicester train station via having a delicious breakfast in St Martin’s Square. One of the perks of going car-free is that our holiday began with breakfast in Leicester – not after a 7-8 hour car journey to the far end of Cornwall!

We hopped on the train to London St Pancras International, followed by travelling underground to London Paddington, and then the train from there to St Erth in Cornwall. We changed for a final time onto a train for St Ives. The train journey includes some great views along the way, notably the seafront at Dawlish. Stunning!

Although carless and in a rural county, Cornwall is very well connected by public transport, so we had no issue getting out and about. We don’t mind driving but not having a car close to hand didn’t make us feel restricted. It was quite liberating!

From walking on the South West Coast Path, using e-bikes to visit St Michaels Mount and Godrevy, enjoying some great eateries and museums in St Ives and visiting the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth and tin mine at Levant – it’s safe to say our car-free holiday didn’t restrict us!

We used trains, buses, e-bikes and walked and still spent less money on travel than if we had journeyed by car. It was just £131.20 for the two of us there and back on the train with a Two Together railcard! When we were there, the maximum single bus fare was £2 and £5 for all-day bus travel across Cornwall.

We both had such a great holiday. It was a bit of an adventure but so easy to do! We used the Traveline app and it flagged if there were any delays (there weren’t any) and what platforms trains were going from at places where we needed to change trains. The journey to St Ives was as quick as a car, and we felt less stress along the way.

We’re already planning our next car-free holiday for later this year. This time, we’re off to Anglesey!