How to plan an island-hopping weekend in the Isles of Scilly

Scattered as if on a pirate’s map off England’s southwesterly tip, the Isles of Scilly aren’t a place you stumble over. Travellers need to have booked well ahead for the short, spectacularly scenic transfer by twin-prop plane or helicopter from Penzance to the 140-strong archipelago. Or embark on a three-hour, dolphin-flanked ferry, which plies azure waters towards show-off shelves of pristine white sand. It’s a pilgrimage richly rewarded by a landscape of palms, lipstick-pink sea thrift and sky-blue agapanthus flowers, framing sand-blown, barely-there roads. Beyond St Mary’s, the largest and most populous isle, there are few cars on the four other inhabited outposts of Tresco, Bryher, St Martin’s and St Agnes. They offer a daily invitation to hike and island-hop, with dockings dictated by the tides, and crossings taking mere minutes on jetboat ferries with names like Firethorn and Thunder. Come for coves where puffins play and stay for some of the country’s darkest night skies.

Day 1: Tour Tesco

Morning

Touch down by helicopter on Tresco. Arrivals hover low over the Scilly’s white-sand-haloed islands, encircled by waters of such ever-deepening turquoise hues they seem closer to the equator than England. Banks of agapanthus welcome you at the runway on the island’s south — just a fraction of subtropical Tresco’s floral treasures. A short walk away, Tresco Abbey Gardens is a wonder. Unfurling across 17 acres, the planting includes prehistoric-looking New Zealand flame trees and towering spikes of blue-flowering Canary Island Echium — plus 2,000 exotic species from the southern hemisphere and subtropics, all untroubled in Tresco’s microclimate.

Afternoon

Linger for a Cornish cream tea in the Garden Cafe or pack a picnic for the beach — alongside a cheeky little bottle of Abbey Garden Gin, fragrant with estate-grown confetti bush. Nearby Apple Tree Bay, where a half-mile stretch of sand meets the crystal waters of Tresco Flats, is just one of the options. Explore them all on a six-and-a-half-mile loop, taking in granite-strewn open heathland in the north and a lush patchwork of gardens to the south. Cycling is a good idea — tiny and traffic-free, Tresco is a boon for bikers, with a hire shop in New Grimsby Quay on the west shores.

Evening

Dine amid the ruins of a smuggler’s cottage at Raven’s Porth beach, near Old Grimsby Quay, to the east. With its wood-fired kitchen and toes-in-the-sand tables, The Ruin Beach Cafe turns out some of the Scilly’s best ingredients: plump, charred sardines, slow-roasted veggies with confit garlic aioli and buttery grilled lobster. The islands’ accommodation often books up months in advance. If Tresco is full, it’s only a five-minute ferry to neighbouring Bryher or 20 minutes to the hotels of St Mary’s.

Day 2: Go island-hopping

Morning

Scilly’s smallest inhabited island, just over half a square mile in size, Bryher is yours for the taking. Explore pebbly trails, clifftop tracks and sand-blown roads, overhung with fern and flanked by drystone walls carpeted in lichen and cabbage plants. Roadside honesty boxes stock locally made Scilly Chilli Jam, Veronica Farm Fudge and driftwood crafts.

For more substantial souvenirs, Richard Pearce’s oil canvases of turquoise seas, silver sands and lone yachts cover every inch of his gig-shed studio on Great Par Beach, on the island’s south west. At Church Quay to the east, spot a tableau of paddling puffins in the stained-glass windows of All Saints church. Refuel 10 minutes away at Island Fish, a fishmonger, deli and cafe run by the third generation of the Pender family. The catch is crafted into doorstep crab sandwiches and jumbo shellfish platters, best enjoyed on the terrace.

Afternoon

Ferry across to St Martin’s for superlative beaches backed by heathery cliff paths and marram grass-tufted dunes. Cross a tidal causeway to White Island to the north; find rock pools at Lawrence’s Bay, stretching along the island’s western flank; or snorkel the sheltered bays around southern Par Beach, where St Martin’s Watersports offers rentals, and seals drift amid forests of kelp.

Such briny treasures — from pebbles to puffins — are hewn in gold and silver at B Corp-certified Fay Page jewellers, set in a granite barn workshop in the western Lower Town harbour. On the hilltop behind it, Seven Stones Inn resembles a pirates’ hideout, serving the likes of island-distilled SC Dogs rum and herby crab flatbreads. Sit in the cliff-edge garden, with views of tides rolling out to the Eastern Isles.

Evening

Head back to Bryher for sunset at Hell Bay. It’s England’s most westerly hotel, where suites frame views of gardens backed by sandy coves or, to the west, wave-battered stacks of rocks standing sentinel against Atlantic swells. Its contemporary art-decked bar overlooks the latter, making it a mesmerising spot for a sundowner. The restaurant is the only one in the archipelago to have been awarded three AA Rosettes, serving grilled Cornish fish, bouillabaisse and West Country venison.

Top five island adventures

1. Charter a skippered yacht

Step aboard a 15-metre Bermudan cutter and dart around guided by skipper Paul Lewis. Departing from any island, Jekamanzi (meaning dragonfly in Zulu) has several trans-Atlantic voyages under her sails. It’s a steady, speedy craft on which to explore seal-scattered skerries and rocky sea stacks populated by puffins. Paul knows every inch of his native islands and sets ashore on footprint-free bays to make lunches of freshly caught lobster or island-reared beef. Have a go at tacking and jibing under his expert instruction, then sail into a sunset of baby pinks and blues, glass of bubbles in hand. Overnighting brings stargazing and the chance to bed down in chic cabins (the boat sleeps four people).

2. Go coastal camping

Pitch up or hire a bell tent at Troytown Farm on St Agnes, the Scilly’s southernmost populated island. The beachfront campsite has a pub, cafe and shop selling produce from the small dairy farm, including its feted small-batch ice cream in flavours like rose geranium and cider sorbet. Rent kayaks for paddles to outlying islets.

3. Visit the UK’s most southwesterly vineyard

Walk among vines pollinated by hummingbird hawk-moths and buff-tailed bumblebees at St Martin's coastal winery, backed by trails through elm woodlands. Vineyard tastings are hosted by owners Holly Robbins and husband James Faulconbridge, and include stone-fruity rosé, floral whites and toffee-plummy reds.

4. Take to the waters

Head for Bryher’s Hut 62, a beachside kayak rental spot backed by cow fields, to paddle around Green Bay and the rocky islets beyond. Transparent bottoms elevate the wild experience, with jade seagrass and white sands drifting beneath your seat.

5. Follow the Garrison Walk

Adventure beckons even on Scilly’s largest, most developed island. Starting near the quay in Hugh Town, this one-and-a-half-mile circular coastal walk explores St Mary’s southwestern peninsula. It takes in the immaculately preserved Star Castle, its 16th-century defensive walls and historic gun batteries, continuing along paths flanked by hedge tunnels and Atlantic-blustered clifftops.