A Varied Coastline

Looe to Plymouth  28.8 miles/2-3 days

The fishing port of Looe offers a picturesque start to this walk from the quayside and across the West Looe River. It continues along a varied coastline of high cliff paths, urban landscapes, rocky coves and through wide open fields, resulting in a mixture of easy strolling and some more strenuous walking. In some places the path twists and climbs to heights with spectacular views, especially on the approach to Battern cliffs, which is one of the highest points on the south coast of Cornwall. It passes another fishing port at Portwrinkle before arriving at the largest city in the South West at Plymouth.

Highlights

Looe is a town of two halves, the sleepy West side with its inns around the harbour, and busy East Looe with its shops and galleries. You travel between the two by keeping to the quayside and crossing the river over the arched bridge or by catching the ferry in summer.

As the route passes Battern Cliffs at 462ft (141m), you enjoy some fantastic cliff walking with views of the four mile stretch of sand at WhitsandBay. As you arrive at the fishing village of Portwrinkle you can see the walls of the 17th century pilchard fishing cellars that still stand above the harbour.

The next stretch of Coast Path is mostly easy walking with just a few short steep ascents and descents. The path passes a military firing range at Tregantle Fort where you can take the seaward permissive path or if the red flags are flying take the alternative route.

It leads through sheltered woodland to the twin villages of Cawsand and Kingsand and on to Mount Edgecombe Country Park with fantastic views of Plymouth. The 17th century MountBatten Artillery Tower, at the end point in Plymouth, guards the southern end of the harbour.

Itinerary

  1. Looe to Portwrinkle (8 miles)
  2. Portwrinkle to Kingsand/ Cawsand (9.8 miles)
  3. Kingsand/ Cawsand to Plymouth Mountbatten (11 miles)

Relevant section guides

We have split the path into 52 sections, and for each one have produced a section guide. These pages do not aim to replace the guidebooks, but aim to give a flavour of what each section is like, and show you about the highlights and places of interest along the route, along with links to accommodation information and much more. The relevant section guides for this walk are:-

  1. Polperro to Portwrinkle 12.7 miles (20.4 km)
  2. Portwrinkle to Plymouth 14.7 miles (23.6 km)

Travel 

Liskeard has a mainline train station and from here, you can get a connecting First Great Western train to Looe or take the regular bus service. From West Looe the 572 bus goes to Shortacross on the A387 where you can take the First Cornwall 181 to Portwrinkle. Plymouth is easily reached as it has a mainline train station and a large bus station serving much of Devon and Cornwall. For further details visit Traveline or phone 0870 6082608.

Walks from the track

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