An old pilchard port turned art colony, St Ives crams four beaches, a Tate gallery and a maze of whitewashed lanes onto one bright peninsula. Porthmeor has the surf and the sunsets; Porthminster the calm water and the palm trees. The light really is different here — painters have been saying so for a century. Come in June or September, when the alleys breathe again.
Featured in Ten lovely beach towns for lazy harbourside evenings · Beach