Cornwall’s Southwest Coast Path (and beyond)

My two week hiking trip to Cornwall in the far southwest of England did not go according to plan. After only two days, an attempt to do a continuous route from The Lizard to Plymouth was derailed by a major flareup of gout. After a few days’ recovery, however, I shifted to Plan C, returning to Penzance to complete three short sections of the Southwest Coast Path (SWCP) in far west Cornwall that I had skipped back in 2020. A few additional walks both in Falmouth and Penzance, as well as a final hike to an island that had been on my bucket list for years round out this blog post.

The Southwest Coast Path

Praa Sands to Porthleven, 8k with 275m elevation gain

An easy start to my intended two week itinerary began with a bus ride from Penzance where I had arrived the afternoon previously by train.

View back at Praa Sands. The café at the far end was great for lunch, but I just couldn’t seem to get into the beach vibe.

Looking back along the western Lizard coast and path

Porthleven to Mullion, 13k with 280m elev. gain

A bit longer today, continuing south along the west side of the Lizard Peninsula

Leaving Porthleven. It was a popular (at least is August!) fishing village.

Crossing the Loe bar. There was no way to avoid this slog.

Gunwalloe Beach. Like the bathers, I did enjoy the warm summer days!

Marconi monument. The Lizard is in an excellent geographic location to test wireless telegraphy.

At this point it all went pear-shaped. Sparing you the details for now, several days later I had procured a last minute room at the Queens Hotel along the Penzance promenade as my hiking base for the final week of my trip. A fantastic choice as it turns out, utilizing the bus service around Cornwall to complete the three remaining SWCP hikes I had between St Ives on the north coast and Penzance on the south coast. Note: These 3 hikes are presented in normal walking order rather than in chronological order.

Zennor to Morvah, 10.7k with 435m elev. gain

It had been a while since I had walked along the north Cornwall coast, and I had forgotten how much more rugged it is compared to the south coast.

Wand loosestrife (*Lythrum virgatum*) bouquet and sea. At least in New England, it is considered an invasive.

The coast path was narrow and a bit vertiginous at times. . .

Botallack to Sennen Cove, 13.2k with 330m elev. gain

I actually had to start inland about 2km, at the Nancherrow bus stop.

Jacob’s Mine. The area around Botallack is known for its many mine ruins.

Near Boscean the coastal path briefly turned inland to circumvent a ravine

Cape Cornwall with its iconic mining chimney from 1864. This is considered the **only true cape in England**, marking the point where the currents of the English Channel and the Celtic Sea meet.

Rocky Atlantic shore. The Brisons Rocks are about 1.5km offshore on the right.

Gwynver Beach. This beach was far more to my liking than the frenetic Sennen Cove beach next door where my day’s walk ended.

Porthcurno to Nanjizal Bay (circular), 10.5k with 340m elev. gain

With limited bus routes available here, circling back inland through farms and a couple villages to complete this hike was necessary.

Porthcurno Beach. An early start (enabled by a 7 AM hotel breakfast) avoided the bus and beach crowds at this popular spot.

Scillonian III. The ferry from Penzance will enter the story later on. . .

Coastal view with gorse and heather. Most of the heather I saw was “ling.”

Tresillion, Porthcurno. Simply a beautiful house imho.

Walks around Falmouth and Penzance

My intended point-to-point route across all of southern Cornwall to Plymouth was stopped in its tracks (quite literally) by gout after only two days, as I intimated earlier. After bussing to my next two accommodations, I continued on to Falmouth, where I had booked a lovely AirBnb garden flat for three nights, critically including a washing machine. As I was recovering from gout, I did a couple nearby walks. Once back in Penzance, the weather had gotten worse, but I managed a couple more walks along the nearby coast as well as the three SWCP sections detailed above.

St Mawes to St Just-in-Roseland Circular, 10.8k with 200m elev. gain

Short ferry rides between the Prince of Wales Pier in Falmouth and St Mawes harbor bookended this lovely and varied loop hike.

View along the Packet Quays from the Prince of Wales Pier

Field of flax and the Carrick Roads near Mylor

St Mawes Castle and a Sunday sailor from the ferry

Penzance walks and views

The Queens Hotel, where I stayed for a week

Morrab gardens. In August 2020 I spent a month at an Airbnb overlooking these lovely and peaceful sub-tropical gardens.

View towards St Michael’s Mount across Mounts Bay from the Penzance Promenade. The tide was out this morning.

The fishing vessel **Ocean Pride** from Falmouth dry docked at Newlyn Harbor

St Michael’s Mount. I had actually visited this amazing castle and gardens on my first day in Cornwall, before my Praa Sands to Porthleven hike.

View from St Michael’s Mount to the touristy village of Marazion

The castle from the gardens. The gardens were looking a little anemic after several heat waves hit England this summer.

Isles of Scilly

As I hinted earlier in this blog post, my final hike in Cornwall this year was on the Isles of Scilly. I had wanted to get out to this southernmost part of England for a very long time. Having a couple extra days in Penzance made it a no-brainer for me to take the Scillonian III ferry to Hugh Town on St Mary’s Isle. The nearly 3 hour ferry ride is quite pricey – unless one does it as an out and back day trip, in which case the fare drops 85% (!). I really don’t understand this pricing structure, but it does allow about 4 hours to explore the island at a reasonable price.

St Mary’s Circular from Hugh Town, 12.7k with 175m elev. gain

While a full circumambulation of St Mary’s is about 17km – not comfortable in the allotted time – a large portion of the island can reasonably be covered without too much stress about missing the ferry.

Penzance harbor from South Pier where the Scillonian III departed

Scillonian III, built for rough Atlantic seas, at Hugh Town Quay.

RNLI St Mary’s lifeboat station near the start of my walk

Bar Point and view towards St Martin’s Isle

Innisidgen upper burial chamber. Along with nearby Bant’s burial chamber, it is an excellent example of a sacred space from the early Bronze age.

North coastal view towards Round Island Light in the distance

Holy Vale path (closed for maintenance). This unique ecosystem is quite rare on the Isles of Scilly, and I wasn’t about to let a barricade stop me. . .

Early evening I was back in Penzance for a final night before returning to Hastings.

Evening view from my room, featuring St Piran’s flags. These flags of Cornwall with a white cross on a black field celebrate the mining heritage of this amazing corner of England.

Tomorrow I once again am travelling. This seven week trip will be predominantly to South Africa, augmented with a 10 day diversion to Mauritius and Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean as well as one other very quick trip (that I’ll share with my readers when I return). In South Africa I will be doing a hiking trip with KE Adventures in the Drakensberg Mountains, an Explore Worldwide trip along the Garden Route from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, finished off with nearly a week in Cape Town at an Airbnb to more fully explore (and hike!) this iconic city.

Enjoy the cooler autumnal weather outdoors wherever you may be,

The Vagabond Hiker