Planning a Weekend Walk Along the Cornish Coastal Path

Choosing a Stretch That Suits a Weekend

The South West Coast Path traces some 630 miles around the Cornish peninsula, so the real planning question is not whether to walk it but where to join it. For a relaxed two-day break, aim for somewhere between 15 and 25 kilometres in total, split into two halves of roughly equal effort, with a village at each end and a bed waiting in the middle. Anything much longer stops being a pleasure and starts being a route march.

The stretch between the Lizard and the Helford is a fine place to begin. It is gentler than the granite cliffs of the far west, the villages sit close together, and there are buses back to your starting point if you leave the car behind. The north coast between St Ives and Zennor is every bit as spectacular, but the climbs are steep and relentless — better saved for a longer trip when you have fresh legs each morning.

Whichever section you pick, carry the relevant Ordnance Survey Explorer map. The path is waymarked with an acorn symbol, but signs vanish in sea mist and a paper map never runs out of battery.

Day One: Clifftops, Coves and a Smugglers' Harbour

Begin at Kynance Cove, where serpentine rock twists through red and green and the sand only appears at low water. The path climbs steadily above the cliffs, passes the lighthouse at Lizard Point — the most southerly spot on mainland Britain — and then turns east towards Cadgwith. Allow three to four hours for the eight miles or so, and add an hour if you cannot resist stopping at every viewpoint, which you will not.

Cadgwith is the reward. A tight knot of whitewashed and thatched cottages sits around a shingle cove, a handful of working fishing boats still go out from the beach, and there is a pub almost on the water where you can watch the light fade over a pint. It is one of the few places on this coast where the fishing trade has not been entirely replaced by souvenir shops, and it feels all the better for it.

Reading the Tide Before You Set Off

Cornwall has some of the largest tidal ranges in Britain — up to five metres and more on a spring tide. That matters far more than most visitors expect, because the coast path occasionally drops onto beaches and crosses stream mouths that fill quickly.

• Tidal cut-offs: check a tide table for the day before you leave the house and again over breakfast. Times shift by roughly an hour each day, so yesterday's table is no use.
• Beach walking: the two hours either side of low water give you the widest sand and the safest crossing at the foot of each valley.
• Streams and coves: some footbridges and stepping stones sit low in the valley floor. If the tide is high, take the clifftop alternative even if it adds twenty minutes.
• The simple rule: if the tide is falling, you have time. If it is rising, keep moving and do not linger in a cove that has only one way out.

Village Pubs, Pasties and a Night Ashore

Book your bed and your dinner table well ahead in summer, and at least a fortnight ahead in the shoulder months when half the county seems to be walking the same stretch. Village inns fill up quickly, particularly on a Friday.

Lunch is easily solved: a proper Cornish pasty from a village bakery, eaten on a bench above the harbour, beats anything carried in a rucksack. Do remember the local rule about cream teas — jam first, then cream — and do not argue the point with anyone behind the bar. In the evening, expect generous plates of fish landed that morning, a decent local ale, and a landlord happy to talk about tomorrow's weather.

Day Two: An Easier Amble to a Beach Finish

Keep the second day shorter and softer. A gentle walk from Cadgwith east to Kennack Sands, or onwards to Coverack if you are feeling strong, gives you a beach finish and a bus stop within easy reach. The path here rolls rather than climbs, with hedge banks full of spring flowers and stonechats calling from the gorse.

If the weather turns, this is also the day to swap the cliffs for an inland loop along lanes and footpaths, finishing back at the same village for a late lunch. Flexibility is the whole point of a two-day break; there is no prize for walking in horizontal rain.

Practical Kit and Timings

• Footwear: well-broken-in boots with ankle support. The granite steps are steep and slick when wet.
• Layers: a waterproof shell and a warm mid-layer, even in July. Sea fog arrives without warning.
• Water and snacks: refill in villages. Some stretches have no tap for six miles.
• Phone: signal is patchy in the coves. Tell someone your route and expected finish time.
• Transport: plan the return bus before you set out, and check Sunday timetables — they are thin.

Start early, walk slowly, and let the coast set the pace. A weekend is not long, but on this path it is easily long enough to come home feeling as though you have been away for a week.