Shopping
This is your all comprehensive guide to shopping in Cornwall, not only does it incorporate must see shops but how to make your visit to town an memorable one. This includes the best places to stop for a hot drink and a croissant, what landmarks to look out for in each town and how the dynamics of this county have changed.
Kingsley Village
Kingsely Village has lots of things to keep you entertained. It is well known for local arts and crafts that are sold here, show casing some of Cornwall’s most artistic craft workers. If you’re in need of a gift to take home then this is the right place for you. Choosing a gift has never been so easy with such a wide range of products to choose from including books, jewellery, beautiful hand sewn teddy bears, maps, hand made cosmetics, bath products, locally produced candles and basketry, there is even woodturning and glassware.
In the high season there is often crafters at their stall producing their
product right in front of your eyes. Adjoining to the crafting area there is the food hall selling every thing local that grows under the sun. There is a wide range of the season’s best vegetables, fish, meats, bakery goodies, creamy cheeses, local beers, ciders and wines. You will just want to take a bit of everything home with. After you have walked around this all-embracing market it will be about time to stop for a catch up, show off your new purchases over a hot drink or cold orange juice with a cakes from the café upstairs.
The facilities at the market give it a finishing touch; you can see why it is such a popular destination. There are toilets, free parking, and good disabled access with lots of room for people to move around in this large and light environment. The café does some of the best light lunches at a good price. This is the ideal place to come for high quality handmade trinkets or the finest food that money can buy.
Padstow
In recent years this town has become a very popular tourist destination, once a quiet fishing port Padstow is one of the best places to come and visit on holiday. Although the town has had more visitors each year it has not lost its charm. The harbour is the focal point of the town with all the pubs, craft shops, restaurants and galleries fighting for a place on the waterfront.
A high portion of the shops are privately owned, perfect for wandering around, to find something unique like Gwyneths.
This is a jewellery shop with bracelets, rings and a variety of accessories
that have been designed in Padstow and the rest of the world. Tri Society
is a specialist woman’s clothing store selling their own brand clothing. All
the clothes are marvellous and of a high quality. Another shop is the Padstow
Farm Shop selling goods that have been grown in the local area including salads,
vegetables, beef, pork and lamb. This is just a small selection of the shops
that are in Padstow. In the high season many of the shops stay open late into
the evening perfect for walking round this quaint town, before stopping for
a fabulous meal at one of the many restaurants or pubs that Padstow contains.
A big influence to Padstow has been the association of Rick Stein. In Recent years he has opened numerous establishments, his most famous being his seafood restaurant which gets its ingredients from the harbour meaning the food can’t get any fresher. Rick also owns the Metropolitan Hotel, a bakery, and his own fish & chips take away that can provide you with the ingredients to take home and make your own. There are many other places to eat outside of Stein's establishments, from traditional Cornish menus through to far off exotic dishes.
St Eval
Not your first thought when it comes to shopping but within this small village there’s the Candle factory that produces it own exceptional candles. It is placed on a farm and makes the most of the tremendous view it’s over looking. The process that they use here has not altered in years, they still use conventional methods of pouring, dipping and drawing. The different candles range from fragrances, scented tins, classic church candles beeswax and natural candles. If you really want they can make a customized candle that fits all your worldly candle desires. Making the village of St Eval a breathtaking and magical stop where you can learn old processes and take something away with you.
St Mawgan
The attractive village of St. Mawgan is an extraordinary and perfect place to spend a day wandering around these old streets. Over the years St. Mawgan has been unaffected and really is an area frozen in time. Although small it is easy to spend a day walking around, finding out about the secrets that make this a brilliant place.
The shops here range from a Bonsai nursery where you can get any sort of Bonsai tree that you could ever wanted, to the village post office which is also the local village shop selling the greatest home made jams and pasties.
At the back of post office is the village tea room serving up the greatest
cream teas that Cornwall can produce. Overall this is an ideal place to come a spend a glorious day in Cornwall, Whether it be walking around the streets exploring the unseen secrets or tasting the best cream tea money can buy, young and old are sure to have an unbelievable day.
Wadebridge
This old market town has been refurbished in recent years but has not lost its magic. The shops are largely independent with most of them being positioned along the pedestrian high street, which has still got its original cobbled surface.
This town has boutiques, jewellery shops, traditional toyshops and the always popular cafes which sell the best pastries, perfect for taking down to the river to enjoy.
Wadebridge does not have the same feel as bigger towns, there is a astonishing relaxed feeling about this place. The long-established shops are mixed in with newer shops so there is something for every one. For those who are attracted to the arts there are many craft shops and galleries selling the most superb artwork produced in the area.
The town was build around the River Camel which then got a railway line built. Today the old railway is one of the most popular trails in Britain connecting Padstow, Wadebridge and Bodmin. There is a romantic feel to the town when swans come floating down the river, making it a perfect place to come and relax from all that shopping.
There’s lots of inspired places to come eat and drink in Wadebridge from restaurant serving up delicious evening meals or if you fancy something a bit less formal there is always fish and chips to be had. One restaurant that I recommend is the Glass House after changing ownership it now serves up a traditional English menu next to simple Italian cuisine.
If a restaurant is not for you then a top coffee shop in the area is Relish, run by a passionate couple Sarah and Hugo who know lot about their food and drink. Hugo has even won the 2008 UK Barista Championships and represented the UK in the World Barista Championship (Big Coffee makers competition).
Newquay
The town is set on the coast with a beach no more than half a mile away, perfect for doing some sun bathing then returning to the town to get a pasty for lunch. The town is very trendy among tourists and has many shops that you can pick up a bargain in.
The high street stretches on for a mile or so with the majority of it being traffic free, this makes it fantastic for taking children, as you have to worry less. The shops consist of surf shops, gift shops and bakeries. There is a mixture of high street brands and smaller independent shop selling the much sought after Cornwall trinkets.
In the high season a lot of the shops stay open untill 10pm when it is just
getting dark. So you can make the most of the late evening sun before retiring
to a pub for a nightcap. There are some great coffee houses to get a coffee or hot chocolate from, like the well known Costa or my favourite The Harbour Café which is an independent tea room serving cream teas through to seafood lunches with the ingredients coming straight up from the harbour.
Truro
This is an inspired place and one of the best shopping experiences in Cornwall; Truro is the capital of the county. Far from a sprawling metropolis, it is full of beautiful Georgian architecture that the town has worked very hard to preserve.
Truro has undergone a massive rebuilding in recent years to make it the gorgeous place it is today. Much of the shopping areas are pedestrian areas with a new buildings fitting in very well with the old style of the city. There is a vast variety of shops including the high street brands that you see up and down the country to the specialist shops like Oh Knickers, which is a unique lingerie boutique well worth having a stop at,
with many other independent shops situated through out the city. There are
local antique fairs, flea market and an under cover pannier market to be found
here. On those rare occasions where you are not in a shop searching for your next buy, take a moment to look around at the splendour that is all over the city with many memorials, statues and the amazing cathedral which is set just off the main shopping street.
On hot days there is nowhere better than to take a break at Malpas, situated just out side the centre of the city. On one side is a huge park and gardens which overlooks the river that runs through the centre of the city. The othersde is a large duckpond.
This
is a perfect place to come relax and take a moment to enjoy the sun out side
the hustle and bustle of the high street. There are many amazing places to come and eat, most of which you will have to search for. The best places in Truro are tucked down the side roads that lead off the high street, you don’t have to go far before you will find what you’re looking for.
Falmouth
This town is a great place to walk around and find out the hidden secrets of this old town. Falmouth has grown around a natural harbour that is joined to many estuaries’ leading off in to the mainland.
When you are wondering around the town it becomes very hard not to explore every shop that you pass. As you walk past the windows you will see many well crafted gifts and trinkets, much of which has something to do with the maritime history of this ancient town. The centre of the town is stunning and has kept its old streets full of character. The main street favours pedestrians, so it is calming to wonder around and visit the shops.
Some of which are big brands but combined with more individual shops making
Falmouth a superb shopping adventure. The food and drink in Falmouth is always getting better and staying a step ahead of the rest. There is so much fresh and high quality produce coming from this area that the menus taste wonderful, from formal three course meals to small home made cream teas. Where ever you go it will not fail please.
St Austell
The brand new £75m shopping center opened in 2009 and is a great place to
visit with all the high street names you would expect to see. Outside of
the White River Shopping Centre, St Austell has lots to offer including
galleries, arts and craft, museums and the odd surf shop. You are sure to
find what you’re looking for, even if your not sure what you want in the
first place.
The thing that makes this town special is the well known indoor market,
The Cornish Market World. 
This
market approximately 2 miles North of the town centre has all the traditional
market stalls that you would expect to find.
Once you have found your bargains at the market and haggled your way down
to the best deal you are likely to want something to eat to get someenergy
back. There are many small independent cafes and restaurants to recharges
those batteries, but don’t forget about the famous Cornish pasty.
St. Ives
This is the artists heaven of the south, with its magnificent scenery and soft lighting people from all over the world come here to craft their artwork and buy the carefully created pieces. Once a pilchard fishing port the town has now become a must see tourist destination with its chocolate box qualities. The town is full of galleries of all shapes and sizes selling a variety of art work but the most famous must be the Tate.
This old town is a amazing place to come and explore with its original cobbles and narrow streets it really feels as if you have stepped back in time.
Hidden somewhere in the hub is a very famous sculpture of a lady, Barbara Hepworth who was her self a sculptor.
The harbour is at the centre of the town but finding it is hard once you start walking down the winding streets, the endless amount of roads with specialist shops can get you quite lost. When you want some thing to eat or drink the best place to head for is the harbour. There are many smaller cafes and restaurants that radiate a friendly atmosphere that is felt throughout the town. You may even feel motivated to pick up a paintbrush yourself.
Mawgan Porth
This seaside village is not the first place that you would come for a shopping trip but it does home two of the best Farm Shops in Cornwall. The first being Bre Pen which is an all organic farm and the second is Gluvain Farm, both of them sell a wide selection of produce from home baked bread, pasties and cakes with a range of organic eggs, meats and vegetables with a few other things depending on the time of year.
Bodmin
This town is the oldest in the county and one of the biggest. The history of this town was heavily involved with the tin industry and has remained a business-oriented town to this day, with many individual and start up businesses based here.
Once you have arrived in Bodmin there are shops, places to eat and attractions all within easy walking distance so there is no need to travel. Some of the attractions include the Court Rooms Experience, steam railway and two grand country houses Pencarrow and Lanhydrock, both with incredible tearooms and glorious gardens to enjoy your cream tea in.
A terrific place to eat when in town is the Malcon Barnecutt, a bakery great for a light lunch as they have got a small seating area out the back, together with good food and flawless service this bakery is far more than a regular bakers.
The shops are a mixture of well known brand and specialist shops. Stable Art is one of the many fantastic shops in Bodmin, located behind the Shire Hall this is a special art store with everything you could ever need. Not only do they have art supplies but they can also frame your work with a range of frames to suit your style and budget.
