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<\/p>\nThis article was produced by\u00a0National Geographic Traveller\u00a0(UK).<\/p>\n
On the clearest days, St Ives seems like a trick of the eye. All golden beaches and cliffs etched with whitewashed cottages, it feels more like an Italian fishing village than an English coastal town. That incongruity has made the Cornish enclave one of Britian\u2019s most popular summer escapes, but its charms don\u2019t fade as winter sets in. Rather than hibernating, the town exhales. Its cobblestoned streets see less footfall, while its blissfully empty beaches hum with the meditative crashing of Atlantic waves. The drama of the landscape was enough to lure romantic painter JMW Turner here in 1811, and by the 1940s, artists such as abstractionist painter Ben Nicholson and sculptors Naum Gabo and Barbara Hepworth had made St Ives one of Britain\u2019s leading avant-garde outposts. It remains a creative hub to this day, with winter\u2019s stilled pace only adding to the cosiness of its galleries, bars and restaurants.<\/p>\n
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Opened in 1993 as a sister to London\u2019s Tate Modern, Tate St Ives hosts a rolling programme of contemporary exhibitions while also celebrating the town\u2019s modernist heritage with works from figures like Kandinsky and Mir\u00f3.<\/p>\n
Photograph by Larina Annora Fernandes \u00a9Tate<\/p>\n
What can I see and do in winter?<\/p>\n
Make for the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden<\/a> \u2014 the artist\u2019s former home and studio. Her life is charted through photographs, tools and small-scale works, while the garden is a lush tangle of subtropical plants, monumental bronzes and stone carvings. It\u2019s a five-minute walk from here to Tate St Ives<\/a>, built on the site of a former gasworks overlooking Porthmeor Beach. The gallery hosts a rolling programme of contemporary exhibitions, while the permanent collection celebrates the town\u2019s modernist heritage with works from figures like Kandinsky and Mir\u00f3.<\/p>\n Fancy something more hands-on? Tarquin\u2019s Gin School<\/a> runs daytime workshops on the upper level of its Fore Street shop. The Cornish distillery teaches visitors the basics then lets them distill their own batch in a copper still. You\u2019ll choose from more than 50 botanicals \u2014 including cardamom, dried lemon peel and eucalyptus leaves \u2014 before sealing and naming your bespoke bottle. After dark, cosy up in one of the booths at nearby R Bar<\/a>, a speakeasy-style club where mixologists serve up rum cocktails to a soundtrack of live jazz.<\/p>\n (UK gin distillery experiences that are worth the journey<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Workshop participants can bring their own aromatics and use them in the distilling process to give their unique gins a personal touch.<\/p>\n Photograph by Tarquin’s Cornish Gin<\/p>\n Where\u2019s a good place to grab a bite?<\/p>\n The food scene in St Ives stretches far beyond Cornish pasties and fish and chips. If it\u2019s lunch you\u2019re after, walk to the end of the harbour and grab a table at white-stone Silco<\/a>, a family-run bar and kitchen serving everything from Sri Lankan lentil fritters with chilli jam to poached plums topped with boozy mascarpone cream \u2014 doused in the team\u2019s signature Plum & Bourbon Liqueur. Silco began life as a drinks brand, producing spirts like St Ives Gin and the tangy Rhubarb Shrub Liqueur. Both go very well in a spritz, best enjoyed while watching the fishing boats bobbing along the quay.<\/p>\n St Eia’s cosy atmosphere in winter months is complemented perfectly with warming, French-inspired dishes like a beef bourguignon.<\/p>\n Photographs by Sam Harris<\/p>\n Come evening, head to St Eia<\/a>, a small plates wine bar that honours the Irish princess who gave the town its name. On cold winter nights, its long windows fog over, leaving candlelight flickering through the opaque glass. The produce is British but the menu leans French, offering up dishes like onion soup topped with toasted sourdough, smoked sausage from Sussex\u2019s Coombeshead Farm and the most indulgent pot au chocolat north of Paris. Alternatively, Ardor<\/a> on Fore Street serves Mediterranean-inspired tapas in its buzzy, low-lit dining room. Smaller bites include jam\u00f3n croquetas and chicken shawarma with tzatziki, while mains range from grilled octopus to dry-aged beef cuts and golden rotisserie chicken basted in brandy.<\/p>\n Local tip: \u201cPay a visit to Milieu Studios on St Andrew\u2019s Street, home to works by some of the best up-and-coming artists in the South West\u201d <\/p>\n Jeffrey Robinson, Executive Chef at Harbour View House<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Where should I stay in St Ives?<\/p>\n Just a few steps from the station, Harbour View House<\/a> lives up to its name, looking onto the lighthouse at the tip of the breakwater. The boutique hotel\u2019s nine rooms pair sleek furnishings with wood and wicker accents, while the downstairs panoramic restaurant serves fresh handmade pasta. Otherwise, book a stay at Carbis Bay Hotel<\/a>, reachable via the coastal path running parallel to the railway. The beachfront hotel comes with an outdoor pool, heated jacuzzi and a clifftop sauna overlooking the beach. It\u2019s also the spot for a spa treatment or a cheeky cocktail at Walter\u2019s on the Beach, the hotel\u2019s sea-view bar and restaurant.<\/p>\n How to do itTrains from cities including London and Plymouth run direct to St Erth, where a scenic, single-carriage branch line carries on to St Ives. From London Paddington, GWR<\/a> fares start at \u00a347.50 for a single Advance Purchase ticket.<\/p>\n Stay at Harbour View House<\/a> from \u00a3100, B&B, or Carbis Bay Hotel<\/a> from \u00a3240, B&B.<\/p>\n![\"Tarquins](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Tarquins_GinSchool-22.jpg\")
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