South Cornwall

The south coast is sheltered, warmer, and in many stretches strikingly subtropical. The Gulf Stream pushes up temperatures and allows gardens like Trebah, Trelissick, and the Lost Gardens of Heligan to grow plants that have no business surviving a British winter. Falmouth is the largest town on the south coast - a working port with a university, a strong art scene, and three beaches within walking distance of the town centre. The Fal Estuary, where several rivers meet before emptying into Carrick Roads, is one of the deepest natural harbours in the world and worth exploring by kayak or the King Harry Ferry. East of Falmouth, the Roseland Peninsula remains one of the least developed stretches of Cornish coastline. Mevagissey, Fowey, and Looe are classic south Cornwall fishing towns: narrow streets, harbour walls, crab lines from the quay. The Lizard Peninsula, to the west, has the most southerly point in mainland Britain and some of the most unusual geology in the county - the serpentine rock at Kynance Cove produces the vivid greens and reds in the cliff faces.