Penzance is the end of the line — literally. The mainline railway from London terminates here, and from the harbour the overnight ferry departs for the Isles of Scilly, 28 miles out into the Atlantic. The town has a slightly end-of-the-world quality that many people find appealing, and its position on the sheltered northern shore of Mount's Bay gives it a mild climate unusual for England.
The old town around Chapel Street is the most interesting part: Georgian and Regency terraces, the Egyptian House (a flamboyant Regency folly, now a National Trust shop), and the Admiral Benbow pub, stuffed with maritime salvage. The Penlee House Gallery and Museum is worth an hour for its collection of Newlyn School paintings — late Victorian and Edwardian artists who gathered in the fishing village of Newlyn just to the south to paint the local fishermen and harbour life.
Newlyn itself is still a working fishing harbour, the largest in southwest England, and worth a short walk from Penzance to see the fish market and the old pilchard-packing houses. The coastal path south from Newlyn leads to the village of Mousehole, one of the prettiest in Cornwall, clinging to a tiny harbour.
St Michael's Mount is visible from the Penzance promenade and only 3 miles east by road. The Isles of Scilly ferry (and helicopter) make Penzance the essential transit point for the archipelago. The Scilly Skybus also flies from Land's End Airport, 10 miles to the west.