When we told our friends where we were going, some laughed, some said ‘wow’ and some said how Scilly. (See what I did there?!) We were there early June 2017, so bare in mind things may have changed since then.

We didn’t really know what to expect. One thing is for sure, we were blown away, luckily not literally but definitely metaphorically!

We had our young French Bulldog with us, so couldn’t look at the option of flying, which was tempting due to the time it took us to get there. You can fly with animals too I think, but flights are more likely to get cancelled due to bad weather and also double the price.

Depending on where you’re coming from, allow a day to get there. The drive from London was around 5 hours, then we had an overnight stay. The problem we had here was when we arrived at the hotel, with pub below, checked into our room, and were being shown to our room, the girl asked ‘”Is the dog staying with you?” You see, being quite new dog owners, we had forgotten to check if the place accepted pets. Obviously they didn’t and despite trying to persuade her that we had a crate and the dog was an angel, it was a no from them. So we had to find somewhere else to stay with zero notice!

We managed to find space in a B&B in Mousehole, a cute little village and fishing port. Sadly we only slept there and didn’t even get to sample the breakfast part of the B&B as we were out early doors for the 3 hour ferry ride. I can’t tell you much about the area itself but have heard it’s lovely! There are no cars on the Scilly Isles so we had to find somewhere to leave the car for the week. There are companies which do park and ride to the ferry port, and others offer beds for the night. Read here for that review.

• 

• 

We stayed on St Martin’s, the smaller of the islands. There was only one hotel, Karma St Martins, one pub, a few pop up restaurants, tea places, fab bakery, vineyard, tennis court and dive and snorkel centre and a small campsite. That’s about it.

The beaches on St Martins were like the Caribbean beaches, white sands, turquoise sea (in the sunshine) about 10 cars belonging to residents of the island, and loads of wildlife, walking, bird watching, beaches and dogs!

The hotel was exceptional, we went half board to be safe but we could easily have eaten out as well. The food was spectacular, menu changes daily. Even a menu for the dogs who can sit with you in one part of the restaurant. It was perfect for us.

So if you like the person you’re with (very important!), walking, sleeping, eating, drinking and exploring, then this is the place for you. No late nights, unless you stay up to watch tv, no partying, (although there was a wedding there), just him, me and the dog.

You can island hop depending on ferry times, we visited Tresco, the second biggest island on the Scilly Isles, St Mary’s being the biggest. The island is administered for the Crown by the Duchy of Cornwall and is leased to the Dorrien-Smith estate, which runs it as a timeshare business. Hence it being much more well-groomed than St Martin. All the staff on the island wore the same uniform. There are also lovely places to stay there, but no dogs allowed to sleepover on this island, they are only allowed to visit, on the lead, so it was no good for us.

• 

• 

It has Tresco Abbey Garden. a beautiful botanical garden. We stayed here quite a while, and the other half saw a different side to me in there! Camera out, appreciating the beauty in nature. We will definitely return to the Scilly Isles and maybe leave the dogs behind this time, at least then I’ll get more attention!!!