Getting to St Ives (Updated 11/5/26)

Short version...  Get the train from St Erth, even if you drive.  It's beautiful and convenient.  There is plenty of parking at St Erth plus mainline train connections.  From the station, it's a flattish walk into the centre of the town.  The train journey is worth it for the views alone and is considered one of the most beautiful train journeys in England.

St Ives is a beautiful town beloved of artists and tourists.  It began life as a fishing village with a sheltered harbour at the western end of the St Ives Bay.  From the coast, the land slopes upwards and becomes steep quite quickly.  The original village is a warren of tiny streets, alleys and staircases but back from this area, there are more open Victorian terraces going up the hillside.

It was not designed for cars!

This is a really really important thing to consider when going to St Ives.  There is parking but parking is at a premium with all the car parks in the older parts of town being tiny and tricky to access.  The car parks get larger, the further from the harbour you get, but they also require more walking up and down the hill.  The largest car park is at the leisure centre and this is at the top of the hill.  There is a path that cuts down from the leisure centre.  In the summer, when the town is at it's very busiest the rugby club also offer parking.  Perhaps the best car park to aim for is Barnoon which is sat really close to the Tate St Ives, just above Porthmeor Beach.

In the summer you will need to be lucky or early to get parking in the town.

There are three main ways to St Ives by road.  From the A30 at St Erth, you can travel along the coast through Lelant and Carbis Bay coming into town from the south.  You can also branch off just before Lelant and take the old coach road via Nance and Halsetown.  You can also come along the coast from the west and this a beautiful twisty road.  Both these routes bring you into town from the west, at the top of the hill, great for parking at the leisure centre and also Barnoon car park.

Traffic is a huge problem in St Ives.  The only main road becomes congested as it negotiates a sharp and narrow turn.  They are currently trialling a new traffic system which makes this main road one way through the centre and makes an even narrower alternative route one way in the opposite direction.

Away from this main road, which is already problematic, it just gets worse.  Apart from along the harbour, the roads are generally very narrow, often with no pavements for pedestrians and there are a lot of pedestrians everywhere.  Trying to drive through St Ives is an art in patience as people are pretty oblivious to the cars. Part of the current trial is to really limit access to the busiest parts of St Ives. 

If you do want to drive to St Ives, plan your route to the car parks and avoid driving through town, just to have a look.  Do not take a larger vehicle beyond the main road through or the road down to Barnoon Car Park and Tate St Ives from the north.  Every year, vehicles get stuck.  Things become very, very narrow beyond the harbour and given the one way system, doesn't let you go back along the harbour...

If you are a pedestrian in St Ives, please be on the lookout for cars and understanding.  St Ives is still a place that people work and live in.  Its not easy.  I know people who worked in the ambulance service who dreaded getting a call to St Ives in the summer.  Not only was it so hard getting through, but then parking meant blocking the road completely.

So how do you avoid all this?  The train! (or bus)

But the train is the best...  The closest mainline station is St Erth, with trains down to Penzance and up to Truro, Plymouth and Exeter etc.  The St Ives branchline starts at St Erth and its a beautiful journey.  It takes you along the edge of the Hayle Estuary, then along the coast via Carbis Bay.  The views of St Ives Bay are second to none.  The train skirts Porthkidney beach which is the most inaccessible beach in the bay and is a huge expanse of sand.

It's worth it just for the views alone.

At St Erth, get on the platform side for the best views.  The trains can be busy though and it can be tricky to get the best seats with a view.

St Erth station has had a serious upgrade in recent years and now functions as a park and ride for St Ives.  There is plenty of parking and it's right on the A30, so really accessible.  It's also got good connections for buses.  You can get the bus to St Ives, but the views are not as good.

The Land's End Coaster was a seasonal bus that did a scenic circular route round Penzance, St Ives, St Just, Sennen, Land's End and Newlyn.  Unfortunately this did not run in 2025.

The main bus stop and train station are in the same area of town, just above Porthminster Beach.  Below the station a narrow road called the Warren which is pretty much car free and can be reach by stairs at either end of the station car park.  Cars do use it though and space is very tight when they need to come through.  If you cannot take the stairs, just keep walking through the car park on to the road.  From the Warren, there is a pedestrian walkway round the next section along the coast.  Keep an eye out for rogue waves as you go round as you may need to time when you walk, or avoid it completely in rough weather.

St Ives has a small peninsula which ends in the Island which is hill with a Chapel to St Nicolas on top.  It makes a lovely walk as the island is free from development and has great views.  Standing on the island looking towards the town, on your left you have the smaller Porthgwidden and Bamaluz beaches before the harbour itself, which also has a beach.  If you keep walking that way you will reach the train station which has Porthminster Beach beneath it.  Looking right from the island, you have Porthmeor beach which is where the surfers go.

From the harbour, you can walk across to Porthmeor and there is a maze of tiny roads and alleyways.  The roads are the size of alleys in most towns.  There are more gentle slopes to go from one side to the other if you do so around the Digey or Back Lane.  If you walk from the harbour into the Sloop car park, you will see the Mariners Church, home to the St Ives Society of Artists.  Walk up the left hand side of the church and you can then cut through on to Back Road.  Go left on Back Road, along Porthmeor Beach to reach Tate St Ives or go right and head towards The Penwith Society of Artists at the Penwith Gallery in an old sardine factory.  

The Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden is on the corner of Back Street and Ayr Lane and it is a short walk from one end of the harbour.  From there you can cut across to Tate St Ives by walking up Barnoon Hill.  The top of the hill is right besides Tate St Ives and you can then walk down the side of the museum on a footpath between the car park and the museum.  I tend to avoid this hill and walk round.

The Leach Pottery is situated towards the edge of town, up the hill.  Its 20 minutes uphill from town.  It is one place I would probably drive to or get a bus.  From the station, you can get the 16, 16A or 383 buses and I guess the closest stop is the cinema.  Buses are not all that frequent and I would recommend using the Transport for Cornwall app.  If you drive you can come into St Ives that side by using the old coach road from Hayle / Lelant which begins from Mill Hill near Dobbies Garden Centre.  This joins the B3311 from Gulval (Penzance) and the B3311 then joins the coast road from St Just etc before this road drops downthrough St Ives.  There is some parking at the Pottery but also at 4 minutes walk away at St John's in the Fields Church on grass, just leave a note in your car saying you are visiting the pottery.  Trenwith Car Park by the leisure centre and the rugby club car park are both around ten minutes walk.

I have never actually been to the Leach Pottery and at the moment it is undergoing a large restoration project an the museum and cube gallery are closed.  It is expected to open towards the end of 2026.