Impressed by Porthleven (Porthleven in General)

Member Name: Majmun

Product:	Porthleven in General
Date:	28/05/09 (23 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The beach, lovely village, good food

Disadvantages: Sinky pebbles on beach

We hadn't planned on visiting Porthleven on our Cornwall holiday last year but we were driving around looking for a dog friendly beach and happned to stumble across it. And I'm so glad we did.

Porthleven is situated in South West Cornwall on the coast between the Lizard and Lands End. When we arrived in the town we drove around for a bit to see if doggies were allowed on the beach and, on finding out they were, went to find somewhere to park. Many of the streets are quite narrow so go fairly slowly and be careful. We eventually found a car park and it was free so that's definately a good deal! I can't remember exactly where this car park was but was next to a little playground and a grassy hill.

We then walked down through the village to the beach. The village itself has a wonderful feel to it and is very picturesque and quaint. There's lots of lovely little stone washed cottages around and much of it felt like something out of a film. Whilst walking through the town we saw somebody had left a bowl of water out for dogs with a watering can next to it and a sign asking people to make sure the bowl was filled up. I thought this was a lovely touch and it's great that people are making dog owners feel welcome.

The beach at Porthleven is beautiful and unspoilt. Despite it being a boiling hot day, the beach was very quiet so there was lots of places to sit. One of the good things about the beach is that is against the cliff and at the bottom has formed little individual style coves. You can sit in one of these and cant see anybody to your left or right so feels like you have the beach to yourself! The water is beautiful, quite clear and not too cold so is a great place to swim or paddle. The only downside of the beach is that is made up of very tiny pebbles and these are quite difficult to walk on meaning you have to walk really slowly across the beach. They are also quite sinky so you have to walk in a strange way - trying to look cool is out of the question!

There are lots of shops and eateries around the village. There are quite a few craft shops which sell local arts and crafts so you can buy something a bit different to take home. If you get hungry you have a wide variety of options including pubs, restaurants, teashops and inns. There is also a brilliant fish and chip shop near the harbour which does gorgeous food and the people there are very friendly.

Porthleven impressed me so much that I'd love to stay there if we go back to Cornwall. There seems to be lots of holiday cottages about as well as hotels which are situated near the beach and near all the local food spots. Porthleven is also in a good location and in easy reach of other fantastic tourist destinations in Cornwall such as the Lizard Peninsula, Lands End, the Seal Sanctuary and Penrose Estate. So it would be a good base to do some exploring from.

All in all, we had a lovely day in Porthleven. It is a beautiful village with a gorgeous beach. I'm so glad we found it =)

Summary: Would love to stay here