St Ives combines an old river-port area with a museum, regular markets and a variety of natural areas. When looking for a hotel in St Ives, you can first consider what you would like to focus on during your stay: history and architecture, exhibitions, market visits, or paths by the water and through woodland. The different attractions give you several specific ways to shape your stay around your interests.
Town history by the river
The old river-port area includes broad market streets, a quay and a medieval town bridge with a chapel in its centre. The Bridge is listed as a Grade I building. Together, these features evoke the historic townscape, where the market square, riverside and architectural history are important themes.
The Chapel of St Ledger has a cast-iron balcony overlooking the river. St Ledger’s Chapel was once used as a private residence, toll house and inn, and was restored to its original condition in the 1930s. This building brings together a striking architectural detail and a history of changing uses. Visitors particularly interested in buildings will find a specific point of interest here, alongside the bridges and streets of the old river-port area.
Museum and market days
The Norris Museum’s permanent exhibition includes artefacts spanning the period from 160 million years ago to the present day. This broad timespan gives the exhibition its distinctive focus. Visitors can also see Herbert Norris’s study; interactive activities and games complement the permanent exhibition. The museum visit thus brings together several different aspects: the time span covered by the artefacts, a specific room and the exhibition’s activities.
Market days are also easy to plan around. Markets are held on Market Hill on Mondays and Fridays; the farmers’ market takes place there on the first and third Saturday of each month. Depending on when you visit, there are therefore different days of the week when you can go to a market. If markets are among your interests, you can take these dates into account when planning your stay.
Natural areas with their own character
Holt Island Nature Reserve includes the remains of former willow coppices, as well as Phragmites reeds mixed with sedges. The vegetation thus combines specific traces of former willow coppices with a clearly described mix of reeds and sedges. The circular boardwalk is suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs in all weather. This accessibility information applies to the circular boardwalk and offers practical guidance for visitors wishing to use this path.
The Thicket is a 500-metre-long strip of woodland with ash and field maple, as well as native woodland wildlife and plants. A public footpath and a permissive path run through the area. A surfaced path at The Thicket is suitable for wheelchair users. The natural areas therefore differ not only in their vegetation: at Holt Island, a circular boardwalk is described with specific accessibility information, while at The Thicket, the woodland and the different path details are the focus.
Circular walks and river trips
A six-mile circular walk leads from the town centre along the Thicket Path to Houghton and back through Hemingford Grey. Another option, the “St Ives and the Hemingfords walk”, follows the river to St Ives and ends opposite All Saints’ Parish Church. The first route is defined by its length, circular course and named places; the second by its riverside route and clearly identified endpoint. You can use these details to choose between a circular walk and a route with a river connection.
A trip on the water is another way to include the River Great Ouse in your stay: St Ives Electric Riverboats offers passenger trips on the river. The walks and riverboat trips offer different experiences: the routes described here are on foot, while the other option is a trip on the water. Together with the historic river-port area, they provide a coherent theme for planning your trip without suggesting that each attraction offers the same kind of experience.
Discover more destinations: Soham, St Neots, Stow Cum Quy, Duxford, Arrington, Comberton, Stretham, Buckden
For the broader travel overview: Cambridgeshire.
