My Complete Guide to The Isles of Scilly

Where do I begin to tell you about these beautiful Islands... You wouldn't think we were still in England!

I cant believe it has taken me this long to finally make the trip to see these Scilly Islands.

In this blog, I will let you in on all the best things to do, costs, places to stay, how to get around, best time to visit and all the little secrets tips. So, if you have never been before and thinking about it or what it will look like, then iv got you covered!

Starting off with getting over to the main Island which is St Marys. Starting off in Cornwall, you can either choose to travel over by ferry or helicopter. If you take the ferry, this is operated by Isle of Scilly Travel which departs from Penzance to St Marys island. This takes around 2 hours 45 minutes on the Scillion Ferry and you can enjoy the views of Cornwall stunning coastline and if your lucky see some dolphins in the water along the way.

Alternatively you can choose to fly (which is best if you get a little sea sick) this departs from either Exeter, Newquay or Lands End airports. With a big different in time, the Skybus only takes around 20-30 minutes depending on where you are flying from. The skybus is more expensive than the ferry option, however these no doubt in the scenic views you will witness from this point.

When booking our trip, we decided to drive to Cornwall which meant our car needed to be parked up at Cornwall whilst on the islands.
Thinking after a long drive, we booked Mount View Scilly Parking which is a park and stay business. Therefore you can stay the night in there luxury overnight accommodation cabins and also leave you're car in the secured Scilly parking. Choosing the full package like we did, they also organise your transfer from the parking area with all your luggage to the ferry and your return journey back. I found this personally the best options as it was very organised after travelling a long journey!

Obviously the best time to visit for the hottest weather is the UK's summer months of June-August, however this is there busiest time for the boats and bookings for accommodation.
Which brings me onto my next point - accommodation on the Scilly Islands get booked up quickly and early in advance.

Where To Stay & Accommodation

With the islands only being small, there's not many options to choose from with each island only having 2-3 hotels and some having a campsite.
During my visit we tried camping on Bryher Campsite, to get the full feel of living and breathing the Island life!

Tresco
When staying on Tresco, which was my favourite island I would say! This has a more resort feeling to it, nothing that is off putting but lets say more glamourous out of them all!
You can book into one of the two hotels here, the sea garden cottages, The New Inn pub or an Airbnb.

Getting Around The Islands

How do you get from island to island? You may ask..
You will be using the small boat services so you can explore all the islands during your time there.
Tresco and Bryher use there own boat service doing daily return trips. This is the cheapest boat trip as they as so close together costing £2.50 each (£5 return).
However, St.Mary's, St.Martins and St.Agnes do not run everyday there you will need to look out for which island you are wanting to visit.

You can pay in both cash and card on the boats and there is no need to book in advance for your trip. You can find all the boat trip timetables online on their website here. They also have blackboard on each island which they change daily for people to walk by and check that days schedule.

Getting around the islands either involves walking, hiring a bike or hiring a quad.
Personally I found hiring a bike was the best and most fun way to see the whole of the islands (especially if you are visiting just for the day).
You can hire the bike for the full day and hop from one side to the other, spotting at each beach along the way.
On Tresco we just left our bikes near the top of the beach along the path way and enjoyed a few hours in the ocean (no locks needed.) These bikes don't leave the island therefore no one can get very far with your bike.

Exploring & Things To Do On The Island

So what is there to do whilst living the island life..

• Island Hopping
  One thing that is most popular is of course seeing all the islands. There is 5 different islands in Scilly. The aim to visit them all during your time there and if you are only doing a daily visit from Cornwall, then you need come back to see the rest. There not ones to miss!

• Wildlife Boat Trips
  Whilst visiting the islands you want something to do, so you can walk around the edges of the island but you can also book onto a wildlife trip. This is mainly done on St. Agnes as this is where you can see the seals and dolphins in their natural habitat. An opportunity to get some amazing photos in the bright blue water and unforgettable memories.

• Gin Heaven
  If you are a true lover of gin then you are going to the right place. The Isle of Scilly is immersed with their own crafted gin. You will come across may little shops where you can try and buy your own gin and even create your own

• St Martins Vineyard & Pub
  If you love your wine, then you can enjoy a day at the beautiful island of St Martins and get a taste of all the fresh wine produced on the island there itself. Indulge in some wine tasting and then have a walk along the island to the pub named The Mermaid Inn. Which is set right on top of the hill with an amazing view of the blue ocean. What more could you want right?

• Grab a Paddleboard
  The Isle of Scilly is well known for paddle boarding and kayaking. Locals who live on the island sometimes just leave their kayaks along the beach and use them when they please. You can also hire these and easily spend a full day exploring the stunning scenery in the middle of these islands. There's no denying the rush of feeling you get when out in this blue water, one of the best ways to see it with your own eyes.

• The yummy part.... Food!
  Try out what food the island has to offer. Being honest, some of the food can be more expensive due to being remote on an island and the food/drink needs to be shipped from the main land Cornwall.
  You can enjoy a good pub lunch with a fresh pint of beer or sit down in one of the restaurants or cafes for a coffee and good food.
  You you want to go full island route, you can find locally grow fruit and vegetables in the food stores. You can also buy the local farmer meats, organic grown vegetables, home made cakes and fudge which is produced on the island. These will be in huts or stands along the roads when exploring the islands. Most of these you pay by putting the money in the honesty pots in the hut.
  This is an amazing way to support the local people living on the island and being able to eat fully fresh healthy foods.