Visit the Isles of Scilly for a truly unforgettable experience What to Do?


Only on the Isles of Scilly can you wander through gardens bursting with exotic flora, sink your toes into silky-soft sand and swim with seals – all in one weekend.


Activities on the Isles of Scilly revolve around the great outdoors. One of the best experiences is to simply explore the Islands on foot – taking short fixed-price boat trips between the islands for the day.


A myriad of coastal paths and hidden pathways curl across the islands, offering walkers, horse riders and cyclists the perfect day exploring and soaking up the stunning natural landscape on the way.


If you prefer to experience Scilly from the water, the lagoon provides the perfect playground for yachting, dinghies, windsurfing, kayaking and kitesurfing.


In early May the Islands’ largest annual event takes place – the World Gig Championships, where 120 boats from across the Islands, Cornwall, Devon and from around the world, race against each other across the inter-island waters – a truly wonderful spectacle.


Many people specifically visit to see the basking sharks, seals, dolphins and the rare birds which flock to this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty each year.


For a spot of sightseeing on the water, there are regular trips that head to the uninhabited Islands of Tean, St Helens and the Eastern Isles and Annet, where you can train your binoculars on the likes of puffins, guillemots and storm petrels.


Glass-bottomed boats also offer a unique view of life in the crystal-clear Scilly waters.


For those who prefer to keep their feet on dry ground, Scilly offers enchanting gardens, Bronze Age tombs, archaeological sites, monuments and ruins.


And there are many cafés, pubs and restaurants to idle away a few relaxing hours.


One of the islands’ jewels is the internationally renowned Tresco Abbey Garden, a botanical paradise created around the ruins of a benedictine priory. The garden features exotic plants that cannot survive in other parts of the UK.


Dubbed ‘Kew with the roof off’, corridors of palms, topiary and a blaze of colour reach up towards the sky. The gardens are also home to the Valhalla museum, a display of antique ships’ figureheads that formerly graced ocean-going vessels that foundered upon Scilly’s unforgiving rocks.


For a chance to find your own bit of history, simply roll up your trouser legs and hunt for beads at Beady Pool on St. Agnes – where tiny terracotta and glass beads from a 17th century shipwreck can still be found.


With its shops, galleries and restaurants, there is plenty to see and do on the main island St Mary’s for a day.


The Islands are a hive of artistic activity, from paintings and pottery to stained glass, abstract art, and hand made silver jewellery – all produced and sold on the Islands.


No one fails to be entranced by these magical islands, where even in high summer there is always a deserted beach from where you can watch the tides, sunsets and stars.


Where to Eat?


There are a wealth of places to enjoy food and drink across the Islands, that will suit all tastes and budgets.


Mouth-watering local lobsters and crabs, fresh fish, local lamb, beef and vegetables, ice cream, fudge, cakes, jams, pickles and cheeses all make for perfect picnics and brilliant barbecues. Not forgetting the local beer and wine!


Where to Stay? The Inhabited Off Islands


Bryher - Pounded by Atlantic waves on one side, yet blessed with calm sandy beaches on the other, Bryher is a rugged yet deeply beautiful island – the perfect place to enjoy a taste of wild Scilly.


The island is the smallest of the inhabited islands and has a tiny population of around 80 people, but also has plentiful accommodation, shops and stalls selling fresh produce.


There is plenty to do here; in the summer the island is animated by colour as the numerous flowerbeds come to life, in autumn the island becomes home to migratory birds and during the winter Hell Bay is lashed by the Atlantic Ocean producing some magnificent scenes.


Explore its rocky coves, laze on its sandy beaches, snorkel in lovely Rushy Bay or hike up one of its small granite hills for some of the best views on the islands.


St Martins - Crystal clear waters, idyllic beaches and a prevailing sense of calm make St Martins a delight. Just two miles long, it has some of the finest beaches in the British Isles, if not the world.


The island offers an ideal location for family holidays with secluded beaches, sheltered flower fields and many interesting eateries. In the rockier north you can follow coastal paths along heathery cliff tops and look out over the stunningly beautiful seascape. Take a trip to swim with seals and then relax overlooking the remote sweep of Great Bay – all in one day.


Bryer www.cornish-visitor.co.uk


St Agnes - at one mile across, St Agnes is one of the smaller inhabited islands on the southwesterly edge of the Isles of Scilly. Visitors keen to get away from it all find themselves surrounded by


clear water and clean air straight off the vast sweep of the Atlantic. The paths that wind around the deeply indented coastline and quaint cottages provide a succession of light-filled views, from the curving white sand bar between St Agnes and Gugh, to the great weathered granite cairns on the Wingletang downs to the south.


Island life is busy with fishing, flower cultivation and craftsmen. Visitors return year after year for long sunny days on the beach, boating, and enjoying evenings eating alfresco at the pub or the Covean garden café.


Friday night is ‘gig night’ when visitors and locals can take a trip on the Spirit of St Agnes to watch the islands six oared pilot gig, Shah, race against St Mary’s and other off island gigs, followed by a hot chocolate and brandy at the Turks Head.


Tresco - The second largest of the islands, Tresco is a sub-tropical gem. For complete seclusion from the world you would find the white sand of Pentle Bay on Tresco hard to beat.


The island boasts a wide variety of scenery, from dramatic rocky outcrops and romantic castles in the north to secluded sandy beaches, green pasture and, of course, the famous Abbey Gardens, which were established by Augustus Smith in the 1830s.


There’s plenty to do, whether watching wildlife at the Great Pool, learning to sail at the sailing club or enjoying a glass of wine and wood-fired pizza at the Ruin Beach Café. There’s also plenty of places to stay from the chic Sea Garden Cottages and Flying Boat Club to more traditional cottages.


St Mary’s - With air and sea links to the mainland, St Mary’s is the hub of Scillonian life. With dreamy beaches - complete with Scilly’s famous white sand and tranquil waters - interesting archeological sites, the shops, pubs and restaurants of Hugh Town, and over 30 miles of coastline and 9 miles of roads, St Mary’s is a great place to explore on foot, buggy, bike or horse.


St Mary's is an ideal place to stay, offering a true glimpse of true Scilly island life and has many varied accommodation options from ‘glamping’ to B&B’s and luxurious hotels. The island is also within easy reach of the Off Islands for island hopping day trips.


Uninhabited Scillies


The unmistakable twin hills of Samson are the subject of many sunset photographs each year. Samson lies to the north west of St Mary’s and once gave shelter to many families.


Meanwhile the ruins of the oldest Christian building on the islands is on St Helen’s where the remains of St Elidius, a bishop and son of a English king, are alleged to be buried.


The Western Rocks are renowned for countless shipwrecks through the centuries. Vessels such as Sir Cloudesley Shovell’s flagship HMS Association, the great German transatlantic liner Schiller and the American seven-masted schooner, the Thomas W. Lawson (the largest pure sailing vessel ever built), have all ended tragically amongst these rocks, often with huge loss of life.


From Annet, the bird sanctuary, to the Bishop Rock Lighthouse, the untamed


Cornish Visitor Guide - spring / summer 2013 23 St Agnes


Tresco


St Martin’s


Abbey Gardens,Tresco


wildness and the cruel granite outcrops are home to colonies of sea birds and grey Atlantic seals.


The Eastern Isles near St Martins have a grassy cover and important discoveries of habitation from around AD69 have been found on Nomour and may be seen in the museum on St Mary’s. Sea birds and seals live there in great numbers and may be seen at close quarters when cruising around here.


How to Get There?


Travelling to the Isles of Scilly is simpler than many people think, with direct daily (Monday to Saturday) Skybus flights to the Islands from Exeter Airport during the main season, and all year round from Newquay and Lands End Airports.


The passenger ferry Scillonian III operates daily (Monday to Friday) from 25th March to 2nd November plus Sundays from 7th July to 8th September. Contact Isles of Scilly Travel – 0845 710 5555 or visit www.ios- travel.co.uk for more details.


A shuttle bus is available to and from Penzance train station to Land’s End Airport, and secure car-parking is available at all airports.


There are regular scheduled boat services to all the off-islands every day of the week from St. Mary's.


To find out more visit www.simplyscilly.co.uk or call the tourism information centre on 01720 422536


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