Discussion
I'm considering holidaying in the UK this year...due a new baby etc
We need an unspoilt, chav-free environment, with the best possible chance of good weather. So the Scillys do look promising...
Anyone been there? Which island is best for 1st timers and whats the best way to get there?
We need an unspoilt, chav-free environment, with the best possible chance of good weather. So the Scillys do look promising...
Anyone been there? Which island is best for 1st timers and whats the best way to get there?
I went to Tresco a while ago & it was very relaxing.
we travelled from Penzance using the Helicopter - lots fo fun.
there is some info on the island here: www.tresco.co.uk/
we travelled from Penzance using the Helicopter - lots fo fun.
there is some info on the island here: www.tresco.co.uk/
My parents took us to the Scillies three years in a row from when I was about 11.
St. Marys is the biggest island (although it's still only 3 miles across). You can stay on Tresco, St. Martins or Bryher, but there is not much there.
Beautiful place to go to "get away from it all". Great for walking and watching the wildlife, and has a mild climate, although the sea is freezing.
St. Marys is the biggest island (although it's still only 3 miles across). You can stay on Tresco, St. Martins or Bryher, but there is not much there.
Beautiful place to go to "get away from it all". Great for walking and watching the wildlife, and has a mild climate, although the sea is freezing.
bga said:
I went to Tresco a while ago & it was very relaxing.
we travelled from Penzance using the Helicopter - lots fo fun.
there is some info on the island here: www.tresco.co.uk/
I'll second Tresco, and no it's not that cheap on any of the Scilly isles. Very nice though, spring time is best in my opinion.
I used to go every year when I was younger and my parents continued to go quite often up until a few years back. All despite the fact that we lived in Penzance 
It is certainly unspoilt and ideal for a young family and still yob free. The climate is nothing special and summers are same as the rest or Cornwall so expect a bit of fog and mist. Due to being surrounded by fairly deep water the sea is bloody cold for swimming. You can either fly from Penzance via helicopter or use www.chycor.co.uk/tourism/issc/steamship.htm .. the boat trip is fairly vomit inducing IIRC but cheaper.
St Marys is the main island and probably the best place to go for a first trip. Nice few pubs a supermarket and a bank. There are water taxi type boats departing umpteen times a day to the other islands from St Marys harbour.
The only downside I can see is the difficulty in actually getting accommodation. Most of the self-catering places are booked a year in advance and the hotels are horrifically expensive. In fact the whole island experience is rather pricey and you could certainly go abroad for much less. Another reason its mostly chav free I spose J
It is certainly unspoilt and ideal for a young family and still yob free. The climate is nothing special and summers are same as the rest or Cornwall so expect a bit of fog and mist. Due to being surrounded by fairly deep water the sea is bloody cold for swimming. You can either fly from Penzance via helicopter or use www.chycor.co.uk/tourism/issc/steamship.htm .. the boat trip is fairly vomit inducing IIRC but cheaper.
St Marys is the main island and probably the best place to go for a first trip. Nice few pubs a supermarket and a bank. There are water taxi type boats departing umpteen times a day to the other islands from St Marys harbour.
The only downside I can see is the difficulty in actually getting accommodation. Most of the self-catering places are booked a year in advance and the hotels are horrifically expensive. In fact the whole island experience is rather pricey and you could certainly go abroad for much less. Another reason its mostly chav free I spose J
St Marys is probably favourite for first time visitor.
Investigate flying from Newquay as another option.
Fantastic unspoilt place. No chavs, but might be a lot of birders there if something exotic turns up!!
Not cheap (simple supply and demand question).
If you're looking for peace, quiet and relaxation then you'll be sorted!
Investigate flying from Newquay as another option.
Fantastic unspoilt place. No chavs, but might be a lot of birders there if something exotic turns up!!
Not cheap (simple supply and demand question).
If you're looking for peace, quiet and relaxation then you'll be sorted!
I go whenever I can...
If you get lucky with the weather it's glorious, we had two weeks of solid sunshine and pleasant mid-20s temperatures last summer. It can be very hard to find accommodation if you leave it much later than now and don't have 'previous' with some of the property owners.
It is expensive for what you get, as the sign in the little bus that potters around the island says, "Cheer up, you could have had two weeks in the Seychelles for half the price". Needless to say, my previous two cars could have been bought for the price of the house we rent for two weeks, but I think it's worth it.
The kids will love the boat rides to other islands the beaches.
edit for photo:
By the way, Treso, whilst quite nice, is even more expensive than any of the others. And its owners are trying to turn the group of islands into their own cash cow.
>> Edited by tomtom on Thursday 2nd February 11:54
If you get lucky with the weather it's glorious, we had two weeks of solid sunshine and pleasant mid-20s temperatures last summer. It can be very hard to find accommodation if you leave it much later than now and don't have 'previous' with some of the property owners.
It is expensive for what you get, as the sign in the little bus that potters around the island says, "Cheer up, you could have had two weeks in the Seychelles for half the price". Needless to say, my previous two cars could have been bought for the price of the house we rent for two weeks, but I think it's worth it.
The kids will love the boat rides to other islands the beaches.
edit for photo:
By the way, Treso, whilst quite nice, is even more expensive than any of the others. And its owners are trying to turn the group of islands into their own cash cow.
>> Edited by tomtom on Thursday 2nd February 11:54
Tresco's for me!
Utterly charming place.
Went in 1977 and it was like an episode from The Twiglet Zone.
As per the whirlybird mentioned above, to the transfer from st Mary's to the island via debatably bouyant water craft and thence to the cottage of Lord Summerisle via literal tractor, the wierdness just kept on coming.
The place has a Gulf current passing through, rendering otherwise freezing Atlantic waters mildly temperate which in turn make available to one the attractive opportunity for some quality snorkelling japes, combined with rocky escarpments about which no finer locale for crab fishing exists on this tiny, blue planet.
There is a lordly manor house possessed of nifty equatorial grounds, replete with some unsual, exotic flora but as ever, an occupying infestation of interfering, loud antipodea (they really do get everywhere
)
There was a pub near the jetty, I recall but other than that and a small provisions store and so overall, a perfect hideaway from the rigours of modernity and staid impositions of regularity.
I recall hunting rabbit, too slaughtering a cousin over a few ill tempered bouts of cricket and generally burning heretics towards the end of the fortnight.
Precisely the sort of fun with a Finn that man simply cannot indulge any longer.
Fully recommended.
Utterly charming place.
Went in 1977 and it was like an episode from The Twiglet Zone.
As per the whirlybird mentioned above, to the transfer from st Mary's to the island via debatably bouyant water craft and thence to the cottage of Lord Summerisle via literal tractor, the wierdness just kept on coming.
The place has a Gulf current passing through, rendering otherwise freezing Atlantic waters mildly temperate which in turn make available to one the attractive opportunity for some quality snorkelling japes, combined with rocky escarpments about which no finer locale for crab fishing exists on this tiny, blue planet.
There is a lordly manor house possessed of nifty equatorial grounds, replete with some unsual, exotic flora but as ever, an occupying infestation of interfering, loud antipodea (they really do get everywhere
) There was a pub near the jetty, I recall but other than that and a small provisions store and so overall, a perfect hideaway from the rigours of modernity and staid impositions of regularity.
I recall hunting rabbit, too slaughtering a cousin over a few ill tempered bouts of cricket and generally burning heretics towards the end of the fortnight.
Precisely the sort of fun with a Finn that man simply cannot indulge any longer.
Fully recommended.
ewenm said:
Have you thought about the Channel Isles?
No, I hadn't actually - thanks for that. I did go on holiday to Jersey once when i was a kid though....I'd completely forgotten about it
I might have a look at Guernsey... up-the-dubs said:
I'll just throw my hat in on behalf of the Irish Tourist Board
Ah, the Irish Tourist Board: "Come to Dublin - there's
all to see, but you won't care 'cos you'll be shit-faced!" Seriously - I'm actually travelling to one of the islands for a wedding later in the year - I've got Irish family
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