Unlike some larger cities, where things to do are thrown at you around every corner, on first impressions, Truro might not seem like it has much going on. However, in Cornwall (and life in general), the good bits aren’t always in-your-face. Luckily, we’re local, so have already done some searching for you.
That said, we don't get out much, so here’s by no means a comprehensive list of places to go - just some of our regular haunts, plus a few ideas, so that you can have a trouble free trip to Truro.
Breakfast, Lunch and Coffee
Our personal favourites for grabbing a light bite or a coffee are Flourish, Bread & Butter and our neighbour, Lily’s.
Flourish
Tucked away down a side street off King Street, we’re big fans of Flourish’s haloumi bagels and goats cheese toasties, they make great cakes too (perfectly moist in our opinion!). We’ve been there too many times for lunch already.
- Dog Friendly!
Bread & Butter
When we’re in the mood for a morning pastry or some light bites, bread and butter on River Street is a treat. We love their pancake stacks and their miso, lentil and mushroom rolls too! If you’re in town looking for breakfast or brunch, try here.
Lily’s
Lily’s of Truro by Punk Thai is our friendly neighbourhood café on Pydar Street. Serving smoothies, breakfast, lunch and more, they also have some pretty sweet Thai food too. Check out our Pydar pals!
- Dog Friendly!
Sole Place
You've got to get fish and chips in Cornwall, its a given. Sole Plaice at the top of Pydar Street is dangerously close to our store, meaning we eat chips more often than we probably should, But we don't regret it. They're a lovely bunch too!
Piranha Pop Up
Of course, if you’re looking for takeaway tea, fresh ground coffee, bubble tea or milkshakes made from proper Cornish ice cream, why not pay our sister venture Piranha Pop Up a visit too!
Food, Dinner & Drinks
There’s a few places we like to eat our dinner at in Truro. Here they are in no particular order
Kathmandu Palace
Being vegetarians, we’re big curry fans at Happy Piranha and Truro is fortunate to have some great offers in that sense.
Kathmandu Palace on Old Bridge Street is one we go to as much as we can justify an excuse to.
Serving your usual Indian favourites alongside some fantastic Nepalese curries, we can’t get enough of it. They’re a lovely bunch too! We recommend the Kathmandu aloo, paneer shashlik and the makhni.
The Ganges
The Ganges on St Clement Street is our OG curry house. We grew up eating curry here. It really hasn’t changed much and that’s why we love it.
When we fancy a sag paneer we go here and we always have to have their aloo chaat puri too, we’ve never had one quite like it anywhere else. Their Tarka dhal is to die for - dip a big wad of naan in it and enjoy the garlic-y goodness.
Yue
Yue is a restaurant on Edward Street that offers an almost overwhelming selection of Chinese and Japanese food; from the usual Chinese suspects to sushi, ramen, bao buns and tempura.
With so much to choose from, we've got a lot of trips yet until we've tried it all.
It's a cosy, family run atmosphere and table space is limited, so book ahead on busy days if you don't want to be disappointed!
The Heron Inn
If it’s a sunny day, there’s fewer better places to sit outside and have a drink at nearby than the Heron Inn at Malpas.
While parking can sometimes be a bit tricky and you may hear some locals call it a 'tourist trap', we’ve never had a problem and if it is a tourist trap it’s because it’s good.
Good pub food, especially if you like fish and stunning estuary views make this a strong recommendation on a sunny day from us. If eating, we’d advise booking to be safe during peak season (try and get an outside table too).
- Dog Friendly!
The Rising Sun
An award winning dining pub (and rightly so), you can find The Rising Sun on Mitchell Hill.
With top quality food and a cosy atmosphere, go here if you want good dining. If you’re a fish or meat eater you’re in for a treat, but we enjoy the risotto too. We go here for special occasions or when we’re feeling a little luxury.
The Wig and Pen
The Wig and Pen reopened on Frances Street in 2022 and we’re happy it did. It's just a couple of minutes walk behind our store which is a bit dangerous.
With good food (we particularly like some of their starters and lite bites as vegetarians….mmm truffle oil chips) and a nice atmosphere, it’s a solid gastro pub.
- Dog Friendly!
Bao Bites
If you’re looking for some Asian inspired lite bites for lunch or a snack, our mate Will at Bao Bites on Quay St has you sorted.
Serving bao buns sandwiches and bubble waffles, he has boba tea too. Colourful, laid back and tasty, Bao Bites makes for a change from the usual sandwich for lunch.
Habaneros Burrito Bar
When you're hungry and don't want to cook, you just cant beat a big old burrito.
Habaneros Burrito Bar on Kenwyn street do them just right - packed to the brim with your favourite things, with a variety of sauces to suit your heat tolerance.
YUM!
- Dog Friendly!
O Yes Pizzeria & Grill
Every town has a beloved pizzeria and grill and luckily Truro has a good one in our opinion.
O yYes offers a decent selection of pizzas, wraps and burgers and, unlike often, some great vegetarian options too.
Their Haloumi burgers are generously loaded with grilled vegies and their pizzas hit the spot without being excessively oily like can sometimes be the case.
Currently, probably our favourite vegetarian burger in town and good value too! We always takeaway, but you can sit in too.
Sometimes, we take our food upstairs in the Old Ale House next door for a cheeky pint!
Truro Lounge
If you're looking for some easy food and drink and a familiar atmosphere, Truro Lounge provides it at a decent value, especially if you take advantage of their Monday and Tuesday deals.
With a nice amount of veggie options and some interesting additions to their breakfast menu, its a solid choice if you're looking for an option suitable for everyone.
Beer & Cocktails
We’ve already covered a couple of places we like to have a drink at above, but these three places are probably our most regular haunts right now for some liquid refreshment..
The Tapyard Riverside (Skinners Brewery x Goodh Brewing Co.)
The Goodh Brewing Co. used to be right behind our store which meant we were very spoilt when we wanted a nice drink after work. Now they've moved and taken over the beloved Skinners Brewery on Newham Road.
Although we have to use our legs to get there now, it's definitely worth he trip, being able to choose form some good old Skinners Favourites as well as Goodh Brew pints.
If you're looking for some easy grub we also rate their food, with a selection of burgers, fries and other bits and pieces. We particular like their mojo sauce.
- Dog Friendly!
The Old Ale House
The Old Ale House on Quay Street is probably the best place to go to for live music in Truro.
With a decent selection of ales and a cosy atmosphere, it's a regular choice for us - even when town is feeling a bit down, the old ale house is always usually alive.
- Dog Friendly!
Red Elephant Beer Cellar & Tasting Room
Located right next to Truro Cathedral, you can find a wide selection of interesting beers - both both bottled and on tap - to peruse and enjoy at Red Elephant whilst taking in a great view too.
Great for a chill drink after dinner or before heading into town.
- Dog Friendly!
Still thirsty? Here's a couple of other options
The White Hart
The White Hart on New Bridge Street is a local, good value, honest, proper pub. It's apparently one of the oldest around here too. If you want a no nonsense beer or ale at a decent price, you might want to go here.
If you want to do some cheesy disco dancing on the weekend, they've got that covered too.
Lawrance's
Lawrance's do cocktails and cakes. Enough said. Do you like cakes? Do you like cocktails? Do you like eating cake while drinking cocktails?
If the answer is yes, you should probably go to Lawrance's.
Entertainment
If you’re not eating or drinking sometimes Truro may seem a little bit lacklustre, but there’s more than enough to keep you busy for a couple of days if visiting.
The usual suspects
As well as a the cinema (The Plaza), some of the more obvious places to visit on a trip to town are:
Truro Cathedral
For such a little city, Truro has a rather nice cathedral which is well worth a look at with its impressive Gothic architecture.
If you're looking for somewhere to sit with your sandwich you can pop around the back to the green and admire the spires while you munch away. Nowadays, they have an ever growing schedule of events too!
The Hall for Cornwall
The Hall for Cornwall is the largest events venue in the region and if you're looking for a bit of theatre or culture, why not book yourself in for a show. In 2021 it was reopened after some extensive renovation making now a great time to visit.
Royal Cornwall Museum
Truro’s local museum. If you’re looking for a bit of history, from the Egyptians to something more local, it’s here. It’s not quite the Natural History Museum, but we’re in Truro remember.
A walk along the estuary
If you’re just in want of some fresh air, the estuary in Truro offers pretty scenery close to the city. You can take a walk to Malpas and stop off at the Heron Inn along the way, or pop down to St Clement and walk along the estuary which is great for dogs too.
Shopping
You’ll find some of the usual big chain stores in Truro but there’s some great independent ones too. We won’t reel off every one but, once you’ve visited us in our Aladdin's cave of pop culture things, quirky home décor, board games and more at Happy Piranha, pop by and say hi to the Garden Geeks jungle next door too.
In people’s palace, just around the corner, you can find Enjoy Clothing for some vintage clothes rummaging and if you're geeks like us, you might want to pop into Harry’s Toy chest on Victoria Square to see what collectable goodies he has in store too.
Something different
Axe Throwing with the Celtic Tossers
Hidden away in a shed-sized building on Tabernacle Street, Celtic Tossers is probably one of the cosiest axe throwing venues around. With just three lanes, you can book it out with a few friends and have an hour's fun pretending to be Vikings.
We’ve been here several times and the friendly staff and sharp axes mean the hour’s have flown by (or been thrown by…badum…tsss) in no time.
Virtual reality experiences at Player Ready
Lurking on the outskirts of Truro On Charles Street, you can wander into virtual worlds for some gaming, VR escape rooms, zombie experiences and racing at Player Ready. For gaming fans or those just wanting to give VR a whirl, there’s a few fun options to choose from. They also run kids coding clubs too.
Escape Rooms at Eureka (now Enigma)
If you haven't tried one before we recommend an escape room as something different to do and if you’re an escape room addict here’s one more to tick off your list while you’re down.
You can find Enigma Escape Rooms (formerly Eureka) on Lemon Street. When we went, they had two 1940's war era themed rooms; 'Don't Panic' and 'Life after Death'. Let's just say we cut it pretty close to the wire and only just made it out alive!
The Piranha Project
It’s not quite ready as of yet, but we’re also working on something of our own. You can follow our update blog about our Piranha Project where we’re renovating the building next door to our shop. Happy Piranha Café will be a pop culture themed café, with space for gaming and clubs and communities to commune!
There's stuff to do in Truro
If you hear the phrase ‘there’s nothing to do in Truro’, we hope we’ve shown you that that’s not entirely true. All it takes is a little bit of looking, which hopefully we’ve made easier for you.
Yeh Truro isn’t a big, bustling city, but there’s plenty of places to fill an evening or even a day or two and some hidden gems and character hiding around the corner too.
Of course, we're like Gollum and don't get out of our cave much - there's even more places than we've listed here too and many still to try when we get a chance....my presssssciousss!
So come say hi to our diddy city, Capital of Cornwall and our little world!
- Visiting Cornwall? Here's a few other ideas of things to do once you've visited Truro.