A Long Weekend in Falmouth: Beaches, Food and Harbour Views

View from our apartment towards Flushing

After a lovely long weekend in Falmouth with my mum, I wanted to share a few photographs and thoughts. Returning to somewhere you once lived is strange. There is a sense that part of it will always be yours, alongside the reminder that time moves on and other people add their own stories.

I was an art student here about 18 years ago, so coming back as a proper grown-up felt both familiar and new.

Returning to Falmouth

Although I have made plenty of day trips over the years and visited friends, a full weekend gave me more time to soak up the atmosphere. Falmouth felt a little cooler and noticeably more food-focused than I remembered. Its creativity and independence were still proudly on display, but now there seemed to be restaurants and small food businesses everywhere.

We happened to arrive during the Falmouth Food Festival, which probably shaped that impression. We tried homemade ice cream, gluten-free crêpes, Italian pasta and plenty more. My brother joined us and made the most of the St Ives Brewery bar and the spicier offerings. The weather occasionally raged, but the music and busy atmosphere made it all part of the weekend.

Swans drinking water from a boat

Harbour views and student memories

Our apartment had a balcony overlooking the harbour. For Mum, the boats were one of the best things about Falmouth. There is something wonderfully peaceful about sitting in the evening sun, looking across to Flushing and hearing the boats bob as the sky turns pink.

Those views brought back memories of my student days. While friends elsewhere were embracing the excesses of the Noughties, my university life was more about ferry trips, a shandy in the pub, rounders on the green, coastal walks, tea and cake, and friendships that felt like family.

On Tuesdays we would buy a date and walnut loaf from the farmers’ market and Applewood smoked cheese from Tesco, then return to my flat above a shop in town for a floor picnic while watching lunchtime Neighbours. Not glamorous, perhaps, but absolutely perfect.

Swanpool Beach at a gentler pace

Sunshine and showers at Swanpool Beach

Beach huts at Swanpool Beach

This time I was determined to try a Falmouth tradition I had somehow missed: the Swanpool Beach Hedgehog ice cream. It is enormous. Cornish ice cream is dipped in clotted cream and rolled in caramelised hazelnuts, and it tastes every bit as indulgent as it sounds.

Mum and I sat on the beach in the afternoon sun, watching the dogs take their owners for a walk. Experiencing Falmouth with her meant taking things at a gentler pace. There were no long coastal walks this time, but there was plenty of time to watch the swans, say hello to dogs and chat to people in cafés.

A trip into Penryn

Rescued donkeys at the Flicka Foundation

Choosing beers at Verdant’s Penryn taproom

Our adventures also took us to the rescued donkeys at the Flicka Foundation near Penryn. They were happily paired up and munching hay, and were every bit as adorable as we had hoped.

We then stopped at the Verdant Taproom, a cosy retreat on an industrial estate where my brother’s knowledge of beer came in useful.

Eating around Falmouth

Stopping for lunch at the Pandora Inn

Lunch at the Pandora Inn

Food was never far away. On the journey down, we stopped for lunch at the beautiful thatched Pandora Inn. In Falmouth, we ate fragrant Indian food at Namaste and returned to a completely transformed Chain Locker.

A watchful seagull at the Chain Locker

Back in my student days, the Chain Locker was the place to go on a Sunday for two meals for seven pounds. This time it was almost unrecognisable, and we sat in the restaurant overlooking the water with a satisfying Sunday roast. A few pennies more, certainly, but worth it. I still wonder where cash-strapped students eat now.

Boat trips, shopping and harbour life

A peaceful boat trip upriver towards Malpas

Another highlight was a boat trip up the river towards Malpas, complete with a very relaxed-looking seal sunning itself on a buoy. The trip was wonderfully peaceful and gave us a different view of the Fal. Current ferry and river-trip information can be found through Fal River.

We also revisited Harbour Lights for fish and chips, just as I had in my student days. Back on land, Falmouth’s high street was as vibrant as ever. I am partial to the charity shops, but there are also clothes shops, antiques and all sorts of seaside curiosities to explore.

A perfect place to sit and draw the boats

More ideas for a weekend in Falmouth

There was plenty we could not fit in. I would happily return for more time beside the water and another visit to Gylly Beach Cafe. The Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival is a particularly lively time to visit, when songs spill out across the town.

Falmouth also makes a wonderful base for exploring more of the area. The St Mawes Ferry turns the journey itself into part of the day. We have also loved Trebah Garden, where the valley paths lead down to a secluded beach on the Helford River.

The wooded creeks around Helford feel as though you have stepped into a Famous Five adventure or, perhaps more accurately, a Daphne du Maurier story such as Frenchman’s Creek.

The simplest pleasures from my student days were little walks through the side streets and finding a patch of lawn where I could sit with a sketchbook. Somewhere near Pendennis Castle, with the sea in front of me and boats below, an afternoon could disappear very easily.

That was the Falmouth I remembered, and it was lovely to find it still there beneath everything that had changed.

Opening arrangements, ferry services and events can change, so check the linked websites before travelling.