Y’all, my mom introduced me to the Doc Martin series on Netflix while I was visiting her last weekend, and I am officially smitten with Port Wenn! It’s really called Port Isaac, and it’s located in Cornwall, England about 4 hours west of London. I couldn’t add it to my bucket list quick enough!
It’s the inlet on the right in the photo below:
(Source)
The timeless village, which clusters around a centuries-old fishing harbor, has been a conservation area since 1969.
The stunning, natural coastline, is speckled with whitewashed granite cottages, and has been designated an area of outstanding natural beauty, most of which is in the care of the National Trust. The harbor still accommodates an active fleet of crab and lobster boats and that area inside those sea walls (in the distance in the photo below) is known as the Platt:
When the tide is out, they use it as a seating area for concerts…
…and throughout the day it’s used as a parking lot:
Cars must be moved by 7 o’clock though, because if they’re not, they’ll float out to sea:
Most of the village center consists of old pubs, gift shops, galleries, restaurants, tea rooms and pastry shops. Oh how I’d love to spend a day just roaming around all those skinny streets!
The narrowest one is called Squeeze Belly Alley, and it measures just 18 inches wide in certain spots:
(There is an incredible old photo of some folks pulling a large boat through town at this link: Port Isaac Lifeboat if you’d like to see it!)
And speaking of walking around, The Slipway Hotel wrote this about the village, “Narrow ways thread down the hillside giving glimpses of colourful gardens and delightful views over the roof tops to the harbour. It is best viewed from the well-maintained coastal footpath – the riot of colour from the wild flowers in spring must be seen to be believed“.
(Photo by Paul Moulton at Southwest Coast Path)
Isn’t that path spectacular!? I loved looking through all the photos of it at SouthwestCoastPath.com! This one, taken at sunset by David Carvey, is especially breathtaking:
(Photo by David Carvey at SouthwestCoastPath.com)
I did some searching around online and found a list of places to stay called 30 Best Port Isaac Rentals, but the place I’d really like to stay in wasn’t on that list. It’s called Sea Cove Cottage:
(Photos: Sea Cove Cottage)
(Doc Martin watchers, you will recognize it as Louisa’s cottage on the show!)
Kildare looks like a cute one, too:
And of course, we would have to visit The Lost Gardens of Heligan:
(Barn Owl Tower)
…and The Eden Project:
(Mom, you must visit that link!)
Their site says the Top 10 reasons to visit are:
- the world’s largest rainforest in captivity with steamy jungles and waterfalls
- cutting-edge architecture and buildings
- stunning garden displays all year round
- world-class sculpture and art
- evening gigs, concerts and an ice rink in the winter
- educational centre and demonstrations to inspire all ages
- brilliant local, fairly-traded food in the restaurants and cafes
- a Rainforest Canopy Walkway, where you can take a stunning walk among the treetops
- living example of regeneration and sustainable living
- free ride on our land train, often pulled by a tractor.
Sounds pretty awesome to me! 😀
I’d also love to bike The Camel Trail.
It’s listed as one of the top 5 bike trails in England, and RoughGuides.com says this about the ride:
“Following eighteen miles of blissfully level, mostly traffic-free disused railway track from pretty-as-a-picture Padstow to the foot of Bodmin Moor, Cornwall’s Camel Trail is about as perfect a cycle route for families as it’s possible to imagine. Families flock here because it’s easy-going for little legs, and for even littler passengers in bike seats, trailers or on tag-alongs, all of which are available from cycle hire outlets. It’s not just the accessibility that’s inviting; this is a stunning trail along which the landscape changes character continuously as you roll from the sandbanks and rocky shores (Betjeman called the route “the most beautiful train journey I know”), through wooded valley thickets to granite-studded moorland. Peer out to creeks and sandbanks to see egrets, herons and oystercatchers; wow at water skiers on the Camel Estuary; stop for a Cornish ice cream; and take a detour to Camel Valley Vineyard for an award-winning tipple.”
And don’t even get me started on the food in Port Isaac.
Crab on sourdough toast at Outlaws Fish Kitchen…YUM!
I loved what The Food Tourist wrote about this next Outlaw dish, too: “Their smoked haddock scotch egg was just delicious. The egg had a runny centre and the curry sauce was light and totally delicious. We had to quickly order some bread so we could wipe the plate clean. Full marks!”
I’d love to sit at table #10 at The Mote, too…
(Doc Martin watchers, that’s Bert Large’s restaurant across the way!)
…and eat a piece of whatever this is:
I peeked at the menu and I *think* it’s their honeycomb, meringue & ice cream layer cake with raspberry coulis. Mmmmmmm!
Off to find something sweet…or seafood-y. 🙂
PS- I also found this link VERY inspiring while I was researching Port Isaac the other day: 15 Amazing Places To Visit In the U.K., and if you’d like to check out an absolutely stunning blog post by a photographer that visited Port Isaac, click here: Victoria Phipps. It’s incredible!
That would be a scone with clotted cream and jam (an English “scone” – not an American one :-)). Looks fabulous! x
Hi Layla,
I haven’t been to Port Isaac, but have been to St. Ives in Cornwall and it too is very gorgeous, and similar. It has many, many beautiful beaches which are all dog friendly. The tide comes in at night in the harbour, and I have seen dogs go swimming there. Lots of the cottages are dog friendly, as is the whole town.
I hope when you get your son, you can bring him over to visit the UK!
Catherine
Absolutely charming! I’m SURE you will make it there someday. Did you ever notice that farmland in the US is squared off and farmland in other countries is willy nilly and all different angles? In my late teens and early 20’s I traveled overseas twice. I noticed these with all my air travel and found that very interesting. We have plans to take our girls overseas before the oldest graduates (three years left!). Our specific destination seems to be Ireland/Scotland, however, my husband says if we are there we better see much more.
Ooh yes you must visit, I am lucky enough to have stayed at The Slipway in Port Isaac. It is exactly like Port Wenn in Doc Martin, pretty even out of season. There is lots to explore including those narrow lanes and beautiful scenery. There are plenty of wonderful places to visit in England, in fact I live quite near Lacock in Wiltshire where only last week I watched Downton Abbey being filmed!
Thanks for the mini-vacation right from my chair!
Great program and such a beautiful place.
The dessert is what we call a scone and it’s served with jam (strawberry usually but whatever you fancy) and Cornish clotted cream……yummmmmmmmmmy!
Thank you for sharing the love!! I can see why you are taken with Port Isaac. It’s absolutely charming! It’s now on my list too!
I have always dreamed of visiting England and this post is giving me itchy feet. So lush and green…I’m glad Spring is almost here on the Prairie or I really might have taken off in an airplane!
Our friends visited Port Isaac and brought us back a rock from the sea. We watched Doc Martin faithfully until the end. Great show!
I watch Doc Martin on my wonderful UNC-TV channel…..What a great host of characters
and the beautiful English countryside and cottages !! WOW …Never get too much of the beauty of the area, the crisp, cool morning air and the smell of the sea.
Have to check out the Doc Martin series! First time I’ve heard of it, but I’ve wanted to visit Cornwall for a long time. Now I REALLY want to go!
Looks like a wonderful place to visit.
Thanks for the info. We watch Doc Martin and have enjoyed all the scenes that you’ve shown. There was also a show on PBS about the making of Doc Martin. It showed a lot of the tourist scene in the town.
That’s it. It’s done. This has also been added to my bucket list! This is so beautiful!
I’ll go with you but we must visit Downton Abbey as well.
Love Doc Martin. This would be on my bucket list too! We’ve been watching for years and always look forward to the new episodes. They are quite sporadic. Don’t know if I would want to try that 18″ alleyway though, I’m a little claustrophobic. Otherwise, what a wonderful trip to plan!
Most of Cornwall is similar, just stunning small villages with little ports. If you have the chance you must go. I have a 95 year old friend living in Cornwall but I haven’t visited for many years. It’s just lovely there.
Love watching Doc Martin … your pics of location are gorgeous. Would love to visit this tiny, scenic, quaint village someday:) Thanks for sharing!
One of the best shows EVER! 🙂 I’m awaiting season 7. I have a friend that lives in Somerset and she said the season 7 hasn’t been shown yet and we don’t get it in like… forever after they do. 🙁 But it will eventually show up! yea!
She loves Port Isaac. They visit a couple times a year. She says, It is one of the most beautiful places on earth. And a mad house when Doc Martin is filming.
I too have added PI to my list of places to see once I make my way to England.
Enjoy the Doc! You will be completely hooked and become a DocMartinite. 😀
FYI…there are a few movies on Netflix of Doc Martin filmed way before the series. You might want to check them out as well. His background changes a bit in the series from the movies.
Seafood and dessert — my two favorites!! 🙂 Looks like a lovely place to visit. I follow a blogger named Lucy who lives in England, and I just love reading her posts. She makes beautiful colorful crocheted things and documents all of her local travels with her family. I always leave her blog feeling like I’ve just had a breath of fresh air. 🙂 You might like it too: Attic 24
My husband and I have watched all the Doc Martin shows because they are very, very good and we love the beautiful scenery. You can get the series to date on Amazon thru your Roku and they are free if you are a Amazon Prime customer. Thank you so much for doing that research on the real town. I would like to add it to my bucket list as well. Can’t wait to show my husband your pictures when he gets home. They only film their show every other year and we are counting down the days until the next years show come out.
Cecile Hamblin – a Doc Martin and Port Wenn/Isaac fan
My husband and I are Doc Martin fans, too! I love watching it just as much for the scenery as for the story line, lol. I could stare at those cottages, winding streets and gorgeous cove and coastline for hours! I became so intrigued with “Port Isaac,” that I looked it up, too, to see where it was filmed. I told my husband I would love to go there in person some day, too. Thanks for all the photos! Looking forward to more Doc Martin episodes! 🙂
I mean, I became intrigued with “Port Wenn,” lol, and discovered it was Port Isaac in real life. 🙂 Anyway, it’s lovely!
What a darling little town! I LOVE the old buildings, the way places are just jumbled together all “hodge podgy.” 🙂 There’s one of those “rain forests in captivity” in OK City, too, tho not anywhere as big as this one. Looks fascinating!
We live in England and visited Port Isaac last year- it’s much much smaller than you’d think! The food is indeed delicious- but that last picture is definitely of a scone with jam and Cornish clotted cream! Cornwall is a great place to visit but you’ll need a car to get around and the roads are some of the scariest ever- think high stone walls, fog reducing visibility and hairpin blind corners! The roads often are not wide enough for two cars to pass each other and if you meet someone head on you’ll need to decide who will reverse until they reach a passing place. 😛
Layla, please add travel agent in your new list of to-dos. This little slice of earth is Heaven!
You sound like me. You get caught up in an area, then investigate everything there is to see and do about it. It can take me WEEKS to go through all the options.
I’ve never heard of the show but I’ll be looking it up. I’ve always wanted to see this area of the world, but Ireland comes in at the top too. And where Miss Potter hung out.
Oh my goodness… feel free to scour the hot spots in Maui too before July please? I promise to test out your selections with a full blog post back! 🙂 (we’re heading there this summer)
There’s so much to see… it’s overwhelming in a good way, isn’t it?
p.s. Cornwall is still amazing, despite the horrible roads! I’d also add Lanhydrock to your list of places to visit!
i watched all of Doc Martin (through Amazon Prime) and when I was done I found I missed everyone. I want to live there!
I’ve never watched Doc Martin, but I might have to start. This is soooo much the kind of place I’d like to go!
If you ever get a chance, watch The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill And Came Down A Mountain. It takes place in a quirky village in Wales full of colorful characters. I think you’d like the village and countryside and the movie is full of subtle British humor.
Wow, you went to a lot of work for this post. I have been to England before but never to this area. I have always wanted to go. You have given me so much to look at. Well done! I hope that you will get there someday with your little one.
We are huge Doc Martin fans in our household, and I did recognize Louisa’s Cottage immediately. Yep. Gonna have to put this on my list. We sigh every time we watch DM. Thanks for the overview, Layla.
Layla, you are now the best travel agent ever
along with creative home designer extradonaire!
I LOVE LOVE Doc Martin! The town, the people
the country side, it all spells heaven.
I have watched every episode twice and I look
Forward to any new ones and watching older ones all
over again! I especially love watching Doc Martin
bang his poor head entering the front.
You are a true fan!!!! I thought that was Louisa’s place when I saw the small door opening. This may be on our bucket list now, too. We are being highly entertained by the series…last night was another shocker, but I won’t tell. 🙂 Thanks for the beautiful tour!!
This looks absolutely darling! Everything sounds fantastic and so intriguing looks like this may be going on my list! So much curiosity on the food and the little shops that would be there I would love to also walk down those narrow paths to find the little treasures hidden 🙂
Thanks for sharing
Lauren | LB Designs
xx
Layla, I LOVED reading this post. Cornwall is just as beautiful in person as it is in pictures. My husband is from Cornwall and we got married there 13 years ago (this May). Unfortunately it rained riches on that day but really love trips back to visit family and friends. If you visit across the pond you need to go to Trebarwith it is my favorite beach and have a Pimm’s and Lemonade at the Port William. I shared some posts on our trip to the UK on my blog. Heligan is amazing and so is the eden project. You’ll also need to try some Cornish Pasties 🙂 x
Cornish pasties, be still my heart!!!!
All of the National Trust properties are just beautiful, especially if you are into old lovely homes and amazing gardens. Most days of the year will be rainy in this area, but still worth a visit. To me the food photo looks like a scone with jam and a whole lot of clotted cream!
It most certainly is. Very easy to make and very delicious.
OH MY GOSH I am dying over this! That first picture made my mouth drop! I had to get up and show my family what I was looking at because this place looks unreal! Definitely adding it to my netflix bucket list! Thanks so much for sharing!
Layla, y’all must go to that area of the UK someday. I know you’d love it.
Oh, I love Doc Martin! Wait for me, I’m coming with you! Are you sure that last pic isn’t a scone with jam and cream??
Layla,
I love your blog period- I am smitten! You are an inspiration with your decorating, amazing style, and faith – thank you for sharing such a piece of your life with your readers. Today’s post on Port Isaac (aka Portwenn!) just seals the deal 🙂 My sister Vandi and I have watched Doc Martin since the beginning and I love the idea of a simple life in the country with a cantankerous GP! We are in the planning stages of a trip next summer and Port Isaac is stop #1 and with the Sea Cove Cottage that you shared here I think we will look into staying there! Heligan Gardens (who knew!!). We were born in UK and plan a trip to Hunstanton on the Eastern Coast as part of our trip to see the house where we lived (50 years ago!). Great ideas, UK is lovely and I can’t wait. Thank you for a wonderful post!
Blessings, Vicki
Love Doc Martin and Port Wenn. This is definitely on our bucket list. Thanks for pics.
Doc Martin is my favorite show! I’m not sure if I love all the characters or Port Wenn the most. We also hope to visit there some day soon. Hope you can also. Maybe I’ll see you there. That would be a double treat!
Just visited in September, the driest and warmest in England. Weather was perfect. Port Issaac was all I had imagined and then some. Wonderful trip being a long time Doc Martin fan. Visited Heligan as well. One of my memorable trips. Love that part of England.
We love the Doc Martin series! Never seriously thought about visiting Port Isaac until now!
Just want to tell you how much I enjoyed this post! The photos are so beautiful. I didn’t know anything about Doc Martin, but I went to Amazon and ordered the first season. Thanks again!
Doc Martin fans here also. then there is Hyacinth and her flowery sisters,Judith Dench in as time goes by, scott and bailey, foyles war, George gentley, vera. anything else british
oh my goodness, this is my exact dream destination! and i love doc martin, too! port isaac makes me think of so many books and films, i sure hope we can visit someday. ❤
I love, love Doc Martin, as well! He was in a movie called “Saving Grace” that was filmed in that area….it is a very funny movie and would be worth it to try to find it. I was in England 15 years ago and traveled to Cornwall but never got to Port Isaac…drat…maybe some day again…do go if and when you have a chance…you will love it all!
Living in the UK we have been to Port Isaac a few times and it is very beautiful albeit hugely busy in summer. The pictures do it justice and are inspiring. As to the cake..y thing.. I think it is a Cornish cream tea where a scone is covered in jam and clotted cream.. Yums!!!
Yep, went there! Lovely little place. Very sweet. They’d just completed filming for 2011. I walked past ‘The Doc’s’ place, but there was just a bloke there, quite fed up with the attention. Seems it’s rented out as a holiday house. Poor blighters.
In your second photo ^^^^ the white house, at the left of the photo (front), is Large’s Restaurant. The Doc’s place is behind the apex of that gable.
I was a tad disappointed that no-one actually spoke in the Cornwall accent! Also, word of warning….. just because they’re Cornish pasties, doesn’t mean they taste good. 🙁
Hi Layla,
Wow, I’m definitely going to check out the links you shared! It looks wonderful and well worth a visit! I’m from the States but now live in the Outer Hebrides – off the west coast of Scotland and we have some stunning landscape here too!
I’m not sure about your mystery dessert but I think it might be a ‘scone’ with clotted cream and jam… but maybe someone with more knowledge will know for sure! Thank you for sharing this wonderful post and I look forward to more adoption news! All the very best to the three of you!