Visiting Looe
Visit Looe
The picturesque Cornish harbour town.
Looe, in South East Cornwall, is a quintessential and picturesque Cornish harbour town.
Made up of the twin towns of East Looe and West Looe and connected by a beautiful stone bridge, the fishing port of Looe makes for a beautiful place to base yourself when visiting Cornwall.
With easy access to the main roads running through Cornwall (the A38 and the A30) and a quick connection to Plymouth and the M5, Looe is simple to get to and puts the many sights and attractions of Cornwall within easy reach.
In the Cornish tongue, East Looe is Logh meaning ‘deep water inlet’ and West Looe is Porthbyhan meaning ‘little cove’, which is wonderfully evocative of the location.
Things to do in Looe
Visitors to Looe love nothing more than wandering the quaint cobbled streets, taking in the classic harbour town architecture, dropping in and out of the many souvenir shops and taking in the history at the Old Guildhall Gaol and Museum.
When you’ve exhausted yourself in the town, you can take a stroll along the harbour walls, making your way towards the sandy beach.
Stop and build a sand castle whilst eating a Cornish Dairy ice cream, or head straight out to the end of the banjo pier to gaze across to St. George’s Island – more commonly known as Looe Island.
Entertainment in Looe
There are many cafés in Looe to provide refreshment during the day and a healthy choice of restaurants and pubs to eat at in the evening.
Looe is especially well known for its high quality restaurants, but whatever your chosen style of food and whatever your budget, you’ll find an establishment to sate your appetite and round off a lovely day in Cornwall.
There are plenty of bars to drink at in the evening, with live music and other entertainment (especially in the summer). The Jolly Sailor is of course the best of them, but it’s not the only one! For late night revellers there is also the Admiral Boscarne nightclub.
Walking and Outdoor Activities
Looe is situated on the South West Coast Path, and as such has wonderful coastal walking. However, there are plenty of other opportunities for scenic walks, both along the coast and in-land, along rivers and through countryside and woodland.
There are plenty of outdoor activities available in the vicinity, not the least of which are water sports, as is befitting of a harbour town. For the less adrenaline fuelled, you might just want to take advantage of a sight-seeing boat trip!
Fishing in Looe
Looe is renowned as a centre for fishing. First and foremost it is a fishing port. The small harbour doesn’t support the larger boats that spend days at sea and freeze their catch, so you can always be sure that the fish coming into Looe is caught on the day. Restaurants across the country source their fish from Looe for this reason.
There are many outfits offering sea fishing charters from a boat, but there are also plenty of sea fishing marks available on foot, as well as salt water fishing in the estuary and fresh water fishing in nearby rivers, lakes and reservoirs.
