Heligan & The Roseland Tour

We start the day with a guided tour of Heligan Gardens near Mevagissey. This is a garden for everyone, you don’t have to be a botanist or the slightest bit green fingered to enjoy Heligan. It’s steeped in History, packed full of beautiful plants and there’s a fascinating story around every corner. Your guide will give you a guided tour of the main Garden which takes around an hour, then after a tea or coffee break at the Stewards House, you’ll have the option of exploring the jungle with its subtropical flora and infamous rope bridge!

Heligan is on the edge of the much unexplored Roseland Peninsula, and we’ll spend the rest of the day unearthing some of Cornwall’s best kept secrets. The roads are too small for tour buses and only just wide enough for us…… not for the faint-hearted driver! We start with a 15 minute drive along the coast to Porthluney Beach and the beautiful Caerhays Castle. This 18th century Folly Castle is the home of the Williams family, and is surrounded by acres of sub-tropical gardens, full of Magnolias, Rhododendrons and Camelias…an absolute picture in the spring and early summer. We’ll take lunch at the Café on the beach, with a raised deck area overlooking the ocean.

After lunch we continue around the coast to the tiny village of Port Holland, recently used as the village featured in the Tim Burtons Movie ‘Mrs Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children’. Just a short stop here for photographs, before we carry on around the coast to the picturesque village of Portloe, briefly made famous in the British comedy ‘Wild West’, but perhaps more notorious as a smuggler’s hide-out! We’ll have a stop here so you can explore the tiny harbour and photograph the fishing boats.

On a little further is Portscatho, another picturesque fishing village with a lovely little harbour, worthy of a stop and a few photographs, we stop here briefly before heading for the end of the Peninsula and the lovely sailing village of St Mawes. You’ll have some time here to wander the streets by the harbour with a few galleries and shops as well as some amazing farm made Cornish Ice Cream….

We’ll then drive around to the famous St Mawes Castle, which has been guarding the entrance to Falmouth for around 500 years, where you can take a stroll overlooking the castle and the spectacular Fal estuary.

We finish the day with a visit to arguably Cornwall’s most picturesque Church at St Just in Roseland. The 13th century church is set on the edge of the estuary, amid acres of Graveyard lovingly planted with subtropical plants and specimen trees, it is unique and a ‘must see’… a fitting end to the day.