When it comes to holidays, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge tend to go in for tropical paradises – whether honeymooning on a remote island in the Seychelles or enjoying a family trip to Mustique. This year, however, the Cambridges stayed closer to home – decamping to the Isles of Scilly 28 miles off the coast of Cornwall, where Prince William frequently holidayed as a boy.
Specifically, the family checked into Dolphin House on the island of Tresco – an old stone Rectory surrounded by lush gardens, with views of the turquoise sea beyond. Part of the Duchy of Cornwall, Tresco has one of the mildest climates in the UK, allowing it to support a range of exotic flora.
Yet Tresco is just one of more than 150 islands in the beautiful, archipelago – and each of the five main islands is more than worth a visit. Below, five experiences to put on your travel hitlist while visiting the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Sample local cuisine on St Mary’s
The largest of the Scilly Isles, St Mary’s boasts a thriving gastronomic scene that’s refreshingly low on pretension. Eat traditional fish and chips out of a newspaper cone from Scilly’s Fish van, which parks directly above Porthcressa Beach five nights a week – or enjoy the ramshackle charm of Tanglewood Kitchen (accessed via the Post Office), where a husband and wife team serve dishes built around Scilly-grown produce. And for vinophiles, Holyvale Vineyard plates up freshly caught lobsters paired with its own Pinot Gris.
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Spot wildlife in St Agnes
Even in an archipelago renowned for its slow pace of life, St Agnes feels particularly calm. At low tide, visitors can wander out onto the golden sandbar that connects the island to neighbouring Gugh at low tide – with dolphins known to make frequent appearances in the shallow waters. Or, if you’re feeling more ambitious, trek around the perimeter of the mile-long island, dotted with wildflowers and lined with rocky outcrops, then take a water safari with St Agnes Boating to look for puffins and seals. Note: the best way to reward yourself after a hard day of lying on the sand is an ice cream from St Agnes’s Troytown Farm, which, with just nine dairy cows, is the smallest in the UK.
Explore the tropical gardens of Tresco
Founded by the islands’ then Lord Proprietor Augustus Smith in the 19th century, the Tresco Abbey Gardens are justifiably famous – taking advantage of the subtropical climate to grow more than 20,000 plants from 80 countries, from King Protea to Lobster Claw. For those who prefer history to botany, there’s also the Valhalla Museum on site, a wonderfully quirky attraction displaying ships’ figureheads that have washed up on the Isles of Scilly over the last century.
Laze on the beach in St Martin’s
St Martin’s is home to some of the UK’s most idyllic beaches. Get a picnic from The Island Bakery, which makes frankly enormous Cornish pasties, then make your way to your chosen beach for the rest of the day – and there are many options to choose from. Scramble between rock pools in Lawrence’s Bay; lie on the crescent of pristine sand at Par Beach; or head to the virtually deserted Great Bay on the north side of the island, backed by heather-topped cliffs.
Take to the sea on Bryher
While every inch of the Scilly Isles is charming, to fully appreciate the region’s beauty, you need to take to the sea – and there’s nowhere better to do it than Bryher, considered the wildest of the islands. (Novelist Michael Morpurgo, best known for writing War Horse, set a number of stories here.) Family-owned Hut62 is the best place to rent a wooden boat and make your way between deserted islets – a very Famous Five way to spend a day.
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