72 Hours on the Isles of Scilly | UK’s Most Beautiful Islands

Hello everyone and welcome to the beautiful Isles of Scilly. We're going to be spending the next three days here exploring some of the islands and finding out why they call it the Caribbean of the UK. Located just 28 miles off the coast of Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly are a stunning archipelago of more than 140 islands, five of which are inhabited. These islands, St Mary's, Tresco, St Martin's, St Agnes and Briar are connected by small passenger boats that run making island hopping an essential part of the Isles of Scilly experience. The adventure begins even before you arrive with the choice of a scenic ferry or a short flight. You can fly from Newquay, Exeter or Lanzanes with flight times ranging from just 20 minutes to around one hour and there's also a daily helicopter service. Alternatively, you can board the iconic Salonian ferry from Penzance and enjoy a two-hour 45-minute crossing passing landmarks like St Michael's Mount and Lanzane before arriving at St Mary's, the main hub of the islands. We are here, we have just arrived to St Mary's Harbour and it's already looking really picturesque here. It's a very busy little place and queued with all these little fishing boats. We've passed loads of really interesting landscapes already with some granite boulder formations and things, lots to explore. I'm very excited to be here and we've even got a bit of sunshine. Our tip for when you first get to the Isles of Scilly and you want to get your bearings and relax a little bit is to grab some takeaway from St Mary's. We went to Hugh Street Cafe, got a coffee, I need this and some snacks and we have come down to Porthcressor Beach. It's the main beach here in St Mary's just around the corner from the harbour and it is absolutely gorgeous here. We have white sand, blue still water, we're in a bit of a protective cove here as well so it's really nice and warm. People are swimming out there and there are some ducks bobbing around and right now I'm in September so it's like going into the quiet season which is really nice. It's very relaxing here and this is the perfect way to ease into our next few days here in the Isles of Scilly. Now St Mary's is the main base here in the Isles of Scilly but there are a few other islands that you can go and explore and we have decided to go and actually stay on a different island tonight. We're going to go and find our luggage and jump on one of the smaller boats which is going to take us over to St Martin's and we're going to stay at some beautiful accommodation there. We're going to have a walk around the island and enjoy the afternoon. And here you have to have physical tickets so you can't just use them on your phone. It's kind of cute actually. We have little passes. Hello. Perfect thank you. Just a 20 minute crossing over to St Martin's not too bad. From the boat as well you can see all around the islands and there's all these beautiful secluded coves and beaches that we keep spotting and no one's there. And just over here for example just right on the edge of the island looks absolutely gorgeous. I want to go over there, hopefully we can do. The water is getting so clear and turquoise and that's what the Isles of Scilly are famous for. They are famous for their beautiful turquoise waters, white sand and the general just untouched nature and outdoor activities you can do here. The beauty of the place. I'm so excited to go to this island. We've just arrived on St Martin's and it looks stunning. Just look at that white beach. It's all granite here. All the islands, all the little islands they seem to be made of granite and I feel like that's part of why the beaches here are so beautiful. So clean, so white and then obviously you get that reflective turquoise colour in the water when there's nice white sand as well. It's just beautiful. I can't wait to explore more of this place. Beautiful. Look at this. We've just turned up at Karma. This is the lovely, lovely hotel here on St Martin's. We're just waiting for our room to be ready but we've ordered some complimentary drinks, we've got some food coming and we just have this incredible... Right on the beach. Look at this. We are all checked into our accommodation. We are staying at Karma here on St Martin's and it's absolutely beautiful right by the beach. We have a gorgeous bedroom with a gorgeous view of the beach as well and it's right on the coastal path that goes all the way around the island. So we have an hour or two to spare before dinner. So we're going to take a little walk and try and find some coves because this place is stunning and the sunshine is out. If you're planning to hike around St Martin's a little bit, bring some thick long trousers because there's a lot of gorse and it's very scratchy on the legs. Day two on the Isle of Scilly and we have just checked out of the lovely Karma hotel. We had a beautiful breakfast and a very nice sleep which was great and now we have decided to go and actually hike all around the island today. We have our boat this afternoon taking us over to St Mary's which we'll be using as a base for the next two nights but today we want to go hiking. This is a perfect place for people that love to go outdoors walking and it's low tide so I think we can actually do a lot of beach walking today. Let's go see. I feel like we're on some like island in the Gulf of Thailand or something. Look at these granite boulders. I think that's beautiful sand that there is in Cornwall. It's more white than golden. A lot of beaches around Cornwall are very golden to me but this is like the pure white sand and it sparkles. Gorgeous. Definitely getting the feel of the Caribbean here like they say. So we're currently here just exited Karma but we're going to take a walk along here along the beachfront and then we may pop into the main tiny town area to grab some snacks and we're going to explore. I love it. It's so pretty here. Just does not feel like the UK at all. You might have noticed it's very windy today so we've decided to come off the beachfront and we're walking down one of the mini sandy tracks. There's so many paths around here. You can go up onto the hilltop, around the coastline, on the beach at low tide. I actually think I prefer this path to the beach. It's so pretty with all like the little hedgerows and all the berries. We thought this place was super pretty so we thought this was a spot for our obligatory polaroid that we get in every destination we go to. Hopefully it comes out. Do you think it'll take our weight? This is so good. Imagine living here as a kid. Heaven. So we've just connected up to the main road which comes through St Martins and it's just a one lane road. It's where all the cars, all the traffic drive up and down the island fearing tourists up and down but we saw a lot of people walking it yesterday and again there's a lot of people walking it today. It's a very nice comfortable track. You just got to look out when cars come around blind corners. Oh that smells delicious. The local school have a little honesty boxes and they've got the cutest things here they're selling. Maybe kids have made them all maybe. We're on the hunt for a snack, some food, maybe a coffee and it seems like a lot of places are actually closed on a Saturday but I've just stumbled across one of the only other places apart from Karma Hotel which is open and that's the Island Bakery. Let's go and have a look. It's all locally sourced ingredients and very healthy. The only place open today was the bakery and the hotel we left this morning so we just grabbed a salad roll otherwise we'd have starved. This view over here walking down the hill I just keep grabbing my phone because that white beach over there it's reminding me of really remote beaches that we see in Australia maybe. A bit more greenery around here but it's just absolutely stunning and then just a moment ago we had a helicopter flying over. Beautiful blue water, white beaches, we had some like tropical plants up there and it just looked like we were anywhere else but the UK. I think a lot of people watching this do you really believe this looks like the UK? Let us know in the comments if you even knew this place existed or you knew the UK was this beautiful. We made it. Are we at the top of the island? It feels like it. Wow. I kept thinking this was just the top of the lighthouse but that's all it is. It's just like a little top part cut off and plonked on top. I think this is the highest point it seems. Breezy up here today but it keeps changing the landscape here. We're going through picturesque villages and then sandy coves and now we're like in a proper... Yeah I was going to say it does feel like a moor. I was going to say like reminds me of hiking around Dalmore somewhere. So many different landscapes at this tiny island. Well we have made it back to the quay now and we are about to jump on the boat and head over to St Mary's. We'll be checking in there and going to find some food for the afternoon but we have had an amazing time here on St Martin's so let's see what the next island brings. We have made it back to St Mary's and the sun is back out. Honestly the weather just keeps changing, always keeping us on our toes and we have come to the Gig Shed Cafe which is tucked away in a little bay, nice and sheltered so I'm back in the sunshine. It feels like summer still. Really cool little place in there, like low beans and it's all veggie vegan I believe. So we've got a couple of their best dishes coming out for our lunch and we're going to enjoy some drinks here in the sunshine after a day of hiking. This is a Cornish curler too. I love how everything around the Isle of Scilly is very local. These look insane. I feel like you're going to be stealing this so they have given us the chimichanga and I have loaded fries, teriyaki loads of fries with bits of tofu and oh my god, yum. I love the plates too, how cute are they? Well this is absolutely delicious. It's like a pulled pork tofu style but the general, I don't know, atmosphere here is really nice too. It's like a holiday vibe. We have holiday music and as you can see this beautiful beach has white sand in the turquoise water and this seems to be the place to go when you're on your holiday in St Mary's. The view from this room is absolutely beautiful. I know where I'll be relaxing tonight with this view, on that bed and they have provided dressing gowns which instantly makes any hotel go up in our books when they provide dressing gowns. Ah, it's so nice. Day three on the Isle of Scilly and we have come to check out the island of Tresco. We just got dropped off. It seemed a little bit short today to sit in Martin's, maybe 10 to 15 minutes rather than 20 minutes plus and this island already feels so much different compared to the other two. It seems more remote here, still got the beautiful clear water down there, looks ready for me to jump in and snorkel but today we're going to go and find a renowned subtropical garden that has everyone talking about and also some cafes and we're going to go for a little hike. They've also got a store here because it's a cruise ship that actually comes and visits these islands so if you want to explore the Isle of Scilly that way, go check out some cruises. Talking about cruises, I didn't realise they actually had mega cruises. There's a massive one over there. We have seen a couple of boats here during the past few days but they're just much smaller like large ferry cruises but that is a proper cruise, that's huge. They must have little tenders that they come on to explore the islands. Wow, very rugged isn't it? Even on a autumn day like it is, coming into autumn, you see that white sand and turquoise water where I can imagine on a still summer's day it would look like in the Caribbean but I guess if you just said to me where do you think you are and I had no idea, maybe you would have gone in the opposite direction and guessed somewhere up in the Scottish Isles. So first things first, Charlotte is just grabbing a coffee so we have the energy to go and explore these wonderful gardens. The cafe here is lovely and there's some seating inside and you've got this whole seating area outside as well. I'm really excited, I completely forgot about the squirrels and the lady just said there's loads of red squirrels to be found so let's go find them. So we have a map I presume. Now these gardens are the highlight of this island, they're absolutely beautiful. There's 4,000 species of plants here and these are subtropical gardens so that's why they're quite exciting for people to come to visit and of course they're home to the red squirrels. There it is, oh my god, we saw it. Oh my god, it's got a little knot in its mouth. This is so beautiful, I feel like I've been transported to Spain or something. All the palm trees and the beautiful colours, this is absolutely magical and now I know why people say this is their favourite garden in Cornwall. Cornwall has some incredible gardens, they have the Lost Gardens of Heligon, Trabar Gardens like the Eden Project but this place, oh my god, look at this. I don't know if I made this up but I think I read this is where the royals stayed when they visited Tresco. If I was a royal I'd stay there and have this as my garden. Wow, cute cafe. Yeah it is cute in there, we've just grabbed ourselves some snacks to take for our walk. There's some amazing cakes and food in there but we are off to go hiking for a bit around the island so grab some takeaways and we're off to our next place. So we're just taking a walk now up to Old Grimsby which is a settlement, a little I guess a village here on Tresco Island and it actually still feels like we're in the gardens, it's so beautiful. It's a bit of a hiker's paradise here to be honest, there's just no one else around, just me and Charlotte on the island. There are other people here but it really just feels so remote and empty, there's no traffic, you can't hear anyone else, you just hear birds and the wind. It just opens up and you can see the town, village below. We're just walking through small woodland forests where little people and bicycles go and pass us and then down there's a proper little harbour town. And that is it, the weather is changing, here comes the rain. The Ruin Beach Cafe, there you go, in we go. The rain has stopped and the sun has come back out thankfully so we have come to Ruin Beach Cafe and it is such a beautiful spot here on the island. We have a gorgeous view of the harbour and we have just ordered some food to have here for lunch and we're absolutely loving it here so far. I'm stealing your bread. I'm stealing my bread already, the little bird. So for starters we've got some focaccia and we also have a patatas bravas modernized dish. I'm going to share these before main. I've also gone for a bit of a sea samphire spin on a margarita which looks very interesting. Oh my goodness. This looks so fancy and that's vegan so it must be vegan feta. I'm so excited and Corey has got a margarita pizza. They have wood fire pizzas here, seem pretty popular. They're just so much going on here as well, not only have they got this beautiful cafe right on the beach here in Old Grimsby. I think there's a swimming race actually going on. They're swimming from it looks like Tresco maybe over to St Martins and then there's heaps of kayakers out there. There's just a constant stream of boats and people coming and going, swimmers. It's just like such an active little place on this beautiful sunny Sunday we have. If I was coming back to the Isles of Scilly, I would definitely stay there. I reckon that place is one of the highlights. It's so beautiful, so picturesque, that little cove. I mean you saw it in the video. It just looks so quaint and cute. I really like it there. A dream little holiday destination. Yeah and it looked like there was loads of options as well. Heaps of little cottages, loads of options, bigger houses for big families. If you wanted to make a whole event of it. Yeah. Yeah great. The landscape just changes all the time on these islands. It's amazing like now, I think we've said this already, but I feel like I'm out on the moors. But I love the view from Tresco Island. You can see back over to St Martins. I think this island has what I've seen so far the best view. I feel like we're right at the tip of the world here. We've got the Atlantic Ocean just crashing against the rocks down here. It's very blustery. There's a little cave down there called Piper's Hole Cave. It really feels like we're at the edge of the archipelago here. Ah so down below should be the Cromwell Castle and up here's King Charles, English Heritage. Wow cool. This was the old fireplace in the castle and then they even had a little bread oven here where they would cook their bread. So that island over there is Briar Island and it seems that they have an incredible view here. I can see some houses and some campgrounds, some like tepee tents and then they have this amazing rock formation in the middle of their harbour and it's also a tour ship over there. This place is wild. It's like something out of Game of Thrones or something isn't it? This scene right here is just like a fantasy. It feels like we're in the movie. Wow this place is amazing. We've made it down to Cromwell's Castle now and it just looks like a fairy tale. It just looks unreal. Like look at that. On top of Cromwell's Castle. Ready to defend the nation. Today we're exploring St Mary's and this is the bigger island so we're not going to walk today. Instead we're going to go by a buggy. So it is another beautiful day on the Isles of Scilly. We've picked up some coffees from Hugh Street Cafe which is a very popular spot. Very popular spot. It's super busy in there and we are going to take a tour of St Mary's. We're going to try and see all of the cool sights around here. The main highlight is going to do a big loop of the island. Yeah there's some really interesting neolithic stuff out here and some beautiful beaches. Beautiful beaches, coves. So we're going to try and see it all in a day. Driving around we're noticing that a lot of other people have these little golf buggies. St Mary's is the largest island and it does have main roads unlike the other islands that just have little free roads. But it's still a small island so golf carts like these make it really easy to explore. It does have that quintessential Cornish feel but I do think that the Isles of Scilly overall have a very unique feel about them. You know it's Cornwall but it's also they're unique. They're their own destination. Now apparently it only takes 20 minutes to get around the whole island but we don't want to do it that fast and there's so much more to see and do. There's a lot to see around the island so we're going to be making a lot of stops. The view has opened up and now we can see back over to Tresco which we explored yesterday and an area that I loved. And over that way is St Martin's. We're trying to find some really ancient burial sites. They should be around here somewhere. So when the nearby Iron Age village was here this site was already considered an ancient burial site. They found four areas of cremated bones so it was also a cremation area and there was also pottery and they think it could have been a shrine as well. So there's a lot of history right here. We've just popped out of the woods here and it's so pretty. We have another burial chamber, an entrance burial which has an amazing view overlooking to the east and a massive rope swing as well. Look at this. We have just been saying that the woodland, the rope swing, the view, if we had to guess where we were we'd have gone New Zealand for sure. This is reminding us so much of beautiful little places around New Zealand. Although there are as many as 80 chambered tombs known on the Isles of City but this is one of the best preserved ones. This is such a lovely little cove and we have this rocky outcrop you can climb up on and see right out to the eastern isles. Now that is where the seals all hang out apparently. Beautiful spot and lovely and sheltered in here as well hence the tall ship. Am I driving? Yeah. Food stop. We're going to a cafe down this road to refuel before doing a bit more exploring. I like travelling like this. It's really fun. For lunch we have come to Longstone Cafe. This place is also a hostel. It's got some accommodation for the island and we have ordered a soup and toastie. It's just got nice lunch cafe style food. It's got loads of yummy cakes in there and they have a gorgeous little terrace in this outdoor area which is absolutely lovely to sit outside on this beautiful summer's day which is a complete 180 from what the weather forecast said. It's going to be rain all day so we're very happy people. It's cute isn't it? It is cute and we've just parked up next to all the other buggies here at Khan Veen Cafe. These guys apparently they're very happy for you to come and park up your buggies, your bicycles and you can walk down to Pele Street Beach which is what we're going to do now. Look at that. Wow. You can definitely reach the island. You can see with the seaweed where the water comes to. It comes around here so it'll completely block us off on the main beach but this looks just like, well it is a secluded beach. Corey was like oh my god how can white the sand is? Are we back in Australia? Like there's so many different landscapes to these islands. At times I thought it looks like the Scottish Isles and now it's like New Zealand and Australia. Amazing. So cool. Now we're walking through the fernary here. Just such a diverse place. I have got one regret though. One major regret. I just wish we had more time over here to enjoy all of this because we're kind of rushing around trying to see it all. It does remind me looking at that like if it was a bit more orange the landscape similar to the Bay of Fires in Tasmania where we were earlier this year. Well we are packed up and ready to leave. Jumping back on the Salonia and back to the mainland. We hope you've enjoyed this video. If we've convinced you to add our facility to your bucket list let us know in the comments. Thank you for watching. Subscribe if you haven't already and we'll see you again soon. Bye!