Hey! It’s Evie here, a final year History and Politics undergraduate at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus. I’m originally from London, so coming to study in Cornwall meant quite a big change to my pace of life, and I know a lot of people relate to this worry that living somewhere so unique might come with challenges. You might think that because the Penryn Campus is quite small and out of the way, there won’t be much to do compared to living in a city. Today I’m going to talk you through a few of these concerns, and hopefully reassure you that there are actually so many fun activities – lots of which you probably wouldn’t get to experience anywhere else!
Getting outside: my favourite ways to explore Cornwall
Walks
People often seem to think Cornwall is very remote: just the sea, the beaches and some fields. The reality is far from just this (as I’ll get to later), but in my opinion, Cornwall’s natural environment is actually exactly what makes living here so good! The amount of beautiful coastal walks that are right on your doorstep is something I don’t think any other university offers, and definitely what I will miss the most when I graduate and move back home. The views are incredible, you get to explore new places, the air is so fresh, and it’s the best way to get some exercise in whilst also looking after your mental health, I could go on…
Here are some of my favourite spots:
Pendennis Point:
One of the most straight-forward but underrated walks nearby is from Falmouth High Street to Pendennis Point along the scenic South-West Coast Path. The walk goes through a woodland trail that runs alongside the sea, with beautiful views whatever the time of year (although it can get a bit muddy in the winter, so take some boots on rainy days). Once at the Point, you get a lovely panoramic lookout, so you can see Falmouth harbour, Flushing and St Mawes on one side, and Gyllyngvase (Gylly) Beach on the other. This is actually somewhere I went when I visited the Penryn Campus and Falmouth on my offer-holder open day and it really made me get a feel for what student life would be like, as I could see students sitting around with their friends having a picnic and looking out at the views. I realised that could soon be me (and now it is!). Pendennis is also home to an English Heritage Castle if you fancy a historical day out. It takes about an hour to get here from The Moor (which is the main bus stand in Falmouth), and you can then you can complete the loop by walking on the other side towards Castle Beach, and then cut back into Falmouth, which takes about forty minutes. It’s a nice, fairly easy and flat walk, so a good quick one to do when you have an afternoon without any lectures.
There are some great coffee or ice cream spots along the way, with vans in the Pendennis car park, Haven Coffee Box on the road towards Castle Beach, and Panchi parked up near the beach in the summer, which has the best bubble tea and rolled ice cream that not many people seem to know about! Castle Beach itself is lovely too, with beautiful rockpools to spend time looking for little fish, and nice quiet water to swim in. Castle Beach Café is another favourite, with very good ice cream, food and a new little indoor seating space that overlooks the sea.
Falmouth to Maenporth:
Another one of the classic walks you can do pretty easily is the walk from Gylly Beach to Maenporth Beach, also along the South-West Coast Path. It takes about 25 minutes to walk to Gylly, and from here it’s about an hour to Maenporth, via Swanpool Beach which is also lovely. You get some of the best views the whole time you’re walking, and all three beaches have great cafes if you want to stop off for a hot chocolate along the way. This route is a little bit steep at times, but very rewarding, and it’s such a nice feeling when you turn the corner and start descending towards Maenporth Beach. I’d also recommend going just a tiny bit further up the other side to Wilkins Point, which makes a great picnic spot!
All in all, this is probably around three hours of walking, but I’d recommend doing it at the weekend and making a day out of it so you can have a lunch stop, maybe go for a swim, and get a nice hot drink to warm you up before heading back.
Penryn to Flushing:
Closer to campus, you can also do a great little walk from Penryn to Flushing, taking you along the river towards the sweet village and beach across the water from Falmouth. This is a nice walk alongside some fields, past plenty of fishing boats and maybe a couple of horses. It takes around an hour each way from the bottom of Penryn (near Muddy Beach Café – which could make a great end point), so you can walk this in around three hours from campus and back. It’s so close and convenient, but not one of the typical routes, so it’s a nice one to make a change.
Sea swimming
One of the activities we’re so lucky to have the opportunity to do so close to campus is sea swimming. Gylly Beach is probably the best place for this, which you can get to via a twenty-minute bus ride into Falmouth and then a short walk through the high street to the beach. I’d recommend keeping an eye out for cheap second-hand wetsuits, as most of the year the sea is quite cold, but so refreshing to go for a quick dip. Gylly Beach Café does the best hot chocolates to warm you up afterwards. In first year, a group of us made this a Sunday tradition, and it was such a lovely way to end the week.
A lot of people also take the opportunity to get into surfing, paddleboarding or other kinds of water sports. There are so many great things to try that you’d never get to experience in a city.
Beach Barbecues
In the summer months, beach barbecues are a lovely way to spend an evening in the sunshine. There’s a Co-op just opposite Gylly Beach so it’s very easy to get everything you need, and such a nice way to bring your friends together, especially when you’ve finished all your deadlines for the summer and can properly relax. Quite often after the summer term teaching and exams are over, I’ll walk over to the beach from my student house in the morning, go swimming, sunbathe and stay until the sunset with a nice cosy barbecue—the perfect way to spend a day.
Day trips further afield
There’s also a ton of fun day trips you can do if you fancy a change of scenery. I’ve covered a few of my favourite day trips by public transport in a previous blog, so I’d recommend checking that out for more inspiration! We’re so lucky to have so many beautiful, holiday-worthy places around us, so there’s never really a chance to get bored when there’s so much to explore. St Ives, Newquay, and Porthleven are must-sees in my opinion.
The Expedition Society also offers some great day trips if you like a long walk at the weekend and helps you meet people with similar interests to you. Plus, this saves you having to plan a route or make sure you don’t get lost, so definitely something to look into if you’re interested!
Indoor activities: what to do when it’s rainy
Although the outdoor activities are what I think make Cornwall so special, it does admittedly rain quite a lot throughout winter, so indoor activities are also important (although if you remember your raincoat and maybe some walking boots, it’s also pretty atmospheric for wintery coastal walks). Even if you’re not an outdoorsy person, whatever the weather, Falmouth has plenty to offer.
Café hopping
Probably my favourite thing to do day-to-day is go to a café. Whether it’s for a catch- up with a friend, a new place to study, or a solo coffee date, Falmouth has so many cosy cafes to try out. This is something I’ve always loved to spend time doing at home too, so I find it to be a particularly comforting activity.
In town, I’d recommend:
- Leroy’s (named after a very cute dog who put his head on my knee when I visited for my open day and basically confirmed I’d be moving here) for a nice sea view and the most aesthetically pleasing interior.
- The Poly’s upstairs café for a calming study date in their library room, the best matcha and delicious coffee.
- Above the Bookshop for the cosiest vibes, tasty scones, and to browse the books.
There’s also plenty of coffee shops nearer to campus. Penryn offers more choices than you might expect, including Situ Café (with the best chai), Yallah, Sunshine Café and Yoga, and Wildflower (a personal favourite). Then on campus itself, there’s Koofi, the ESI and the Sustainability Café, which all offer great coffee and snacks for a study break.
Boulderyn
Just a ten-minute walk from Campus, near Asda, there’s an indoor bouldering centre. Climbing is such a fun activity to try, and they offer student discount so it’s really the perfect time to give it a go. There are lot of different options for memberships or one-off passes so it’s very flexible, and you can hire climbing shoes.
FalClimb society also offers weekly sessions here amongst other trips, so you can easily find a group to go with if you’re passionate about this. One of the great things about trying out new activities while you’re here at the University of Exeter is that for pretty much anything you’d want to try, there’s probably a society. This often reduces the cost of the activity, helps you meet new people, and creates a more supportive environment for you to find a new hobby. The amount of different sports, arts, and passions you could explore just through society events is more than you’d have time for across the whole three years — so there’s certainly no time to be bored.
Pottery painting at Starglazers
A really wholesome activity for a rainy day is to go pottery painting at Starglazers in Falmouth, which is a lovely little café with loads of different pieces you can choose to paint. This is such a nice thing to do to celebrate assignments being done, or for a birthday, and makes a very calming way to spend an afternoon. They offer 10% student discount on a Thursday, making it another great perk to take advantage of while studying.
Games Room, Beerwolf Books and The Cornish Bank
There are plenty of good pubs and clubs in Falmouth, definitely enough to get a taste of the classic student nightlife you might expect. But what Falmouth does particularly well is cool, quirky venues that offer more than just a basic night out.
Games Room has loads of pool tables, snooker, darts, table tennis, air hockey, table football, and every board game imaginable. It makes for such a fun evening, whether you drink or not, and on Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays you can play pool for free! I’ve never seen somewhere have quite so much to do in one place, and I absolutely love having it so nearby in Falmouth.
Beerwolf Books is another very quirky pub. Or is it a bookshop? Or a vintage arcade? Or a coffee shop? I’m not sure but I love it, and it’s got such a cosy atmosphere.
Although the closest big music venues are in Plymouth and Bristol, Falmouth has a lot of smaller scale, more affordable live music going on all the time. The Cornish Bank is one great example of this, which holds some of the bigger bands and events you might have heard of, as well as more random evenings like Jam and Draw. The Chintz also offers some great live events, and many of the smaller pubs like The Moth and the Moon also offer things like open mic nights and folk nights—there’s always something going on.
Food scene
In a similar vein to the cool independent pubs and venues, there’s also plenty of great independent cafes and restaurants. Although my budget means most of my meals consist of home-cooked ingredients from Lidl, whenever there’s a special occasion or something to celebrate, I love getting to go out and try somewhere new to eat.
Some of my favourites are:
- RoBo, for super delicious ramen and donburi. My friend had been recommending RoBo since we first met in Welcome Week, and I finally got round to going with my boyfriend for our anniversary last year, and it did not disappoint!
- There’s lots of good pizza available in Falmouth, some of which I’m yet to try, but one of the best is The Stable. I went here for a friend’s birthday and had such a lovely evening. Fives Ciderhousealso does delicious pizza, and is probably the most convenient if you fancied getting one to take away to eat on the beach on a sunnier day!
- Zest is probably my favourite lunch or brunch spot. It has lovely views over the harbour, great coffee and possibly the nicest vegetarian eggs Benedict I’ve ever had.
- In Penryn, Pizzeria42 is absolutely amazing for interesting flavours, and does cheap deep-pan pizza on a Monday evening. Would highly recommend giving it a go!
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Overall, there are so many more activities to try than you might expect when you’re studying at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus. Hopefully this blog has given you some inspiration of a few initial ideas, but if you do decide to move here, you’ll soon realise there’s so much more out there…