Penzance

Steam still rises from pasties sold at the harbourfront, where fishing boats bob alongside the Scillonian III waiting for her next crossing. Penzance sits at Cornwall's western tip like a proper working port that happens to have stumbled into tourism - and all the better for it.

The town's granite quays tell stories of tin and pilchards, but today it's the gateway to the Isles of Scilly that brings most visitors. Chapel Street climbs away from the water, lined with independent shops and proper Cornish pubs that locals actually use. Midweek, you can have the place largely to yourself.

What makes this corner special is the raw coastline within striking distance. Cape Cornwall feels like Britain's edge - because it very nearly is. The dramatic Crowns Mine and Botallack Mines cling to clifftops where Atlantic waves crash below. These aren't sanitised heritage sites but proper ruins where you can almost hear the mining hammers echoing.

Carn Brea offers cracking views on clear days, though the wind up there will remind you you're in Cornwall, not the Cotswolds. The coast path west takes in some of the county's wildest scenery, past engine houses that somehow survived decades of salt spray and neglect.

Getting here couldn't be simpler - the A30 runs straight from the M5, and the train from London Paddington takes about five hours if you fancy watching the countryside unfold. Staying at one of the nearby holiday parks makes perfect sense when you're using Penzance as your base for exploring both the far west and hopping over to Scilly. The town has enough good restaurants and pubs to keep you fed, but it's what lies beyond that really matters here.