A Day Out In Penzance
When you arrive on the platform at the bottom of the town, you will find yourself within walking distance of the many gems that Penzance offers. There is something for everyone!
Penzance has been and continues to receive some well-deserved funding, which has rejuvenated the town and made it well worth a visit.
This coastal town has a wonderful, diverse mix of shopping, eating, arts, culture, and leisure opportunities. It is becoming a place to shop local, unique, and independent. A place to eat, drink, and get together with friends and family. Somewhere to get your basics and shop everyday items and a hip place to experience live theatre, see great artwork, and enjoy fun activities.
We want to share with you some of the joyful highlights of Penzance in Cornwall that, should you come to the end of the line, you can access by foot with ease, and you will not want to miss.
Penlee Park
Penlee Park is a lovely green space with wooded areas and a fantastic children’s play area. According to Florence, aged 7, the park has the best and fastest slide in the whole of Penzance! It’s a great place for picnics and a stroll.
It is also home to Penzance Tennis Club, which welcomes visitors to play. There is a small outdoor theatre hosting a range of plays and live music such as the popular gin and jazz evening. Booking in advance is necessary via their website.
The main feature of the park is the Penlee House Art Gallery and Museum, which has a packed program of events and exhibitions along with a lovely café. You could easily spend a day just in this small but interesting part of the town.
Photo Credit: penzance-tc.gov.uk/penlee-park/
Jubilee Pool
Jubilee Pool is a 1930s art deco outdoor lido situated on Penzance promenade, just a flat 10-minute walk from the train station. It celebrates its 90th birthday at the end of May 2025. This outdoor saltwater lido also has a saltwater geothermally heated pool, sauna, and a fantastic café on site.
The pool holds events all year round with live music, workshops, and full moon swims.
They offer fitness and wellbeing classes that can be booked online and host sporting events such as the Jubilee swim and monthly aquathlons through the summer months. Check out their website for what’s going on. This iconic 1930s art deco structure is worth a visit from an architectural point of view even if swimming isn’t your thing. The coffee and cake are pretty good too!
Jubilee Pool Penzance
Chapel Street
Chapel Street runs from the bottom of Penzance to the centre of town and is well worth a stroll. The building architecture is fascinating, and there are lots of hidden gems to spot. Children love to spy the rascal of a man on the roof of the Admiral Benbow pub. This pub is wonderfully old-worldly and inside is steeped in promises of pirate tales and stories from the high seas involving smuggling and treasure. The pub features many parts from ships and is a lovely place to warm up by a fire.
Further up the street, there are some beautiful, small independent shops. You will find high-end, funky, quirky, and fun places throughout this street. Our favourite building in all of Penzance is the Egyptian House—it is exquisite. Pay attention so you don’t miss anything like the wonderful antiques shop nestled between two shops and down a set of steps. You go down into a wonderful space filled to the rafters with curiosities.
Acorn Theatre
The Acorn Theatre is off to the left at the top of Chapel Street. This small and wonderful space is used creatively to bring live theatre and music events to the town. Its timetable is packed, and there really is something for everyone. Worth a visit even if only to see the most beautifully painted starry ceiling above the stalls. Check out the website to see what’s on and book tickets here.
Causewayhead
If you carry on up, you will find Causewayhead, a mainly pedestrianised cobbled street. You will discover some of the shops that keep everyone ticking along nicely, side by side with some upmarket, high-end fashionable shops selling books, clothes, and jewellery, along with the cinema. Thornes has been a Penzance stalwart for as long as many locals can remember, ensuring that the town is served with the freshest fruit and veg.
The Weigh Inn is one of our favourites too. You can get just what you need, and how much you need. Pretty handy if you are only here for a short time on holiday; you can buy necessities in small quantities with ease and less cost! Further up on the right, you will see Loaf’s bakery. If you are in need of the best pain au chocolat ever, this, friends, is the place to go!
The bottom of Causewayhead is intersected with the main street, Market Jew Street. This is the main street through Penzance and has many popular chain stores you will likely recognise. The smell of pasties wafts from the many bakeries dotted along the length of the road. Interspersed between shops are alleys and places where you can come across some real delights. For example, a set of steps about halfway down will lead you to Bread Street. Here, you will find a well-stocked whole food and health shop, Archie Browns, which also boasts a busy vegetarian café upstairs.
Food and Drink
The town has a range of places to get coffee and to eat out from breakfast through to dinner. There are pubs with great menus and a wide range of tempting culinary offers which you would expect to find.
A particular favourite of ours is Mermaid Alley, which offers a vibrant world food menu they class as comfort food using local produce. Think exciting colours and wicked cocktails. It’s best to find them on social media for the most up-to-date menus and opening times.
In short, a visit to Penzance would be a day well spent, whatever you fancy doing, and has something to offer whatever the weather.
Egyptian house on Chapel Street