Getting here

Myrtle House is a couple of minutes in a taxi or 10-minute walk from Penzance Rail Station, the southernmost station on the UK mainline rail network with direct trains from Plymouth, Exeter, Bristol, Reading and London. You can even take the NIght Riviera Sleeper - board the train in the evening at Paddington after supper, sleep in your cabin and awake in the morning in Penzance! There are a small number of cross-country services per day from cities across the UK. Penzance station also has links to train stations across Cornwall. The journey by train from London and Birmingham takes approximately 5 1/2 hours and approximately 10 1/2 hours from Glasgow. Next to the railway station is the bus and coach station, with routes taking you to the rest of Cornwall, London, Plymouth, Exeter, Bristol and the rest of the UK via the motorway network. Newquay Cornwall Airport is about an hour by car or 2 hours by public transport - flights to London Gatwick take about 45 minutes. It is a 2 hour drive from Exeter Airport and a 3 hour drive from Bristol Airport.

 

In Penzance

Myrtle House is just a few steps opposite the wonderful sub-tropical Morrab Gardens, which started in 1889 and has a collection of unusual plants and exotic flowers. The gardens have a beautiful formal pond with cherubs and dolphins riding tortoises, a fernery, a bandstand and a private library which you can use on a day rate during your stay. There is lots of space for children to run around safely and play hide and seek in the curving paths. You are just under a minute's walk away from the seafront promenade and the newly restored open-air  Jubilee Pool, a glorious Grade II Listed Art Deco lido that is one of the oldest of its kind in the country.

 

Located in the heart of this ancient market and harbour town, yet on a seclued Georgian terrace opposite the gardens you are near to everything but in a haven of peace. The town is home to several historic buildings , many of them on Chapel Street virtually parallel to Myrtle House. There are lots of old pubs like The Union Hotel where Admiral Nelson's victory at Trafalgar was declared and the Admiral Benbow dating back to the 17th century whose interior houses a fascinating collection of maritime artefacts from shipwrecks over the last 400 years and featured in the opening chapter of Robert Louis Stephenson's 'Treasure Island'. Regency and Georgian terraces (such as St Marys) are also nestled in this part of the town. Penzance inspired Gilbert and Sullivan to write their opera 'The Pirates of Penzance'. Collections from the Newlyn School of Art are kept in Penlee House museum and gallery just a few minutes walk away in Penlee Park, which also has a great children's playground, tennis club and Penlee Park Open Air Theatre. The house is also 1 minute away from the Acorn Theatre showcasing a range of theatre, film, comedy, dance and entertainment. 

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Penzance has recently hit the headlines as the new gourmet capital of Cornwall, read the article here. You won't be short of great places to eat, and if you're looking for somewhere really near to dine out or just have a drink, Myrtle House is a 1 minute walk down the road to The Navy Inn, a pub and restaurant popular with Myrtle House guests. If you're looking for a smaller meal or maybe something sweet during the day, you simply must try one of our favourites, the Honey Pot Cafe, just at the top of the road and turn right on Parade Street. There's even a BBC Masterchef Professional semi finalist heading the kitchen at the Turks Head pub dating back to 1233 in Chapel Street, which has an old smugglers tunnel leading down to the harbour. If you want something quick to take back to the house,  The Pirates Rest Fish and Chips, a favourite with locals is 1 minute down the road. Opposite is a great Indian Restaurant the Taj Mahal. Mackerel Sky just past The Exchange do lovely food too and have just won 'What's On Cornwall' Best New Cafe award. For a taste of the best of what Penzance has to offer, walk across Morrab Gardens a few minutes to the top of Morrab Road to dine at The Shore. Recently featured on BBC's Countryfile, chef Bruce Rennie who has worked in Michelin starred restaurants and with Gary Rhodes and Rick Stein, will cook you up some seafood delights. 

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Penzance is now a paradise for art-lovers and foodies with several excellent modern art galleries and shops and delicatessens selling local Cornish produce. Penzance has two modern art galleries on its doorstep - the Cornwall Contemporary just up the road and turn left onto Parade Street and on Princes Street off Chapel Street, The Exchange both with regularly changing exhibitions. The town is full of lovely independent shops, antique shops, galleries and art dealers who specialise in Cornish Art and ceramics.  Penzance is great for food shopping. There are a selection of wonderful delicatessens – the Cornish Hen makes great pies and tarts and fish shops such as W. Harvey & Sons which specialises in shellfish. There is also a Co-op and a Tescos round the corner - both open until eleven - for the basics. Mounts Bay Wines on Bread Street is a wonderful off licence that sells Cornish wines. If you want to visit the local vineyard, Polgoon, which supplies the delicious artisan sparkling apple wine in your welcome hamper for a wine tasting tour, its just outside of Penzance. A couple of minutes walk away on the prom past the Jubilee Pool brings you to Penzance harbour where you can board the Scillonian III for day trips to the very beautiful and unique Isles of Scilly.

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Nearby Penzance

From the seafront, turn right, and you can walk or cycle to the neighbouring fishing village of Newyln in just 20 minutes. Newyln is famous for its fishing port and wonderful fishmongers and in the 19th Century artists flocked to the town to form the Newyln School of Art. Newlyn Art Gallery houses a collection of modern art, admission is free and there is a cafe on site with amazing vistas of the whole of Mounts Bay. If you're hungry try the delicious Tolcarne Inn or Mackerel Sky Seafood Bar.  Another 40 minutes walk along the South West Coast Path brings you to Mousehole, a small pretty fishing village with a lovely harbour and great cafes, restaurants and pubs. During Christmas and New Year, Mousehole has amazing decorative harbour lights for seasonal cheer. Walk or cycle the other way left from the house for 1 hour, or 5 mins in the car, and you'll be in the town of Marazion, which has stunning views and beautiful bays and sandy beaches. Once here you can visit St Michael's Mount, an ancient castle on an island out in the bay, reachable by a causeway at low tide or boat at high tide - the jewel in Cornwall's crown.

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There are many stunning sandy beaches, rocky cliffs and hidden coves dotted around all of this Poldark part of Cornwall. Past Marzion another 10 min drive you will reach one of our favourites, Perranuthnoe, with the long sandy beach of Praa Sands another couple of mintues on.  Just over 20 mins from the house is the lovely harbour village of Porthleven which has a Rick Stein's Restaurant and a very child friendly restaurant Kota Kai, along with other great places to eat. In the other direction further west a 15 min drive you will reach the very pretty Lamorna Cove. About 25 mins drive away one of the most scenic beaches, Porthcurno which also has the very interesting Porthcurno Telegraph Museum, the place where modern global communications began. While you are there, a performance at The Minack Theatre will be a unique highlight of your visit. If you're heading to Lands End for the day, which is 30 mins from the house, relax or surf on the beach afterwards at glorious Sennen and enjoy some gorgeous food at Ben Tunnicliffe Sennen Cove. If gardens are your thing, you must visit Tremenhere Sculpture Gardens just a few minutes drive from the house which also has a delicious restaurant - and within 5/10 minutes drive are the beautiful Trewidden Gardens and the National Trust's Trengwainton Gardens. The nearby moors have ancient standing stones like the Merry Maidens and Lanyon Quoit and interesting Holy wells. Penzance is just 20 mins drive or very scenic not to be missed train journey on the St Ives Bay Line to the picturesque seaside town of St. Ives which has pretty sandy surfing beaches and the Tate Gallery. 

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Useful Links:

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For general guides to Cornwall try Visit Cornwall or Cornwall Guide

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To find out more about the art scene and galleries Inside Cornwall

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For more on the gardens around Cornwall Gardens In Cornwall

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To find out more about the town, visit Penzance Online

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To look at the Tripadvisor page for Penzance

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For up to date info about Myrtle House and Penzance in particular check our Facebook page

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