The Eden Project, Cornwall, England

Overview:

How did we get to the Eden Project?

We were continuing our trip around England on the BMW1250 Adventure, and we had stayed the night before at the Orchard Springs Campsite just 7.7 miles away, close to the town of Bodmin. A lovely run which took us less than 20 minutes to be parked up in the very well organised car park.

Many people come by train on the direct line from London and arrive in St Austell, which is just 4 miles away, an easy taxi ride and takes about 12 to 15 minutes.

We had left all of our gear at the campsite, so parking up was easy. We just got off the bike, changed our shoes and we were off to the large welcoming entrance area.

Where did we stay?

We had stayed at the Orchard Springs Campsite just outside of Bodmin. The website describes itself as “Our Secret Campsite”. It was certainly a gem to find, the 2 acres site easily situated for the North and South Coast of Cornwall and the Eden Project just being a few miles away. The staff were excellent, in fact, given all the campsite that we stayed in some of the very best. The toilets and showers were spectacular. Spacious and spotlessly clean. The price was excellent, and we had an ample pitch for our little two-man tent.

What was the weather like?

We continued with our good fortune of dry weather whilst travelling around the UK and the sun shone and during the day the temperature was almost 19 degrees, falling at night to around 14 degrees. This was especially pleasant whilst walking around the Eden Project and under the glass canopies. The best thing, however, was the fact that it was dry.

Where did we eat?

I cooked breakfast and evening meal on our little portable MSR Firefly stove. For the evening meal, we had shopped at Morrisons for a mild chicken curry, which hit the spot. The midday meal we ate in the cafes at the Eden Project, which hit the spot. There was a wide range of pizzas, vegetarian options and sourdough melts, and many other things. There was also afternoon tea with clotted cream and the ice cream parlours offer a wide selection of ice cream made with unrefined sugar, panela.

What did we do at the Eden Project?

The Eden Project is big. Depending on the time of year that you go there are different events going on and it is worthwhile checking out the “What’s on” page https://www.edenproject.com/visit/whats-on to discover the major events that are happening. However, when we were there, we spent a lot of time walking around the outside gardens, enjoying all that was on display before venturing into the domes to enjoy the tropical gardens.

As we normally spend a lot of our time in Colombia, Latin America, it was like being at home in Minca, just north of Santa Marta where you can walk in the jungle and see some of the amazing things that you can see in the Eden Project. The waterfalls, the trees. My partner, who spent most of the time naming the trees and flowers that you saw, was so impressed with the presentation.

However, we would not find in Minca spectacular art which can be found in many of the areas of the Eden Project. The food halls are also excellent, and we would have had to walk a long way in the jungle to find anything like it.

One of the really nice things on our visit was an orchestra playing. The music was ideal for the surroundings and made us linger even longer as we watch people dancing.