kiwijac

Hullo,
I'll be in Cornwall with a car for a week in September. I plan to spend most of my time walking on the Coastal walk. Of course I can't do it all!!! and would like suggestions as to the most dramatic sections, ie high cliffs and wild seas rather than long stretches of sandy beach. I fly into Newquay and have a night at Trevone then will go north to explore the Tintagel area ( I know you'll say how can she plan to 'do' that in one day but when you only have a day you pick 'parts' and make-do) and have the next night at Foy. I had thought of the next 2 nights at Truro, then 2 more in Penzance as I plan to drive to the start of each days walk/walks which would be return or circular or involve a bus return, some days being made of several bits of the track others a more complete section. Any suggestions will be gratefully received. Thanks, Jacqueline

menachem

I walked from Bude to Padstow. That includes Tintagel and Boscastle and a couple of beautiful villages on the coast (Port Isaac). That stretch has both cliffs and beaches, and a nice hinterland you can escape to if the cliffs become too much.

I thought the stretch from Boscastle to Port Isaac was especially fine.

You mean Fowey? You do go all over the place. Maybe it's nicer to do one solid part of it. That way you'll be able to see how the landscape and history mesh, and (to me) it would be more of an accomplishment. Every time I look at a map of Cornwall, even if it's only a basic map on TV, I identify Heartland Point and then the Camel estuary and think: I walked that whole bit of coast.

annhig

Hi jackie,

just found this.

I know that it looks as if you are dotting around quite a lot, but in fact if you want to see the south coast, and the area around Fowey, driving south from Tintagel [which should take about an hour] makes a lot of sense. THere is a classic round walk from Fowey which takes you across the river on one ferry, along the opposite bank via something called the "Hall Walk" and then back into Fowey using the other ferry. if you time it right you can have lunch in the pub in Polruan, or a cream tea.

another option is to walk the part of the coast path that goes west out of Fowey, goes round the headland, and then head back via Polkerris, where there is a pretty beach and a nice pub.

from Truro, I think that the best walking is around the Roseland peninsular, specifically St. Mawes; there's quite a long walk using the ferry that goes to Place, and then round St. Anthony' head to the lighthouse, or a shorter one to the lovely st. Just in Roseland church.

in the Penzance area, we like the Lizard - there are is a circular walk you can do from the Lizard village down to the lizard point [the most southerly point of the mainland of Great Britain] or alternatively you could look at Cadgwith, or Coverack. The coast around the Minack at Porthcurno is also lovely, and there is the added attraction of the Wireless museum, which is definitely worth a visit.

Does that help? hope so..keep the questions coming!

kiwijac

Thanks Annhig and Menachem,
We are having our first autumn (cooler) day (in New Zealand)and once I posted I got pumpkin soup cooking, then raced back here hoping someone would have replied
I know it looks like I'm flitting here and there but I am really doing a circle starting and ending at Newquay airport.
I have read heaps about the track and watched numerous YouTube clips. Everyone ravs over it all and I need help picking out the especially dramatic sections that will appeal to me and my limited time. I chose Fowey ( sorry about the incorrect spelling before, trying to remember how to pronounce it ) because it is in line from Tintagel which I would most likely be leaving late in the day and is a logical part of my circle route. From Truro I can access both sides of the peninsula if need be because of exceptionally inclement weather in one area and Penzance because it gives me flexibility again further south. I have a ticket for the last night of the Proms at Minack, my last day before driving up to Newquay for a 2pm out the next day .
Ann, your suggestions are exactly right (as I suspected they would be )Around Mousehole there's a dramatic cliffwalk that I'm keen to do, going south. St Ives looks a bit busy for me though people rave about a walk north of there to old mining structures which sounds great.
What I'm not sure about is distances and driving times. Everything looks so close together and indeed the kilometres aren't large but if this area is as busy as they say, times may not be what I'm use to. I could stay all 4 nights in either Truro or Penzance, what do you suggest?

annhig

jackie,

i would suggest that the bases you have in mind would be dead right, as the driving times can be quite long, though not so bad at the end of September. Fowey is a bugger to get to, and the "Hall Walk" can take all day so you'd want to get a good start in the morning, not to waste time getting to Fowey, and worrying about finding your accommodation at the end of the walk.

Google maps gave me the 1 hour driving time from tintagel to Fowey, which I would say is about right, so with that as a guide, i reckon that you can more or less trust their timings, with a bit extra added to take account of the fact that you'll be by yourself in a "strange land".

I can see the logic for the direction you're planning to take, but if you are interested in the mining area you mention [around Bottallack if I remember rightly] , it might have made sense simply to follow the coast road south from tintagel which would have taken you right past, and thence down to Penzance. However, i know that that wouldn't fit in with the Minack plan so i can see why you are attacking it in that order. And you want to be staying reasonably close to the Minack because after the performance those windy lanes are pretty daunting, so PZ would be a good choice. perhaps you can take in the mining area on the way back to Newquay?

Interesting what you say about your weather change - ours seems now to be changing in the other direction, thank goodness, though of course you have all that lovely winter snow to look forward too!