Experience Cornwall without a car.

How many times have you got lost when you go on holiday? How many times have you sat in a queue of traffic or been left circling a car-park just to find an illusive parking space at a top tourist spot? And all of this on your ‘relaxing’ holiday. Driving and navigating around a new area can be both stressful and daunting and quite often, you can miss out the best bits by going the direct route.

Yet with some planning and a bit of imagination (and sometimes a lot of guts!) there are some interesting alternatives to travelling around Cornwall while on your self catering holiday and uncover some little gems you wouldn’t necessarily see whilst using the most well trodden paths throughout the South West.

The former artists’ colony of St. Ives encompasses all the charm of the quaint Cornish villages and continues to attract many visitors each year. Even if you’ve been to St. Ives before, a trip on the St. Ives Railway, a short journey across from St. Erth train station, is an opportunity to experience the dramatic views of Hayle Towans and Carbis Bay before arriving in St. Ives. Staying at nearby Brea Cottage and with trains running every day (except Christmas and Boxing Day, all you have to do is make sure you don’t miss the last train back to your holiday cottage.

To get out and about on public transport, you could wait for a sunny day or pack your waterproofs and head out on FirstGroup’s Service 300 open top ‘Cornwall Explorer’ if you’re having a self catering holiday in the West of Cornwall. Sit on the top deck and see over the Cornish hedgerows and feel the wind on your face as you travel through West Cornwall. Buy a day ticket and you can hop on and off the First bus routes enjoying places such as Mousehole, Newlyn and Land’s End for as long as you want.

Fancy spending the morning in Mevagissey and be in Fowey in time for afternoon tea or vice versa? Well, by using the Mevagissey to Fowey ferry or more lovingly known as the Bessie-James, you can arrive in Fowey after a 35 minute boat ride that follows the spectacular coastline. Even well behaved dogs are welcome aboard this regular service that picks up and drops off on Lighthouse Quay, Mevagissey and Whitehouse Quay, Fowey, leaving you more than enough time to explore the galleries, coffee shops and perhaps the pubs too (seeing as no-one is driving!)

For a more serene and individual opportunity to explore the coastline at your leisure, why not hire a kayak or canoe and head out on your own? Many beach shops can arrange the hire of all the equipment and guide you to some of the best spots for a morning or full day’s excursion or pop on over to the Harlyn Bay Surf  School on the North coast for their expert tution.

For some though, being on the ground just doesn’t offer the same perspective as perhaps the sky. Cornwall offers some of the most incredible aerial views spanning the county, and from the air you can trace the contours of moorlands and coastlands that Cornwall is famed for and possibility even the Cornish traditional holiday cottage you’re staying in. For the traditional, take a trip to Bodmin or Perranporth airfields for a trial flight that will amaze or for those wanting something just that little bit different, head on down to Cloud 9 at Redruth where they can offer hang gliding, paragliding and paramotoring…..you’ve just got to remember to keep your eyes open though!!

Or forget all that and just get out and walk. Do your bit towards the environment and save yourself some money whilst seeing the best of what Cornwall has to offer, up close and personal at your own pace. With over 630 miles of coastal paths alone, you won’t need to see them same thing twice!