website updated 7 Sept 10

I AM SURE YOU WILL LOVE DISCOVERING LOOE AND THE SURROUNDING AREA BY YOURSELVES, BUT I HAVE PUT A LITTLE BIT ABOUT A FEW OF OUR FAVOURITE PLACES BELOW INCASE YOU WOULD LIKE SOME HELP TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR HOLIDAY.

Watch the fishing boats coming in to unload at the fish market on the quay, where there is also a fabulous, but quite expensive, wet fish shop.

When the tide is out you can walk along the coast over beach and rocks to the next village where you can pick up the coastal path for the return journey if you like. There are plenty of rock-pools for a child (or adult!) with bucket and net to explore.

Looe Island - Is managed by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. It is about one mile off Looe and is a marine nature reserve. The remains of a Benedictine chapel built in 1139 are on the island and legend says that Joseph of Arimathea came to the island with Christ. The Island is part of the Looe Voluntary Marine Conservation Area. In 2000 Babs Atkins leased the Island to the Trust to be managed as a nature reserve. The story of how two sisters came to own the Island is told in We Bought and Island and Tales from our Cornish Island by Evelyn Atkins. 

Looe Island was the main centre for the smuggling "free trade" as it was called. Goods imported from Guernsey and Roscoff were hidden on the island and then after the Revenue men and Coastguards were gone, tubs and packets were taken in small boats to Millendreath, Looe and Morval. Boats sometimes had hidden bottoms or carried tubs alongside on ropes which could be dropped into the sea and collected later using iron hooks called creepers.

When John Wesley visited Looe and Polperro in 1768 things were very different from todays seaside towns. Wesley said the people were poor, and, look again at the furtive glances aimed at strangers ..... nearly everyone in these two ports was engaged in smuggling.

This photograph was taken in July 2006 while the RNLI were doing a rescue display. The huge sandy beach is fantastic for sunbathing and sandcastling. There are no dogs allowed at any time of the year so you know your children are safe with their buckets and spades. There is a cafe right by the beach so you don't need to walk far for a cuppa, ice-creams, chips and other snacks. Hire deck chairs and wind-breaks on the beach and let the kids go on the trampolines. 

Even off peak Looe is popular and a delightful place to stay for the whole family.

Shark and deep sea fishing available from the quay.

The walk to Polperro from the cottage is about 6 miles. It is not an arduous walk and the coastal views are fantastic. We stop for a cuppa at one of the two Talland Bay cafes and catch the hourly bus from Polperro to Looe back (after a lovely pub lunch)! You can also go by day trip. In Polperro there is a Museum of Smuggling and Fishing which we find fascinating. To drive there is 5 miles (10 minutes).

Lugger boats were built in many famous Cornish ports. Looe Luggers were a little longer with a slightly deeper keel than those built in mid and west Cornwall. Luggers were named after the square (Nordic - Lug) sail used by Vikings. Luggers were tarred on the outside and more recently graphite was added to the mixture. The luggers are speedy and can sail close to the wind. They were a common site around their heyday in the 1920's,  used to follow mackerel and pilchard runs. Looe Luggers carried 12 - 15 pilchard nets on board. The luggers were used until the 1970's and are now owned by enthusiasts. 

There are still Looe built luggers in the river and a bi-annual Looe Lugger Regatta (last held 12-14 June 2009 see photo) where classic boats are raced in the bay over a two day event. The next Looe Lugger Regatta will be in June 2011.

The Monkey Sanctuary Trust

When you visit you get a dated ticket that allows free unlimited re-entry for one year. Based at Murrayton house near Looe it is a home to rescued monkeys and a chance to learn about primates (Ivor the woolley monkey is gorgeous and a real character). There is a wildlife and garden trail, orienteering trail, bat cave, interactive display area, gift shop, vegetarian cafe, free parking and picnic areas, and often children's workshops, face painting and monkey enrichment workshops.

Opening Times:

11.00am - 4.30pm every Sunday - Thursday (closed Friday and Saturday)

From 28th March - 30th September 2010 (plus October half-term)

2010 prices:  Adult - 7.50    Child (under 16 years) - 3.50    Concession - 5.00    Family ticket - 20.00    Under 5's go free!     www.monkeysanctuary.org for more information.

Sterts Theatre - Telephone 01579 362382 / 01579 362962 or www.sterts.co.uk  We have only recently discovered this wonderful open air theatre set in Upton Cross on the edge of Bodmin Moor. It is about 15 miles from Looe.  It has a huge tent over it so you don't get wet even if it rains and it opens this year on 15 May. There is a Cafe/Bistro and Bar, and sometimes barbeque or you can take your own picnic. Car parking is free. Most performances start at 7.30pm and the last performance this year is Saturday 11 September. There is also a lovely pub serving great food, The Caradon Inn, right opposite Tel 01579 362391.

Bodmin Moor is fantastic. Classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (and we definately agree) there are wild horses, with gorgeous foals in summer, sheep with lambs in spring, and amazing walks all over. It is 400 million years old, imagine that. Eddystone Rock Lighthouse was built in 1881 using granite from the De Lank Quarry on Bodmin Moor. Beachyhead Lighthouse also has Bodmin Moor granite in it. As does The Stock Exchange, Singapore Docks, Tower Bridge, Waterloo Station, Liverpool Docks, and New Scotland Yard, just a few! We love the 20 minute walk from Minions, to The Cheesewring, a seemingly precarious pile of rocks close to the edge of the Cheesewring Quarry and back via a ring of stones called The Hurlers, to the car. Have a cream tea in one of the two cafes in the middle of Minions, yum.

Siblyback Lake, on Bodmin Moor, is 12 miles inland from Looe, has fishing, windsurfing, boat hire and a cafe and big play and picnic area. There is also a lovely nature walk right round the lake (about 3.5 miles) fairly flat and not too difficult. A good day out. 

Near to Siblyback Lake is the riverside walk through woodland to Golitha Falls takes about 45 minutes there and back. If you are really lucky you might see a Kingfisher! 

On a rainy day The Eden Project is fantastic, but busy in summer. We first went on January 1st 2004 and there was only about 20 people in the whole place, we fell in love with it, as well as warming up in the tropical Biome, just like Sri Lanka we thought!

Distances to Looe by road and driving time based on data from the AA:-