Making the most of Saint Mary's Scilly Isles
Use these notes to shape a realistic day ashore, then confirm any time-sensitive information for the date of your call.
Arriving at the port
The Isles of Scilly, Cornish Ynysek Syllan [1], form a small Atlantic archipelago off Cornwall in the South West United Kingdom. They became an official Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1975.
St. Mary's is by far the most populated island and serves as commercial and tourist center, with boat dock and airport.
Visiting cruise ships anchor in St. Mary's Roads or Crow Sound and tender ashore, only ¼ mile from Hugh Town.
Take a printable map with you.
With around 3000 residents, St. Mary's is the largest island and holds most commerce and tourism infrastructure. Hugh Town is its main center. Boat and plane spaces naturally limit tourist numbers, letting Scilly leave Cornwall's tourist hordes behind while arguably offering even finer scenery.
St. Mary’s has many galleries, craft studios and artist workshops; free ‘roam-alone’ gallery and studio walking leaflets are available from the TIC.
Tresco is home to the famous Abbey gardens.
Getting around
A few local taxi operators can best be found in Hugh Town center.
Nearby places
Inter-island launches serve every island daily from 1 April to the end of October each year. Alongside direct crossings, circular sightseeing tours show extensive island wildlife, especially large Atlantic seal and sea bird colonies. A Three Islands day tour, for example, visits Bryher, St. Mary's and St Agnes, allowing an hour or two ashore on each to walk and explore.
Food and shopping
Hugh Town is the islands' main shopping area, with numerous shops, cafes and services. Tourist Information center, 2 banks, cash point and post office are all based there.
Money
Within the UK, people use the pound (£), while pounds are also known as quid. Since other UK areas frown upon Scottish bank notes, exchange them before leaving Scotland.
Cash machines (ATM), informally called holes in the wall, are widely available and usually dispense £10 and £20 notes.
Most shops and restaurants accept Visa, Mastercard and Maestro.
Staying connected
English is spoken throughout the country, sometimes with heavy accents.
Most cafes and restaurants provide customer free WiFi.
The local emergency number is 999, and EU-wide 112 can also be used.
Opening Hours and
Shopping hours are generally:
Small shops trade 6 or 7 days a week, 10am - 6pm. Larger stores generally stay open until 9PM, while hyper marts often run 24/7.