Marazion

Set in the curve of the beautiful Mount’s Bay, coastal town Marazion is one of the most beautiful places to stay in Cornwall. Best known for its beaches and the tidal island, St Michael’s Mount, Marazion is also a lively and welcoming community, with an enticing selection of places to eat, drink and shop.

Marazion is one of the oldest chartered towns in the country, with a long history of trade, pilgrimage, industry – and royal dramas. Its name comes from the Cornish “Marghas Yow” meaning Thursday market; and until Penzance started to grow in the late Middle Ages, this bustling town was the commercial hub of the area.

Mount’s Bay stretches from Gwennap Head in the west to Lizard Point in the east. Its shape provides shelter for swimming and watersports, and the rocky coves east of Marazion also once gave shelter to smugglers…To the west, Marazion Marshes are a safe home for many species of native and travelling birds.

The town itself winds along the coastline, a jumble of old cottages and houses dotted with pubs, chapels and lush Cornish gardens. You will never be short of places to find food and drink in this hospitable little town, and Marazion is one of the best places in West Cornwall to browse for contemporary art and craft.

It is an easy drive here from “Upcountry”: simply stay on the A30 until you reach the roundabout between Hayle and Penzance signed “Marazion”! Penzance railway station is a short taxi ride away, and there is an Enterprise car rental in nearby Long Rock.