Portloe, a fishing village on Cornwall's Roseland Peninsula, remains remarkably unspoilt by mass tourism despite its stunning coastal setting. Nestled in a steep valley opening onto Veryan Bay, the village has been described by Secrets of Cornwall as 'a great secret frozen in time'. It is only a 90-minute drive (68.3 miles) from Devon.
Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman once called Portloe 'one of the least spoiled and most impressive of Cornish fishing villages'. The name derives from the Cornish 'Porth Logh', meaning 'cove pool', reflecting its scenic position within a cove surrounded by hillsides. This protected location made it a thriving pilchard fishing harbour in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Until the 20th century, over 50 fishing boats operated from the harbour; now only two remain, catching lobster and crab for local establishments. The steep valleys have preserved the village from urban expansion, leaving its 17th- and 18th-century buildings virtually unchanged. Portloe's history also includes smuggling, with French brandy being the primary contraband.
The village offers a quiet retreat from Cornwall's summer crowds, with a historic harbour and a modest beach that reveals a narrow strip of sand at low tide. Its pristine shores have made it a filming location for productions including Forever England (1935), Treasure Island (1949), The Camomile Lawn (1991), About Time (2013), and the BBC's Wild West.
Visitors can dine at The Lugger hotel, situated at the harbour slipway's summit, offering freshly landed seafood and spectacular coastal views. The Lugger was once a haunt for smugglers, and its landlord was executed in the 18th century for trafficking French brandy. Alternatively, The Ship Inn, a 17th-century fisherman's cottage, serves fresh seafood and traditional pub classics.
