The Top Five Weirdest Locations in West Cornwall: Autumn and Winter tours of Cornwall?
Cornwall is ready for you to explore-off-season!
Are you ready to venture beyond the tin mines and cream teas? (And let’s settle it now: jam first!) West Cornwall is stuffed with peculiarities that’ll have you scratching your head, chuckling in confusion, and seriously reconsidering your life choices. Buckle up; this journey is anything but ordinary… contact us now to arrange your own personal and private tour of Cornwall – and remember with Kernow Tours bespoke multi day touring packages of Cornwall YOU are in the driving seat!
Table of Contents
Men-an-Tol: The Mystical Doughnut of Doom!
Ever wanted to squeeze through a giant stone bagel for better health or fertility? Men-an-Tol, a Bronze Age monument near Madron just outside of Penzance offers exactly that. A bronze age wonder, thought to be part of a wider stone circle-this remarkable monument includes a central, circular rock with a literal hole in the middle. ( Men-an-Tol is Cornish for ‘Stone with hole’). Legend has it that crawling through the hole nine times cures back pain, scrofula, and a bad attitude.
- Weird Factor: 8/10 (It’s Stonehenge, but way funkier.)
- Top Tip: pack your portable cacao ceremony kit and be prepared to turn on, tune in and drop out (in a warm and fuzzy ‘Kernow Tours’ kind of way)
Museum of Witchcraft and Magic’s Graveyard (in a roundabout way)
Okay, so the museum itself is in Boscastle (Check out our North Cornwall Tour offering!), but its founder, Cecil Williamson, decided to be buried near Lamorna – firmly on the agenda for our Cornish tour in West Cornwall! His grave is a subtle tribute to paganism and all things witchy, hidden among more traditional headstones. Locals swear the grave emits a certain “energy.”
- Weird Factor: 9/10 (Grave tourism meets spooky vibes.)
- Top Tip: Don’t try to summon anything; the seagulls are scary enough.
The Merry Maidens: Dancing Stone Ladies
A firm favourite on our ’Stones & Bones’ private, guided tour of ancient sites in Cornwall, this 6000 year old (approximate! You can’t buy any book on Amazon pinpointing the exact year!) stone circle in West Cornwall is said to be a group of women petrified for dancing on the Sabbath. A dramatic lesson in moderation, but really, who can resist a jig? The 19 evenly spaced stones have an eerie symmetry, almost as if they’re watching.
- Weird Factor: 7/10 (Stony moral tales are so Cornish.)
- Top Tip: Bring a fiddle. Just don’t dance, unless you fancy being turned into granite.
Porthcurno’s Secret Telegraph Museum Bunker
Porthcurno might be known for its stunning beach and The Minack Theatre, but did you know there’s a secret World War II bunker hiding beneath? This is where the earliest underwater telegraphs connected the British Empire. It’s like James Bond meets Downton Abbey.
BTW – on your private tour of Cornwall we are always happy to take you to places such as this even though it might not be on a specific itinerary-just get in touch for further details…
- Weird Factor: 6/10 (Historical nerds rejoice!)
- Top Tip: Keep your phone out and loudly declare, “Bet this is where they actually invented Wi-Fi.”
Mousehole’s Stargazy Pie Festival
Every December 23rd, Mousehole (pronounced “Mowzel”—get it right or be shunned) celebrates Tom Bawcock’s Eve by eating a pie that has fish heads poking out of the crust. The festival commemorates a fisherman who braved a storm to feed the starving village. Quirky? Yes. Appetizing? Eh…
- Weird Factor: 10/10 (Fish heads. In. A. Pie.)
- Top Tip: If you can’t stomach it, just hold a pie aloft and say, “So festive!”
Bonus: The Cornish Pasty Crust Graveyard
It’s not real, but admit it, for a moment you thought, “Of course Cornwall has one of those.”
And there you have it: five (and a bit) of the weirdest, wackiest, and most wonderful spots in West Cornwall. Just remember: when in doubt, jam first. Always.
If you KNOW, you KERNOW. 😉