Exploring Jurassic Coast in Dorset

In the 2025 Easter break, we finally (after decades of living in the UK) went holidaying to Dorset, a place we had heard of many times but never visited as it was just next door to London. And to be honest, I wasn't expecting much. So I was happy to be surprised.

Lulworth Cove

Dorset is gorgeous. It's got beautiful seaside beaches and coves, charming villages and stunning countryside hikes. And the greenery in spring was delightful. All in all, a great place close to London to explore whenever the weather and time allows.


Reaching Corfe Castle

The first day was supposed to be quite rainy in Dorset, so we took it easy, left a bit late and spent most of our time on the drive from London, with some stops on the way. London felt so empty (and therefore gorgeous) when we were leaving, maybe because everyone had left early already. Overall the drive was very relaxed, mostly through small towns and villages, driving past local pubs with quaint names on the way. Ah, so English!

We first stopped at Winchester, a cute little English town. We walked around the high street which had many local shops, selling some very good stuff. Looking at these shops, the town felt quite posh. We even found a Korean shop to buy some stuff from. The street was quite active and full of people. We had lunch at the Ivy Brasserie in the high street and it was fun to observe all the passersby. The food was tasty too.

Winchester Cathedral

Then we visited the famous Winchester Cathedral, it was magnificent from the outside (even in the rain). Inside, the roof was stunningly painted and felt higher than other churches. We also attended the Good Friday service at the cathedral, and it felt quite spiritual to be there on such a holy day. The whole town felt so leisurely, we would have loved to explore it more except it started pouring and we left soon after.


The drive after was mostly through small country roads, lined with wild yellow flowers all along. We reached our village, Corfe Castle late evening and were impressed by our first view of Corfe Castle, an old castle now in ruins but still standing tall, perched on top of the hill overlooking the village. The first view was so impressive, as we turned a corner, and saw the ruins on top, with all the bright green and stone houses below.

View from airbnb

We were living in an airbnb in the village with a direct view of the castle. It was such bad weather that day that after reaching, we didn't get out at all, just lazed inside. Admiring the views of the castle from the cosy indoors, while it was pouring outside.

In the evening we did somehow venture out for dinner. There were five pubs in this small village and we assumed they would have space. We walked to three of them but they were all fully booked or not serving dinner!! Finally we ate at the Fox Inn, a small historic pub, 500 years old. It was made of stone even on the inside, and had a nice cosy charm to it. The food was English, so we didn't have much to say about it 😂. The village also looked so cute, with all its old stone buildings lining the roads, it was quite picturesque.


Along the Jurassic Coast

The next morning started out rainy but then the sun came out and everything became gorgeous though still windy and cool. We woke up to a stunning view of the castle with the sunlight lighting it up in the morning.

The next day we spent exploring (a small part of the) Jurassic Coast. The Jurassic Coast is the name given to about 150 km of the Dorset seacoast with its many picturesque coves and villages. We first drove to Durdle Door which is generally used as a symbol for the Jurassic Coast. The drive till there was lovely. With rolling green hills and yellow gorse flowers covering all those hills. (These yellow flowers were present everywhere, and in full bloom. Shrubs after shrubs covering all the landscape, in its bright yellow, it's difficult to miss it). We also drove past some military firing ranges. It was lovely to be in the sun driving through such a stunning landscape.

Beach from top

The Durdle Door parking was full of people! We also saw many groups of Indian tourists there, it seems to be a very popular place back home (I checked later, many Bollywood songs have been shot at this location already). We walked down the hill towards the Door and came across two beaches on both sides of the hilltop. The view from the top was magnificent.

Durdle Door

We then chose one and walked down to the pebble beach to get a view of the Durdle Door up close. And it was impressive. The beach was a pebble beach, but the water was amazing, it had a stunning turquoise green colour. It was cold but not that much, it would have been possible to swim if we had come prepared.

Hike to Lulworth Cove

After Durdle Door, we hiked back up and then walked along the coast towards Lulworth Cove - the next place to visit along the Jurassic Coast. It was a short hike but offered such magnificent views of the green valleys along the sea coast. With small houses on the hills, bright green grass, wildflowers and wild birds. And some white chalk cliffs along the sea. It was a bit windy, but completely sunny, which made the walk enjoyable.

At the restaurant

Lulworth Cove was crowded and full of cars filling the whole parking area, all along the valley and even up one hillside. There were many restaurants and shops there. And a lot more activity too. We also saw a Telugu tv star there with his girlfriend! We decided to have our lunch there, at this pretty little restaurant called Lulworth Lodge. They serve seafood and had an out door space in the sun, overlooking the cove. It was so fun to sit there enjoying the warm sun and views of the cove.

Lulworth Cove

After lunch, we walked towards the cove. It was a stunning place, blue waters surrounded by golden sand, and full of people kayaking, fishing and doing other watersports. There were also some oyster farms there, because of which it didn't smell good. We walked up the hill there, to a viewpoint from where one could get a 360 degree view of the cove and beyond. The colours from the top were magical, blue-green water, fresh green grass, yellow sand and flowers, white houses, and the blue sky. It was quite a picturesque scene.

Weymouth waterfront

We then hiked back to the Durdle Door parking and drove onwards towards the seaside town of Weymouth, skipping all the other spots on the way as it was already late. In Weymouth, we walked on the beach, the waterfront, and then in the city centre. The waterfront and beach was quite empty, though there were some fairs happening on the beach.

Weymouth waterfront

The market was also quite cute, and full of restaurants. After trying a few place which were all booked, we finally found space at Aron Thai and had a very spicy meal after the rather bland food of the previous few days. Walking around the town centre was fun too, it was so simple and active. The drive back to our village was quite boring though, as it was dark outside and we could not see much.


Hike to Swanage

Purbeck hike

The next day we hiked all the way from Corfe Castle to the coastal town of Swanage. It was the day with the most spectacular views though I have the fewest words to describe the day. It just had to be experienced to be understood.


We started our day exploring our village - it was brimming with people that morning. We walked into the local church and chatted with some locals. We saw the castle from different angles. Then we started our hike going up the Purbeck Ridge and walking all the way along the hills till we reached the coast. It was a 12 km hike and we took around 4 hours to walk across.

Corfe Castle

Corfe Castle

Purbeck hike

The views of the valleys were magnificent, of farms and villages and wildflowers everywhere. And we could also see the towns of Poole and Swanage from the top. It was such a refreshing walk, just walking in the sun among all the greenery. We did get a bit lost and for the last part of the hike, we ended up walking on the main roads rather than the trail.

Swanage

When we reached Swanage, the first view in town was of the beach. Which was quite empty. It had got windy by then, so we didn't stop there for long. Swanage felt like a typical coastal British village, with a beach and waterfront, and lots of restaurants on the beach. We walked through the high street but somehow, it felt quite a dull place that day. So dull and gray. As it had got windy and cold by then, we decided not to spend too much time there. So we had a quick lunch at the Corner Mediterranean restaurant and left soon.

In the bus back

We came back to Corfe via buses which run all across the coast during tourist season (we took the No.40 bus). The drive back was quite mesmerising, through some picturesque stone-built villages on the hills around. Back in Corfe, that evening we finally were able to find a dinner reservation at a local pub called The Castle Inn. So we had a cosy dinner there chatting with some other tourists who were in town for a week, wishing we had also come for longer.


London via New Forest

And very soon it was time to leave. We took a longer route to come back, stopping at a few places on the way. We first took a ferry to cross over to Sandbanks and drove that way. We stopped at Poole town and walked along the waterfront. It was quite pleasant to be there.

We also realised later that this is the town which has Millionaires Row, a street with some of the most expensive houses in the UK! Somehow many rich people have all congregated in this small town on the south coast of England. And for sure, the whole area had somehow felt so posh. We could see some of these lavish houses even while driving around in town. I was quite surprised by how we had never heard of this place before.

After that, we drove through New Forest, a large woodland area not far from London. It had started raining by then though, so we couldn't explore it much. We had lunch at New Forest Inn, a local restaurant with an outdoor space within the forest. We sat outside for lunch and loved being surrounded by nature.

While driving back from there, we stopped for a short walk at one spot. There were so many wild horses in that area. We walked into the woods, just for a while. The whole area was full of the gorse flowers, and high trees. The yellow flowers were everywhere on this trip - apparently they are an invasive species which have spread in vast areas.

After this short stop, we continued on our drive, reaching London by 7 pm, with a plan to visit Dorset again, given it's so close to London!

A week in Oxford

In June 2024, I spent a week attending an in-person summer course in Oxford. It was part of the Continued Education department at the University, which runs one week courses in summer on different topics, for people who have finished their education but still want to pursue learning.

Brasenose College

During this week, I lived and studied in a college in Oxford, just like students do. It was something I had always wanted to do, and finally I got to experience it😃. It felt amazing going back to school after so long, and that too in such a stimulating environment. I learnt and discussed a lot. The weather played spoilsport though, it was cold and rainy the whole week, definitely not how I had imagined the week to be like. But I still enjoyed my stay there, attending psychology classes in the mornings and exploring around town in the evenings.


Getting there

I flew from Amsterdam to Heathrow and took the Oxford Tube from the airport, a very convenient bus that leaves every hour from the airport to this old seat of learning. During the drive, there was a diversion and we got to drive through some gorgeous Cotswold countryside, where everything was a lovely summer green. And then Oxford appeared - this old town with grand yellow sandstone buildings, with a story to tell in every nook and cranny. It felt like such an old and storied place. Just the feeling of being there felt uplifting.

Radcliffe Library

In my first five mins in Oxford, I saw sights that would not be the norm elsewhere. I first walked by a Rhodes statue, of the famous philanthropist and imperialist. It had a plaque below it stating that the college does not support how he got his money but for certain reasons they cannot remove his statue from there. And they also asked the passers-by to consider that history has to be balanced with what was acceptable at that time. So they are requested not to deface or try to destroy it.

Evening meetings

And then right after, in front of Brasenose College was the famous Radcliffe Library, the centre of many of the town’s activities. I saw a lot of tents pitched outside and students protesting against Israel, for Palestine. These students had been living in those tents for a few months by now. In the evening, I saw a group of students sitting outside next to each other and conducting a prayer meeting for Palestine. Just seeing all this made me realise that it's at a place like Oxford that we can see students doing whatever they can for causes they believe in. It's only at places like this, student towns, that this can happen. (In cities, we are too busy earning a living, to care about spending so much time on protests). It just felt very liberating and heart warming to see this.


Studying in Oxford

Brasenose Quad

The one week course was run by the Continued Education Department. It was very well planned and organised. Our course was being run in Brasenose College, which is where we would be living for the next week. After I arrived, I checked into my accommodations, one of the student rooms at the college. It felt so simple, yet so cosy. And in the afternoon, we got an orientation tour around the College. 

Dinner Hall

It was a stunning place, with three gorgeous lawns in the courtyard (called Quads). We checked out its library, chapel and the dinner hall. The dinner hall was the most impressive - with three long tables for the students and a high table at the end for the faculty, all set up for a formal dinner. All around the room were paintings of notable alumni, as well as teachers from the college. We were then told the rules to be followed while having dinner in the hall. It all sounded so formal (and it was). We ate our dinner daily in the dinner hall and even had our gala closing dinner there. It was always fun. And I felt then that I had entered a different era, like I was in a Harry Potter movie. 

Then we were told all the other plans for our stay. The mornings and afternoons were generally quite packed. Every day we had lectures on our chosen topic from 9 am to 12 noon. And after that we would have a lecture for the entire cohort by a professor from the University on topics not linked to our chosen subjects. They were all so interesting that I attended and enjoyed each of them. Like on ‘whether EU foreign policy is dead’, ‘the history of teacups (and porcelain)’ and one about the author, CS Lewis.

Brasenose College

After lunch we would get some time to relax, and then every evening, we could join any of the organised events. I joined two of them, a literary walk through Oxford and a trip to Waddesdon Manor. But I missed a few others too, an evening of punting in the river (in the rain 😅), a Shakespeare play in the park (again in the rain), the Chapel concert and playing croquet in the Quad.

Studying in Oxford had been a dream of mine. And actually being there felt so exciting, just like the feeling on the first day of going back to school. In fact, on the day of the orientation, all the tutors gave an introduction to the course they were going to take that week. And I wanted to take all of them 😇. Especially the course on “the fourth dimension - time” sounded so interesting. The physics, philosophy and literature of it. I had chosen a different course already, and could not change at the last minute. But maybe someday later, I could try out another interesting one. Also interestingly, some of these topics may not have inspired me in my 20s when I was actually studying. But now they do. Still, I did manage to chat with the “fourth dimension” professor, one of the evenings in the dinner hall. And he sounded quite eccentric.

Over the next week, being with people from different walks of life, with differing life experiences, varied interests and unique views led to very interesting discussions on very varied topics. Such discussions were just so common here, they just happened all the time. You can learn so much from each other in such an environment. Only an eclectic university like Oxford can offer you an experience like this.

The lunches and dinners in the dinner hall always felt so short, there was never enough time to exchange thoughts with fellow students, on and beyond our course topics. For example, during one such dinner, I spoke to a professor who had moved to New Zealand for the last couple of years, to research Tolkien. Just like that. And the whole dinner, we spoke about Tolkien, his philosophy, the life events that impacted him and his literature, and so on. How I wish I could be in such inspiring company more often.

I had another very interesting discussion with a professor when we were talking about psychology, the topic I was studying. He was quite surprised that they're teaching psychology because he said that Oxford is very slow to accept new topics. I commented that psychology is not a new topic, it has been around for awhile. Then he asked me, 'just look around yourself in this dinner hall. Other than the lights, is there anything that you see that is less than 300 years old 😂’. Everything in Oxford has a different timeframe, in terms of what is new and what is ‘old'. I found that comment really funny.

During the week, I also learnt a lot about Oxford through all these chats. For one, Oxford seems to be quite self-absorbed with Oxford . Everyone talks about the town a lot, almost all the time. And many make a big deal of anything and everything about the city. It is almost like a bubble they all have lived in for long, and they don't know (or want to know) a lot about things from outside. For example the three authors that originated from here turn in up in almost every second conversation - Tolkien, CS Lewis and Lewis Carroll.

Also, there is quite a lot of rivalry between colleges. They talk about each other quite a lot, about which ones are richer, which are not, which are good at what and which not, and so on. It is interesting though to know that all the professors know each other and visit each other's colleges even if they talk competitively about them. Also, the college felt quite British, given most of the tutors were locals. I heard so much British English around me, I realised I hadn’t been in such situations a lot recently 😆.

The weather had been so unpredictable that week in July, that everyone was very cold, the professors AND the students. It was really funny to see. Everyone was freezing but couldn't do much about it, especially the ones who had come from abroad for the course. They had been expecting British summers and so hadn't brought any jumpers with them!! It's understandable give it was July, but still it was very funny to see. (Thankfully I was warm enough as I had (unwillingly) brought a jumper along with me)


Around Oxford

On my first afternoon, after quickly checking in at the college, I left for a quick tour around town. I first had lunch in a covered market nearby, which felt more like a food court than a market. It also felt like a student hangout place, with many types of food available for very little 😆. And later I learnt that there are tunnels connecting each of the colleges to the covered market. So it was definitely popular with the students.

Around Oxford

Then I walked around the colleges. Something I tried to do daily, even in the bad weather, with cold and rain. They were all so grand, so magnificent, so charming. Each college has its own history and character. Some are purely for research (like All Souls College), and some accept students. Some are focused on the arts, some on science. Some are a lot richer than the others. Most have some famous professors and writers associated with them. Each of them has a chapel and a dinner hall. The University has quite an interesting setup for studies. Students live in the colleges, are friends with other students there, have tutorials there while their lectures are held all together across Oxford University departments.

Christ Church College

One of the days, I joined an organised walk through town, called the Oxford Literature Walk (or maybe it was the history walk, but both are so intermixed always that you never know). The guide took us to the main colleges and libraries in town, giving us an overview of its history as we walked. Christ Church is one of the grandest and richest of the colleges, its buildings and gardens were impressive. The most famous authors from Oxford are CS Lewis, Tolkien and Lewis Carroll. And they were mentioned on the walk many times, their names adorning many plaques around town. In fact there were a few tours taking tourists around the University, talking about these authors and what inspired them to write their novels.

Punting in Oxford

The whole town was full of grand buildings - the university departments, churches and museums, famous libraries and so on. And so many parks in between. And then there were small streams and rivers around, with scenic bridges on them. They were all so impressive and grand to walk by, standing tall in their yellow sandstone. And there was so much history all around. It was always fun to walk around.

Christianity and religion were present everywhere. There were so many churches in town. And all college chapels had their own choirs, with concerts being organised regularly. That being said, it was interesting to know that the Vatican did not allow Catholics to come to Oxford until the 1800s! Only Anglicans were allowed before that.

Oxford

The city centre was always full of tourists during the day, crowding all the main sights. It was actually overwhelming to deal with all the tours going on. And there were so many events happening around, parties, concerts, lectures and so on, just students getting together and doing things. The real beauty of the town could only be seen either away from the centre or in the evening, when all the tourists had left. It felt quieter and cosier then.

So during the day, I would walk away from the centre. One day, I walked to a restaurant outside the main hub and saw a different side to the town. The road was lined with University departments. And there was a lot of greenery and parks (with no crowds!). It felt so different from the main Oxford university area, quieter, with no crowds. It felt like a nice place to live, I enjoyed my walk there.

Another day when I walked away from the university hub, I saw that the town has nice canals and beautiful residential areas. There was even some punting going on in the canals. Also as I walked out more away from the centre, there were newer colleges which were clearly less rich than the others. And this area was full of new buildings. It felt so different, like I had switched centuries within a 10 mins walk.


Waddesdon Manor

For one of the evenings, the organisers had planned a day out to a surprise location. So after our lectures, we got onto a bus and were on our way. We drove through the beautiful Cotswold countryside in summer, a vibrant green, dotted with small stone villages. And the destination turned out to be Waddesdon Manor - a huge manor house built by the Rothschilds (and later donated to the UK National Trust). Generally I am not a ‘buildings tour’ kind of person, but this was an enjoyable experience for me.

A dinner room

It was raining when we got there, and our tour wasn't to start till much later. So we hung out in the cafe, admiring the rain outside (just kidding!) till we could start our tour. And we were mind-blown. Every room was decorated with paintings from great masters, expensive carpets, exquisite furniture, vases, ceramics, silver, jewels and so much more. There were multiple dining rooms laid out with elaborate silverware. There were displays of antiquities as well as modern equipment from that time, including never-seen-before machines of that era. There was a jewel room with displays of some of the famous and expensive stones owned by the family. It was a huge place, and every room was full of such displays, it was tough to leave it to move to the next room. And it took us a few hours just to see the whole place.

A living room

It was just astounding to imagine how much money the Rothschilds would have had, to create a place like this. The Manor felt more like a museum, with a collection vast enough to challenge any museum. And that was true. This Manor was never a home, the family did not live here. It was not even an old country house of some British titled family. It had been built much later in the 1800s, by the Rothschilds, a business family, purely for the purpose of entertaining rich and successful people, networking as we call it now 😃. So it had been commissioned and decorated with art pieces sourced from across the world, with the single aim of impressing their rich guests. Later on, I read about the Rothschilds and was even more intrigued - the family that stays quiet but is said to be so rich and powerful that they are said to still be behind many economic and political decisions taken across the world. Interesting!

Gardens outside

Also, this Manor is the location where the famous introductory scene of Shah Rukh Khan in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham was shot - when he steps out from a helicopter and runs toward the home where his mother is waiting. We enacted that scene for our Instagram reels, that was fun 😂.

The Stables

The gardens were even more spectacular. Just behind the house were some well landscaped gardens full of colourful flowers. And when I walked around the estate, I came across some stables, art houses and a lot more. But sadly, we didn't have enough time to explore it all. So after our tour, we headed back to Oxford, through some stunning scenery again. 

Ashmolean Museum

I had kept half a day free on my last day to walk around town and enjoy the (sometimes) nice British summer. But it ended up raining the whole day. So I did what I generally don't, go to a museum, the Ashmolean in this case. And what a revelation that was! It turned out to be a big one, with about half a million objects displayed over four floors. So I spent the next 3 hours in the museum admiring art from around the world, ending with a quick snack at the rooftop restaurant.

In the art section, the Ashmolean houses paintings, sculptures and ceramics but given the limited time I had, I walked around only the Post-Renaissance paintings section. And it was an absolute pleasure to explore it. I saw pieces from some new artists that I was drawn to - Panini, Canaletto, Joshua Reynolds, Courbet, Edward Lear and Thomas Moran (his painting reminded me of my favourite painting from Thyssen).

And then of course, there were the pieces from the greats. There is something about these legends - their art always draws you. 70% of the paintings I stopped at turned out to be painted by greats, like Constable, Guardi and Renoir. And clearly I was improving in my art appreciation given how I noticed them 😀. My favourites as usual were their landscape oil paintings and sketches.

I also did a quick tour in the world cultures section, exploring some of the Indian stone sculptures and textiles, Greek sculptures, Chinese ceramics and textiles, and Japanese paintings. There were just so many interesting things here from around the world. The pieces from the Arabic world, linked to their architecture, were impressive. And I realised that the Gupta period architecture defined a lot of how Indian architecture evolved into what it is today. Also, exhibits from Egypt are always so fascinating. But I wasn’t able to explore that section much, so next time.

But seriously, the UK has so much of global artefacts and treasures, they can have museums spread across the country and still not be able to display all they have. As usual, most of the stuff in the museum was from around the world. And in between some British things were kept to indicate 'we also had some history and culture .

My last day in Oxford was also “Alice Day” a day when people dress up as characters from Alice in Wonderland and join in parades throughout Oxford (as Lewis Carroll was also from Oxford). As it was raining, it seemed like the event was cancelled but while going back from the Ashmolean, I saw some people on the street dressed up as characters from the novel. But alas I had to run, so wasn't able to join the festivities at all.


And as I always end my articles, till another time. I enjoyed my stay in Oxford, learning so much, from the course I had signed up for but beyond that too. And I would suggest these summer courses to anyone looking to learn again, they are totally worth it.

In the village of Ely

Ely Cathedral

In the summer on 2023, I made a trip to the UK and spent a few days with a friend in Cambridge. Unfortunately, I caught flu on the second day but the first day I explored Cambridge and a nearby village called Ely. And it turned out to be such a hidden and unknown gem.

Village of Ely

We took a short train from Cambridge to get to Ely. It was a cute little sleepy town with a famous cathedral and lot of canals around, enough to spend a nice day walking its streets. And it was nice to see so many tourists around too. 

Ely cathedral

We first explored the old town. We walked past King’s Ely, a famous old school from the 900s, an old Bishop's house and then came to the imposing Ely cathedral overlooking everything in town. It was grand from the inside, decorated with a fully painted roof and stained glass all around. It was just spectacular in its beauty and scale. And the outside was stunning too. Apparently, this cathedral (and town) had a prominent place in medieval times but lost its importance later. The other famous spot in town is the famous politician, Oliver Cromwell's house.

Inside the cathedral

There are loads of such charming little Jane Austen-esque buildings all around. We walked into one such place for coffee, the Poet's house. It felt quite relaxing to just sit in such surroundings and have tea. Apparently, the town was originally built on an island, and therefore has a lot of canals around. There were many river distributaries around too, many of which have been reclaimed. 

Ely riverside

After exploring the town, we walked to the riverside, and it was quite fascinating.. There were lot of pubs and restaurants to hang around there. And of course lot of boats 😊. We walked around a bit, all the way till the fields out of town and then were off to Cambridge.

 

Cambridge

Cambridge is always a pleasure to be in, to walk by the river around the colleges. We had dinner there, amazing Korean food. Guess given the diversity of students here, the food places are also diverse and tasty. The main student area felt quite active but as soon as you get out of the main student area, it's so quiet and peaceful. As if you've come to another place itself. Overall, we had a nice ‘countryside ‘day there and I can't wait to be back for more such leisure days.

Sun and sand in Cornwall

Continuing with the 2020 trend of lockdown UK airbnb vacations, I spent 5 days around the August long weekend in the UK county of Cornwall. Cornwall is one of the few popular British tourist spots which I have visited only once and that too for a very short time. So I was quite excited about exploring it well this time. And the whole holiday turned out to be much better than I had imagined.

View of Polruan village

For one, the weather was expected to be cold and rainy the entire 5 days we were supposed to be there, and it turned out to be exactly the opposite! It was sunny and hot each of the days. Secondly, the airbnb we had booked had looked too good to be true. It was a lavish Cornish manor set in its own grounds and we had a whole guest suite to ourselves. I was actually expecting it to be a fake booking but it turned out to be real and fabulous. And both these happenings made the holiday a lot more fun than expected.

We did treks, went to beaches, stopped at quaint Cornish villages, ate at some awesome places with stunning views, watched some spectacular sunsets and generally had a fabulous time. No wonder a lot of my friends were also visiting there the few weeks around when I was there. Cornwall doesn't just have a lot of activities to do, but also very friendly people and is warmer than the rest of the UK. All adding to its charm.

Our itinerary during the trip was as follows:
Day 1 - Drive to Cornwall, stop at Dartmoor national park on the way, do a short trek at Belston near River Taw
Day 2 - Drive to Penzance (visit Kynance and Praa Sands beach) and enjoy sunset at Senner, Lands End
Day 3 - Beach hopping at Tregantle cove, Tregonhawke cove, visit Millbrook village and enjoy sunset near Downderry beach
Day 4 - Trip to Fowey village
Day 5 - Drive back to London, stop at the English Riviera 


Day 1 - Drive to Cornwall, stop at Dartmoor national park and trek at Belstone near River Taw

It is a long drive to Cornwall, and even though Google Map shows about 5 hours, given delays on long weekends, time to get out of London and much needed stops on the way, it generally ends up taking about 8 hours to get there. So we left early in the morning, renting a Virtuo car (by the way, they have a seamless digital rental process which is ahead of all other rentals. I have become a big fan of it!) and were off.

View of Dartmoor Park

I wanted to get out of London as soon as possible, so we got out before the weekend traffic started but then stopped on the way for a McDonalds breakfast in Slough itself 😆. Then we drove all the way West, aiming for the Dartmoor National Park where we were planing to have a late lunch and do an afternoon trek. The weather was sunny and gorgeous all along. We drove through Bristol but missed driving on the famous suspension bridge as it was closed. And after Bristol, as we left the motorways, the drive turned beautiful - we were driving on small roads in the countryside, it was green everywhere and looked bright and lovely. There was a lot of traffic everywhere and we had some delays, but it wasn't as bad as holiday traffic could have been.

Lunch at Tors

We reached the car park in the village of Belstone quite quickly, within 3 hours. It was a cute little village, and we walked in, past a small little tea house to the Tors restaurant. We had a very tasty burger lunch there, sitting outside on the benches and enjoying our view of the moors. There were quite some tourists around which surprised most of us as we hadn't done a proper holiday for a while. And didn't realise that everyone except us had already been out and about for a while.

Views on the trail

We then went on a short 1.5 hour walk around the River Taw. We went down the valley in front of the restaurant to River Taw, and then walked up and down the hill through the woods, all along the river. There were some nice bridges on the way, lot of trees around and it was all green and fresh everywhere. Very quickly, we got lost I think, so we couldn't really do the full walk. And somehow we made it back to our village, using logic to find the right path. Even though we didn't get to see all the sights on the walk, it was nice to stretch our feet in the open. My friends hadn't got out of London after lockdown yet, and this already felt like a good way to start venturing out.

First view of Cornwall

We then drove around the Dartmoor park, towards Devon, onto Cornwall. We drove past a beautiful viewpoint which offered us our first views of Cornwall. And just looking at it, we felt a difference, that we were entering a different place. The houses are painted white and look different from England houses. The roads also got narrower by now and it felt like we had left the city and fast life behind.

We reached our airbnb at Torpoint just before sundown at 730 pm. It was good to reach before dark as our place was out in the woods and would have been tough to find at night. We were staying at the Sconner House in the village of Polbathic near Torpoint. And the house was breath-taking.

It was a huge Cornish manor on a small hill-top, with grounds and fields all around. And we had the guest suite, with a huge living room, huge kitchen and lovely bedrooms looking out into the gardens. It had an interesting history of ownership, passing through major families till the current one who converted it back into a home. It almost felt like we were living the high class life there 😊. As it had been a long day, we just enjoyed exploring the house and called it an early night.


Day 2 - Drive to Penzance (Kynance and Praa Sands beach) and enjoy sunset at Senner, Lands End

We had not planned much for the trip, so we took every day as it came. Since our house was so amazing, we had very lazy starts to our days. We would just come in to the conservatory and sit there for sometime every morning. It was a room in the manor, filled with sofas and surrounded with glass all around, overlooking the gardens around. It used to be sunny and green outside and very hot inside. It felt perfect just to sit and read something there, or just laze around. And we did that every morning, spending a few hours there after breakfast. We also walked in the grounds and the gardens, enjoying the views of rolling hills covered by fields all around. One day when I was walking outside in the grounds, I even found an old abandoned tank nearby! I never got a chance to explore that again though. 

We had tried to book a few activities to do nearby, like kayaking, surfing, cycling etc.. But it turned out that everything was booked out by the time we started making the bookings, as everyone was visiting Cornwall in the summer! Apparently the restaurants were also fully booked out by now, and required early bookings to get a spot. So we spent most of our time visiting places nearby which didn't need a booking, though trying to avoid crowds as much as possible. We would wake up in the morning and decided what we would do during that day and then be off.

Kynance beach

Today was the day we drove the most and farthest. We first went to Kynance Beach which was about 2 hours away. There were green rolling hills all around and we drove lazily through them. On the way, there were lot of small picturesque white villages. We passed a very scenic town called Penruth on the way, which I liked. There was a lot of traffic all day though, on all the big and small roads. And the traffic never let things slow down. 

Kynance beach is supposed to have a turquoise colour to the water there. That day though when we reached the cove, the sun hid behind the clouds and the water didn't sparkle as much as we expected. Also, there were lot of crowds everywhere, kayaking, surfing and swimming, but especially at the cafe. So we just walked down to the beach and sat on the rocks for a bit, with our feet in the water. It felt nice to be there for some time but as we were looking for food, we drove to our next stop which was the Praa Sands beach, about 30 mins drive away.

Praa Sands beach (crowded)

Praa Sands beach was a good spot and we spent a long time there. There were lot of homes in white on the cliff there. The beach wasn't very long and there were lot of people there. The water was not too cold, so we went into the waves for a bit. The tide came in a bit too while we were there. After spending some time on the beach, we went to the Sands Bar and spent some time there.

Praa Sands beach (empty)

The food was tasty there, and it had an outside seating area with a gorgeous view of the beach and the sea beyond. After such a long time, it felt nice and normal to sit in a restaurant again like this. I was eating out after so many months, just the the feeling of being in the open at a place like this was enough to make me like the restaurant. Also by the time we finished our late lunch, the crowds had left and the beach looked a lot better than when we had come in, in the early afternoon.

Sunset at Lands End

Our next and last stop of the day the end of UK, the village of Senner at Lands End. We saw a glorious sunset there and walked on the beach and harbour for a bit. The reflections of the sun in the sand were stunning. By then it had got late and we started our drive back which was about 2 hours. Also the petrol in our car was about the finish and we were starting to get a bit anxious having heard earlier that places in Cornwall generally shut down early. We were already getting ready to being stuck somewhere and having to call for an emergency rescue! We somehow found a petrol pump open till 10 pm near the town of Penzance, and raced there before that time. Thankfully it was open and we were saved from the ordeal.

The drive back at night was also quite delightful as we could see the lights of the villages on the hills on the horizons. The moon was out at night and we could see all the constellations in the sky, given how far we were from city lights. From far, Penzance looked like a pretty harbour town with some impressive buildings on the beach. We also saw Newquay lights far off on the sea. Soon we were home and ready to retire in our comfortable accommodation. It had been a fun day of exploration, made even better because of good weather.


Day 3 - Beach hopping at Tregantle cove, Tregonhawke cove, lunch at Millbrook village and sunset at Downderry beach

This day, we decided to spend in and around our airbnb as it was a weekend and the typical far off Cornwall places would have been very crowded. Again, we had a late start to the day, sitting in the conservatory and enjoying the sunny views outside in morning. The rest of the day, we did beach hopping nearby, in the Whitsand Bay area. It is apparently a hidden gem of Cornwall, with a long coast, lined with cliffs, leading into some excellent beaches.

Holiday homes on the cliffs

The first place we went to was Tregantle cove, which was about 30 mins away from Tolbathic. The cove is named after the Tregantle fort on one of the cliffs. The drive was all along the coast, with steep cliffs all dropping below. I think this is the typical Cornish coast, right? There is a funny parking rule in this area, that you can park all along the road, as long as the tires do not touch the gravel. In fact, we also ran into a policeman who was checking each car's tyres and giving them parking tickets if they even touched a single gravel stone. After parking our car, we checked with him if we were in the clear, before getting out. 

Tregantle cove (from above)

From the parking, we walked all the way down a steep descent to the beach. It was quite a long one, with loads of people there. We sat on the sand in the sun for a bit, and then I went into the water and swam for an hour or so. The water was not deep till very far. It was also very calm with very less waves. The water was cool but not too cold. The perfect place for a long swim. Surprisingly, after 11 years in the UK, this was the first time I had ever swum in the sea within the UK, and that too with it being an island! Clearly, Cornwall was a more warm place than the rest of the country.

There were lot of paddle surfers and some jet skis in the water. I also saw some stalked jellyfish while swimming. The beach has a division in between where the rocks jut out outside. And when the tide comes in, the other beach becomes inaccessible. While we were still there, a car came and was announcing to people to shift into one of the beaches if they wanted to leave or be ready to be stuck on the other, till the tide went back. It felt quite dangerous honestly.

Tregonhawke cove (from above)

After that, we started looking for a place to have lunch and drove to Tregonhawke cove which again had a beach. There were a lot of holiday homes on the top of the mountain here. We walked 30 mins, all the way down the steep cliff but the cafe was closed by then. It was a beautiful location though and had a big beach too which had all but vanished in the tide by the time we went there.

Sunset at Downderry beach

After icecream and a short break at the cafe, we got back up and drove to the nearby town of Millbrook, hoping to find something to eat. It was a small village but had a co-op and an open pub to serve us a very late and well deserved lunch. We had lunch at the Devon and Cornwall pub (finally!), bought some much needed groceries and then drove on to find a good sunset.

I searched for a village on the coast and we started driving towards Downderry. Once there, it turned out they had a beautiful beachside restaurant - Inn on the Shore - and we plonked ourselves there for a few hours which we watched the sun go down over the beach. It had gotten cold outside, so we couldn't sit out but it was still wonderful to enjoy the sun going down, from the warm inside.

Sunset drive

And then we drove back with the full moon out in the sky. On the way, we saw some divine reflections of the moon on the sea as we drove by. It somehow always felt appealing driving in Cornwall, with all its small green hills, dotted with small villages, cows and other farm animals. I think Cornwall is the only warm and idyllic place you can find in the UK. The closest a place here comes to the Spanish or Italian coast.


Day 4 - Trip to Fowey village

Lunch at Fowey Hall Hotel

We had a very lazy day today and took a trip to a nearby village of Fowey which was supposed to be a picturesque Cornish village. It was a 45 mins drive away, and we reached there around lunchtime. We first went into the Fowey Hall hotel, which is built on a hill, with a 180 degree view of the Fowey river in the valley and a fabulous view across the river of Polruan village. It was a sunny and gorgeous day and we had a long lazy lunch, while enjoying the sun and the view.

Walking in the village

Then we walked down to the village, through the main street and spent some time on the waterfront. There were lot of coloured yachts in front and it felt like a bustling village centre. It was full of people walking around without a mask, which felt a bit unsafe. 

To avoid the crowds, we then started walking along the mountain towards the edge of the land, towards the St Catherine's castle. We first stopped at a small beach on the way and then walked in the woods to come to the edge of the land. There wasn't any real castle here, just remains of an old watch tower. But there were lot of impressive views from here, all around of the bay and the two villages. And I loved every minute of the time we spent there.

Panorama of the bay

We were back home early that day and were as usual looking for a place to eat, given most popular places were booked out for dinner as we were booking last minute. So we went out in the evening to our neighbourhood pub, The Halfway House which was the only one open and with available bookings. It was not great at all and the food was also just about okay. But we didn't mind as we got to eat!


Day 5 - Drive back to London, stop at the English Riviera towns

Beach at Torquay

And soon it was time for us to bid goodbye to our vacation. While driving back, we passed by the village of St Germans which was very near our accommodation, and it was a charming little village filled with stone houses and looking very ancient. It is sad we missed exploring it. Then we crossed the Tamar river, on the Plymouth bridge, crossing back into England. After that, most of the drive was through Devon. It wasn't a great day today as the weather was rainy and dark.

Waterfront at Torquay

While driving back, we decided to visit one of the 'English Riviera towns', from Torquay, Brixham, Babbacombe and Paignton. We picked on Torquay and walked around an hour on the waterfront there. We could see the whole bay and a couple of towns all around it. There was a small beach there, but it was not as impressive. 

The place looked just about ok, but not the Riviera I was expecting. When it was sunny, it felt a lot better though. I could also see a lot of old people and yachts all along the bay, so the place was clearly popular. After this stop, we headed back to London. On the way we stopped for lunch at La Champagna, near Buckland St Mary which we liked. There wasn't a lot of traffic today and getting into London was very easy.

And just like that, the trip was over. I loved our time in Cornwall, it turning out way better than I expected. The sun was hot, the waters were warm and I loved the beaches in the coves. And there was a chillness in the air which is very rare in UK. I can see myself going to Cornwall again for sure.

Maps

From London to Lands End

Around Polbathic