Walking Cornwall

Many of you will have walked short sections of the coast path, but how many of you have tackled all the 260 miles of it in Cornwall? It’s not easy to do it in one go, not without help or by travelling very light, but with a bit of planning it's possible to spend a week doing a section, maybe using public transport to return to your starting point everyday or booking accommodation along the route in advance. The best bits? There are so many… including the achievement that you have done it!

All over Europe you will come across pilgrimage routes that snake there way to Santiago de Compostella in northern Spain. Pilgrims from Ireland and Wales had to cross water to reach the European mainland, and it is said they would sail to Padstow before walking across Cornwall to Fowey, this was in order to avoid the treacherous journey around Land’s End by water.

The route it's thought they followed has now been turned into a 27 mile long waymarked path that can be walked in a couple of days. It links two of Cornwall’s best known harbours via some of its finest inland churches and inland landscapes including Helman Tor.

The wild rugged moorland and coastline of West Penwith is enjoyed on this walk from Cape Cornwall to the artists haven of St Ives. It’s only 16 miles in length, but those keen on walking could turn around at St Ives and return via Zennor and the South West Coast Path. Along the route you will pass Neolithic burial sites, stone circles and Iron age villages. The tinners, who gave the walk its name, have been mining this part of Cornwall for 1000’s of years, but the engine houses familiar to many through TV programs are better seen down on the coast than up on the high moors.