Saffron Cottage

Saffron Cottage is a two-bedroom cottage in St Ives, sleeping four, set within 15th-century Academy Place. The entrance is through a narrow stairway between the Fore Street shops - easy to walk past if you don't know it's there. Inside: low beamed ceilings, exposed dry-stone walls, and a private courtyard garden at the rear.

St Ives Harbour Beach is 0.1km away, shallow enough for paddling at all tides. Porthmeor Beach - the surf beach on the north side of the headland - is 0.2km. Two entirely different beaches within a few minutes on foot, which is the main draw of staying right in the old town. No on-site parking; the Trenwith and Island Road car parks are the nearest options, roughly a 10-minute walk.

Tate St Ives sits above Porthmeor Beach and the Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden is five minutes away. The cottage works well as a base for day trips to the Minack Theatre at Porthcurno, 10 miles south, or St Michael's Mount at Marazion, 8 miles east.

Best for couples or small families who want to be immersed in St Ives town life, walking everywhere. Less good for guests who need a car nearby, as parking in St Ives is genuinely difficult in high season.