Isles of Scilly: I found a place as beautiful as Barbados – but it’s off the coast of Cornwall

From the beach at Pentle Bay, the sea looked tropical – not just blue, but electric, glass-clear and shallow for miles. It was hard to believe I was still in the UK. In recent years, I’ve travelled far in search of postcard beauty, but standing barefoot on the tide-smoothed sand of Tresco, staring out accross its aquamarine shallows, it was clear I’d found something rare. The Isles of Scilly aren’t just beautiful by British standards – they’re beautiful, full stop.

The archipelago, 28 miles off the coast of Cornwall, is made up of five inhabited islands and dozens of uninhabited ones.

St Mary’s is the island that works – ferries come and go, posties amble past on foot, and chalkboards list the day’s boat times according to tide. We explored on foot, tracing coastal paths past hedgerows, old walls and sudden sea views. At Juliet’s Garden, the famed crab sandwich fully lived up to its billing: overstuffed, rich, and best eaten slowly in the sun.

Getting between the islands is part of the joy. Each morning, you check the day’s destinations scrawled on the harbour chalkboard, then hop aboard a boat skippered by someone who’s clearly done it for decades. Some vessels featured a Springer Spaniel – loyal deckhands padding between benches, soaking up attention. Timetables flex around the tide, and nobody complains. If part of the joy is checking the chalkboards in the morning, part of the thrill is rushing back in time for the final boat. Miss it and you’re left to your wits – there are no Ubers or late-night Lime bikes here.

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Read more: 10 of the most beautiful places to visit in the UK

Tresco is the most photogenic of the five – privately owned, perfectly kept, and blanketed with imported palms and bougainvillaea. The beaches here genuinely rival the Caribbean. We wandered to Pentle and Appletree Bays, both long and near-empty, before swimming among crabs and small fishes in the bay.

Bryher is rougher round the edges. The Hell Bay walk winds along cliffs and heath, where the wind knocks conversation flat. We paused for coffee at the Hell Bay Hotel, all sea-glass light and calm interiors, then crossed to Rushy Bay, a soft curve of sand facing the full Atlantic. Bryher invites stillness more than…