The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

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.

A gill descending to Pendour Cove
Wand loosestrife (Lythrum virgatum) bouquet and sea. At least in New England, it is considered an invasive.
Treen Cove cottage. What a location!
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.
Wheal Edward, Botallack
Near Boscean the coastal path briefly turned inland to circumvent a ravine
Kenidjack Cliff castle
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. . .
Montebretia bouquet and coast
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
A Meadow Brown on a buddleia
St Mawes Castle and a Sunday sailor from the ferry
Breezin’ up

Penzance walks and views

The Queens Hotel, where I stayed for a week
My room 25 view, the Queens Hotel
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
View back to Penzance from Longrock
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
Bay view towards the Isle of Tresco
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

The Southwest Coast Path: St Ives to Padstow

In October I continued my SWCP odyssey, walking in the “wrong” direction, eastwards from St Ives to Padstow in northern Corwall. My totals were: 105 km and 2550 meters elevation gain over the 6 days. Enjoy the photos and pardon the lack of usual verbiage!

St Ives to Phillack

13 km and 250 m elevation gain

View back towards St Ives harbor
A house for sale in Lelant, overlooking the River Hayle. A bit out of my price range, I’m sure.
The Hayle Mining Pump House monument
My Penellen Guest House balcony view

Day 2: Phillack to Portreath

18 km and 500 m elevation gain

Mutton Cove. Note all the seals hauled out.
Godrevy Lighthouse, marking a dangerous reef called The Stones
Sea Campion. As usual, not many wildflowers were out in the autumn.
Coast view back to Hell’s Mouth. The nearby Hell’s Mouth Café was a great spot for lunch.
Corvids (far left) and equines near Portreath
Portreath

Day 3: Portreath to Perranporth

20 km and 700 m elevation gain

Towanroath Shaft engine house at Wheal Coates
Convoluted erosional geology
The coast near Perranporth
My Seiner’s Arms hotel room view, Perranporth

Day 4: Perranporth to Newquay

14.5 km and 250 m elevation gain

Perranporth beach. The Seiners Arms is the rambling blue building
Looking back on Perranporth Beach
The “Commandant’s House” (my term – I’m not sure what this building is) at Penhale Camp. The camp was established in 1939 to train WW2 anti-aircraft gunners.
‘Shrooms & Sea
The Newquay tidal foot bridge

Day 5: Newquay to Porthcothan

19.5 km and 450 m elevation gain

Bedruthan Path, a gorgeous stretch of coast
Carnewas (Cornish, meaning “rock-pile of summer dwelling”) at Bedruthan
View towards Park Head. This was easily the best day for photography.
A pano just before reaching Porthcothan
An old curzyway dry stone wall, typical construction on this stretch of north Cornwall

Day 6: Porthcothan to Padstow

20.5 km and 400 m elevation gain

Trevose Head Lighthouse, featuring four holiday cottages
RNLI lifeboat station, Padstow, at Trevose Head
Prideaux Place Deer Park, Padstow. Seasonally open to the public, Prideaux Place has a fascinating history. I had diverted slightly to reach my inland Airbnb, where I stayed the final two nights.

This past six weeks I have traveled to northern Morocco to see some cultural sights and then to Tenerife and Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands for group walking weeks. They will all be subjects for a future blog post or two towards the end of the year or early 2026.

Tomorrow I depart for Kuala Lumpur and then onward to Taiwan for my 3½ month winter trip to Southeast Asia and Western Australia. Not to worry, though, there will be some hiking involved. . .

The Vagabond Hiker

The Southwest Coast Path: Minehead to Westward Ho!

More precisely, this installment of my SWCP odyssey turned out to be 5 days of hiking divided into two parts: from Minehead to Combe Martin, and – after suitable recovery – from Westward Ho! to Barnstaple. Enjoy the photos and chronicle. . .

Minehead, Somerset, has the distinction of being the official starting point for the Southwest Coast Path, now a part of the almost-completed England Coast Path. As I just missed the bus from the Taunton train station, I chose to take a taxi to save nearly 2 hours’ journey time. Big mistake. That 23 mile ride set me back more than 110 GBP, about twice the cost of the First Class train from Hastings! Other than the typical August beach vibe, Minehead has little to recommend it and early the next morning I began walking. As usual for these shortish segments, I carried all that I needed in my rucksack, taking advantage of lodging and restaurants each day.

View of Minehead beach towards the west and the start of the Coast Path, on a gray day.
Minehead Coastguard Cottages in a lush garden along Quay Street.
The SWCP starting monument
A long way to go!
View along the path, with bracken. Despite the overcast, at no time during my walks did it rain.
Valerian. Ok, I was a bit desperate for wildflower photos at this time of year!
Steep descent danger sign. I wimped out and took the slightly less steep, but better protected, route.
Wayside Cottage, looking almost Swiss

Porlock Marsh. It was at this point early on the 2nd day that I performed an emergency duct tape repair on my water bladder. This just about lasted the day.
The remote and picturesque St Beuno’s Church, Culbone
The path through oak woods, with the Bristol Channel below
An elaborate entrance gate along the path. No signage to give a hint of its history.
Two heathers together: common (left) and bell (right). By this point the path had left Somerset for North Devon.
Countisbury Parish Church, appearing half-submerged on its eponymous hill east of Lynmouth
Orchard House Hotel, Lynmouth. A Grade 2 Listed property and highly recommended for an overnight stay if you’re ever in Lynmouth.

Looking back to Blacklands Beach, Lynmouth, on the initial climb to Lynton.
The Valley of Rocks, by a long shot the most popular walk in the area.
A bold robin, hanging out near the bench where I consumed my packed lunch
Looking back on the Coast Path and vertiginous Heddon’s Mouth below
An impressive waterfall. Nearly all “combes” (deep, narrow valleys) had some sort of stream flowing down them to the sea.
An atmospheric coastal view back to the east. This is my favorite photo.
Heather (and gorse) on the Great Hangman
Summit rock pile on the Great Hangman. At 318m, this is the highest point along the SWCP.
View towards Combe Martin. . . still a long ways down!

The first three days of what was intended as a 7 day walk to complete this section of the SWCP ended at Combe Martin. As you can see from the All Trail stats, the walks were long and had many steep ascents and descents. By this point, my plantar fasciitis had become so excruciating that the next morning I resorted to a taxi to my next hotel, and then a bus the following day to my hotel in Barnstaple, essentially granting me two days of rest to recuperate. It was just what the doctor ordered!

After two days lazing around, with limited time completing the entire section of the SWCP was off the table, so instead I chose to walk the last two days in reverse direction (west to east) from Westward Ho! as the path was essentially flat and buses were readily available if plantar fasciitis reared its ugly head (foot?!) again.

The market town of Barnstaple was far better than my (admittedly low) expectations. Staying here the final three nights (that was my plan all along) meant that I only carried a light day pack, taking advantage of the bus connections from the nearby depot. A great vegan restaurant provided a respite from the heavy Devon cuisine. Add in live music one evening and a reasonably priced, yet elegant hotel, and what’s not to like?

Surfers at Westward Ho! beach. Westward Ho! is the only town in the English language with an explanation point in its name.
The natural pebble ridge and sandy beach at Northam Burrows Country Park
Saltwater marsh with Appledore
View from the RNLI Appledore Lifeboat Station. That’s a Tamar-class lifeboat on the right if you’re curious.
Irsha Street, Appledore. The Coast Path follows this picturesque street.
Old boats and the River Torridge

Bideford’s Tarka the Otter, from the book by Henry Williamson. The Long Bridge is behind.
View of the River Torridge
Blue houseboat on the River Torridge
Bridge spanning the Tarka Trail, which here coincided with the Coast Path. The entirety of this day’s walk was on tarmac, hence the 3 star rating.
Barnstaple and the River Taw, end point for my week’s (well, 5 days) walking

A rainy day in Hastings and my mind beginning to shift to my next trip. . .

In six days I’m off to Uzbekistan for some hiking & culture in the country at the heart of the Silk Road. I’ll leave you with two photos from my balcony at Rocklands in Hastings, once again my home away from home.*

Rocklands Dawn
Rocklands Dusk

The Vagabond Hiker

* – when queried about my “home”, depending on the context I respond either “Utah” or “Planet Earth.”

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