Looe Cornwall

The bustling picturesque seaside town of Looe provides a perfect base for your holiday in South East Cornwall. 

If you are looking for a ‘traditional’ seaside holiday with your children, Looe is ideal. East Looe has it’s own large sandy beach, shallow seas and a wealth of rock pools for the children to enjoy. During the summer, there are trampolines and other activities on the beach and the ‘Banjo Pier’ is a very popular place for a spot of rod & line fishing and for watching the fishing trawlers and other boats leave and return to the harbour.

 

At Hannafore, West Looe, there is an easily accessible south facing beach of shingle and sand which has plenty of rock pools at low tide. This beach offers car parking along the sea front, refreshments and toilets. 

Only quarter of a mile from the beach is St George's Island (also known as Looe Island). In mediaeval days this was a monastic community and later a popular landing place for smugglers. When there is an exceptionally low Spring tide it is possible to walk to Looe Island but at other times, visitors can reach it by boat. 

There are many other fine beaches nearby which can be reached by car and some by foot.. To the east there is, Millendreath, Portwrinkle, Downderry and Whitsand Bay and to the west, Talland Bay (where ‘Richard & Judy live . . ), Polperro and Lansallos. 

Looe is a great place for anyone interested in sporting activities. It is particularly good for activities such as fishing, sailing, motorboating and water sports such as scuba diving and windsurfing. With the sinking of HMS Scylla in Whitsand Bay to create an artificial reef, scuba diving has become a particular attraction of Looe in recent times. Fishing trips range from short mackerel trips to shark fishing and the headquarters of the National Shark Angling Club of Great Britain is based in Looe.

If beaches or water based activities are not your thing, then you can enjoy wandering the cobbled streets of the village with its’ historic buildings, narrow twisting streets, interesting art galleries, antique and gift shops and a wide range of smugglers’ taverns and fine restaurants. There is live music in many of the pubs each weekend and for anyone who just likes to chill out, relax, eat and drink, Looe continues to provide a good range of options all year round.

If you are interested in architecture and history, then there are many historic houses and buildings of interest in the town. Originally separate towns, East & West Looe existed as early as the 12th century and were divided by the River Looe. Before 1832 the twin towns had two Parliamentary seats. In 1411, the ‘twin towns’ were connected by an estuary bridge, the earliest in Cornwall. In 1698, this bridge was recorded as having 14 arches.

There a number of historic buildings in East Looe - The Guildhall was built about 1500 and there is a pillary outside this important building. There are a number of 16th - 18th century houses in the town, some now converted into pubs and restaurants. The Congregational Chapel on the quay at West Looe was founded in the 18th by Reverend Sir Harry Trelawney. Today, East and West Looe are joined together by a beautiful seven arch bridge built in 1853 about 100 yards further upstream from the original bridge.

Looe is a great place to visit all year round and there are a number of local attractions aside from the town itself and the nearby beaches. The Monkey Sanctuary is situated in beautiful woodlands overlooking Looe Bay and for nearly 40 years the Victorian House & Gardens have been home to a colony of woolly monkeys. Porfell Animal Land with it’s children’s farm is also an animal sanctuary, home to zebras, snakes, porcupines, wallabies, lemurs, meerkats as well as rabbits, guinea-pigs, goats, sheep, donkeys, and many more of your favouriate animals.

Looe is also a very convenient base for exploring the surrounding area and the rest of Cornwall, including the Eden Project & the award winning Lost Gardens Of Heligan.