Great museum to visit on a rainy day. Very helpful and informative staff and they let you bring…read moreyour dog! It's free but make a donation to allow them to continue their work

This is a wonderful museum with many artefacts from the local farming community. This is what…read moremuseums should be like with relics that relate to local social history. The children will love it here as history is brought alive.

Been there a few times and never excited, but this time I really regretted travelling from Newquay…read moreand wasting time! Expensive!! Strange layout and feel. General exhibition rather disjointed. History of the Pirates Exhibition: DISSAPOINTING: superficial, without much educational value. Would have been more interesting looking up the subject on Wikipedia etc. Privateers such as Walter Rayleigh, Francis Drake should have been mentioned! That is a big part of British History! Instead a big section about LGBT+ pirates ("Queer Pirates")... really? To put the icing on the cake (not literally) the the kitchen staff (rude plump older woman) in the food and drink area jumped in my face when I dared to ask a question about missing drink (politely!).

The National Maritime Museum Cornwall in Falmouth is a major attraction, but at UKP 13.50 it is…read morealso relatively expensive, maybe too expensive. Yes, the ticket allows you to re-visit the museum free of charge within the next 12 months., but how many people will actually take advantage of this? Very few, I presume. The museum itself is quite impressive, especially its spectacular, huge main hall (see photos) with a variety of boats, some of them famous, most of which are suspended from the floor. There is both printed and screen-terminal information on the history and type of the boats, so from an educational angle this is truly well done. "15 galleries" the museum promises, but try as I might my count is substantially lower. This might be because at the time of my visit, several rooms were occupied by a major temporary exhibition, "Titanic Stories". That display has attracted significant publicity - and because of its subject - will no doubt also attract a significant number of visitors. Personally, I found it rather to be a collection of book pages presented as display panels, as there is a lot more to read than to see. The only substantial object *from* the Titanic is one of its lifeboats - and it is a replica! The remaining objects are a motley assortment of minor pieces either from the Titanic or the Carpathia, but most of the exhibition is concerned with the "myth" the Titanic story created and how it found its way into books, movies and even board games. Frankly, I found the collection well presented but underwhelming. As for the rest of the galleries, there is e.g. a "Cornwall Gallery" which details the nautical history of the region, and another one specifically on Falmouth history. Illuminating, certainly, but nothing to occupy one for very long. From the top floor you have an impressive view over Falmouth harbour and parts of the town, and there's a large café for visitors which I did not visit (the area offers plenty of solid restaurants right next to the museum). The small fry get an opportunity to play with toy boats in the museum's indoor pool - another family-friendly feature. The presentation itself is certainly convincing. Content-wise, I was hoping for more.

Quality/Quantity - Huge grounds, and sadly, we realized after leaving that we only walked half of…read moreit. Well, we have and will be visiting so many castles on this trip. Atmosphere - Several routes to the entrances of the castle, all of which take about the same time. We walked one route to the castle, and left with a different more scenic waterway route. Business hours are seasonal, see picture, Yelp, or website. It is best to check the website prior to going. But the walk to and from the castle is also good. Service - Good. Price - 18 pounds, not including a discount of almost 2 pounds when you show them you are from the cruise ship, see picture. Owner Suggestion - Congrats on your success since the 1540's.

Pendennis Castle is THE major historic attraction in Falmouth, and a must-see upon visiting this…read moresmall town on the Cornwall coast. Historically, the exhibits cover a period from between the reign of Henry VIII up to WWII, as Pendennis was still used as a military fort in the 1940s. In short: If you love cannons (And who doesn't!), you will want to visit this place! Also, you get splendid views of Falmouth Bay. The main castle compound is rather small indeed, and most of the "minor rooms" (like the quarter of the commandant) are essentially empty. No attempt has been made to re-create some of the furniture or objects to allow us a glimpse into how soldiers lived and worked during those days, which is what costs Pendennis Castle the fifth star in the rating, and even the printed information in the individual rooms is rather sparse. The main tower does feature a sizeable selection of historical cannons, and a (rather lame) black-and-white back projected attempt at an animation of how the soldiers were working the batteries. More impressive are the other military displays around the compound, and the fairly large grounds that you'll spend time walking in. These are mostly weapons from WWII, but there is another historic battery, too (some of the cannons are currently being restored). The area itself is a beautiful corner of Cornwall, and the views in and around the castle in themselves certainly merit a visit and the about UKP 10 you have to pay for them. The presentation is a tad old-fashioned, which also concerns the smallish gallery of barracks life, a building that also houses the rather lovely café with its nice outside seating area. All in all, Pendennis Castle makes a great day out for the family when the weather is good. A small shop features the usual souvenirs and you can also by a book-quality guide of the history of Pendennis Castle for a rather competitive UKP 4. There are no audio guides available. The staff were really nice and helpful when I visited, the atmosphere is very relaxed. See my pictures for a more detailed impression of the individual objects and attractions.

My review encompasses the museum and the restaurant. (There's a "Tate Cafe" entry here on Yelp that…read moreis old, I think that's something else.) St. Ives is super arty, and having a Tate museum in town honors that nicely. But I still get more out of just ducking into the various galleries and studios around the village than I did from my stroll through the Tate. But that's largely because of my taste and my relationship with modern art. I like when art is more playful, art that makes me feel like I'm in on the joke, as opposed to "my lazy paint-roller slappings are important, you wouldn't understand". In that way, this location is a bit less fun than the big one in London. But it's still diverting, and anyone is likely to get at least something out of it. If you have an appetite for modern art and are in St. Ives, you'd likely regret skipping the Tate. I had lunch in the restaurant, "Sea View Restaurant & Bar". It's kind of swanky, with a small menu of pretty expensive entrees including a £27 steak. I got the £24 seafood curry, Langoustine Moqueca. It was really tasty actually, with its slightly spicy curry broth and a variety of seafood chunks. There lot of cool spots to sit and enjoy views while you dine, including a patio. Upbeat staff, very attentive. But wow was that an expensive lunch.

Focusing on 20th century paintings and sculptures of British vintage, Tate St. Ives offers a nice…read moreif limited collection of mostly regional artists, which is not surprising considering that St. Ives has enjoyed the status of an "art colony" since the early years of the last century till the present day. Its most famous artist is probably Barbara Hepworth, who had a studio there (which you can also visit, and you can get a combo ticket for Tate and the Hepworth Museum and save a couple of pounds there), whose rounded wood and stone objects are immediately recognizable; most of them remind me of vaginas somehow. It is a rather smallish gallery (though a bit bigger than when I first visited 8 years ago), and the entrance fee of UKP 9.50 (only for Tate) strikes me as rather hefty considering especially that the London Tate Galleries are both huge and free of charge. The presentation of its limited collection is rather striking though, and the building itself is something to behold. Lots of information on the objects is available, and non-professional photography is allowed - or at least no one stopped me. That's not standard for modern art galleries and should be praised. You will get a very decent overview on art in St. Ives, and if you're an art lover per se it is not to be missed. The location is spectacular (just opposite of St. Ives's main sands), and you will find different kinds of cafés, pubs and restaurants close by. St. Ives is a tourist hotspot, so expect the gallery to get busy during peak hours.

The annual St Ives Festival is in the first two weeks of September. This is a boutique arts…read morefestival, with an emphasis on folk, world music, jazz, and the visual arts. A full set of listings is available from the website, and tickets can be bought from the Tourist Information Office at the Town Hall in Street-an-Pol (or online or by phone). As well as events in the Town Hall, there are all sorts of fringe events in local pubs and clubs, films in the cinema, youth theatre, poetry readings etc. There is an associated 'Artists Open Houses' event, with a flyer listing times and places when you can visit artists in their homes or studios.

This pottery is located within 'Treasure Park' near Redruth. Confusingly the road signs vary…read morebetween Treasure Park and 'Cornish Goldmine' so it may be a bit tricky to find. The pottery sells lovely handpainted pots but, more to the point, lets you paint your own. You can choose a plate, mug bowl etc and then sit and paint it. They then glaze and fire it and you colelct it 48 hours later. Brilliant fun! The lady who runs the place was really friendly and obviously artistic herself. They coped brilliantly with both my husband (who's very arty) and me (who hasn't picked up a paint brush since school). We got a couple of great plates.

The Penwith Galleries is the exhibition space of the Penwith Society of Arts, set up in 1949 by a…read moregroup of artists that included Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, with Peter Lanyon and Wilhelmina Barns-Graham among the many prominent artists of the time to be associated with the group. Today the gallery runs seasonal mixed exhibitions and is currently offering the Spring show, perhaps one of the best shows I have seen there. Prominent artists on display include the fine impasto pieces of Margrit Clegg, the zany mixed media sculptures of Alan John and Mark Verry's well-honed wood pieces in an abstract vein. Perhaps the best show in town at the moment.

Fantastic vibrant celebration of Midsummer. Based on the Cornish traditions of Midsummer fire,…read moreGolowan provides a festival week of eclectic performance and 3 days of street partying with Mazey Eve, Mazey Day and Sea and Sail day. Giant images, processions and music dominate the main event, Mazey day which is absolute must see. A remarkable achievement for a town Penzance's size.