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Cornwall

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Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow) [1] is a Duchy in the extreme south west of the UK and includes the Isles of Scilly. Lying westwards beyond the River Tamar border with its nearest county neighbour Devon, Cornwall is one of the more isolated parts of the United Kingdom but is one of the most popular with travellers and holiday-makers. Its relatively warm climate, long coastline, amazing scenery, and diverse Celtic heritage (combined with tales of smuggling and pirates!) go only part of the way to explaining its appeal. Cornwall is increasingly becoming a popular destination for those interested in cultural tourism due to its long association with visual and written arts.

Cities, towns and villages

Cities

  • Truro - Cornwall's main administrative centre and only city

Towns

Villages

Other Destinations

Culture and History

The modern English name is derived from the tribal name Cornovii and the Anglo-Saxon word wealas (meaning "foreigners"). Cornovii may mean "horn [peninsula] people". Wealas is also the origin of the name Wales. Cornwall is called Kernow in the Cornish language. Although administered as a county of England, there is a vocal nationalist movement which seeks to establish Cornwall as a separate 'Home Nation', on the same level as England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Travel to Cornwall & Visa Requirements

By train

Regular trains run on the main line from London Paddington (12 daily to Plymouth, 3 hours, 8 daily all the way through Cornwall to Penzance, 5 hours) Bristol, Birmingham etc. to Plymouth, Truro and Penzance. There are also a few branch lines, the most useful linking St Ives to the main line at St Erth and from Newquay to Par. There is also an overnight sleeper train which runs Sun-Fri nights to/from London Paddington and Penzance.

By car

Cornwall can be accessed by road via the A30 which starts at the end of the M5 at Exeter. Cornwall can also be accessed from the A38, crossing the Tamar River at Plymouth via the Tamar Bridge. From London it's a 5-6 hour drive. On Saturdays in July & August and Easter bank holiday weekend roads can be busy, although a new 7-mile stretch of dual-carriageway at Goss Moor near Bodmin has helped to alleviate many of the long tail backs.

By air

Newquay airport is the main airport for Cornwall which has the following services:

  • Air Southwest - Bristol, Cork, Dublin, Glasgow-International, Grenoble (winter only), Leeds/Bradford, London-Gatwick, Manchester, Newcastle
  • British Airways - London-Gatwick
  • bmibaby - Manchester
  • Flybe - Belfast-City, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Isle of Man (seasonal)
  • Isles of Scilly Skybus - St. Mary's (Isles of Scilly), Cardiff, St. Brieuc
  • Lufthansa - Düsseldorf
  • Ryanair - London-Stansted, Alicante, Girona

By coach

Cornwall is served well by National Express coach services from London Victoria coach station (9 hours, 3 daily) and other parts of the UK (Edinburgh - Glasgow - Penzance, 18 hours, 1 daily).

Tours & Getting around Cornwall

Several bus companies operate in Cornwall including Western Greyhound, Truronian and First Bus.

Virgin Trains and First Great Western operate regular train services between the main centres of population, the latter company also serving a number of outlying towns via branch lines. For train times and fares visit National Rail Enquiries.

Talk

Cornwall is home to one of the bastions of Celtic language in the British Isles - the Cornish language. It is closely related to Welsh and Breton, less so to Irish and Scots Gaelic. It survived as a living tongue until around 1777 and the death of Dolly Pentreath of Mousehole, the last person thought to have spoken only Cornish as a child (although this is disputed). The publication of Henry Jenner's "Handbook of the Cornish Language" in 1904 caused a resurgence of interest in the Cornish language, and efforts are being made to revive it. There are currently estimated to be some 3,500 Cornish speakers, 300-350 of whom are fluent. It has recently been officially recognised by the UK government as a minority language. Some areas of Cornwall have bi-lingual road signs in both English and Cornish.

Cornwall attractions and sightseeing

Cornwall boasts a large number of attractions for the traveller, many lying outside of cities and towns amidst the Cornish landscape:

  • Bodmin Moor [2]