Truro and Falmouth

Four hours west of London by train, the Cornish mainline begins. One hour in, you will alight at Truro – Cornwall’s beautiful capital city.

Heading further south, you’ll step foot into hundreds of years of maritime history and a world of marine myths and legends.

Falmouth Harbour, located on the River Fal, was created more than 150 years ago by an Act of Parliament.

The harbour is famous for being the deepest natural harbour in Western Europe, and the third deepest in the world – behind only Sydney and Rio.

The story of the docks can be traced back as far as 1613, when Sir John Killigrew – MP for Penryn – developed the town and port.

By 1688 Falmouth had become the Royal Mail packet station – handling mail to and from Britain’s ballooning empire.

By the 19th century, the port was being used by thousands of vessels a year.

During the First and Second World Wars, the harbour was crucial as a strategic naval hub and worked at full steam to deal with convoy casualties and host hundreds of vessels.

The dock also served as the launching point for the famous British raid on St Nazaire, in western France, in 1942.

Today Falmouth Harbour stands proud as the UK’s Atlantic gateway, close to the world’s busiest shipping lanes, and plays a crucial role in UK shipbuilding.

No trip to the harbour would be complete without a visit to the National Maritime Museum Cornwall.

The museum hosts a vast collection of vessels and provides a window into life underwater in the harbour. You can also relive the tails of legendary explorers, including Dame Ellen MacArthur and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.

The vibrant and friendly communities of Truro and Falmouth look forward to welcoming you.