Walk - Port Isaac to Padstow

Highlights

• Views from Lobber Point back over Port Isaac and Tintagel church and castle beyond.
• Portquin: a natural harbour. This little village is also referred to as ‘the village that died’ due to the disappearance of all of the men of the village sometime in the 19th century. It is thought that they all drowned at sea whilst fishing, forcing the women to abandon their homes.
• Doyden Castle: a 19th century folly built on Doyden Point, now a holiday home owned by the National Trust.
• The old antimony mines at Gilson’s Cove.
• Having a snack on Lundy Beach: a beautiful sandy cove with rock pools and caves and a natural arch known as Lundy Hole.
• The spectacular views from Carnweather Point across Port Quin Bay to The Rumps and out to The Mouls.
• Standing at the Iron Age fort on Rumps Point and looking out to the offshore rocks known as Sevensouls and the Mouls. Excavations have revealed that the fort once had stone faced ramparts and circular houses at the headland, as well as pottery made from clay from the Lizard.
• Pentire Point: from here there are magnificent views of Padstow Bay to the south and west and fine examples of pillow lava leading to the Rumps behind you.
• The Doom Bar: shifting sands resulted in the formation of a sand bar at the mouth of the Camel Estuary, which makes entering the port very difficult. The Doom Bar has been responsible for hundreds of wrecks. Could it really be the result of a mermaid’s curse?.
• The views of and from the Bronze Age tumuli of Brea Hill.
• Watching the surfers at Hayle Bay.
• Taking the ferry from Rock across the river Camel to Padstow.

Shorter option

Polzeath (8.9 miles, 14.3 km).

Longer option

Continue to Trevone (5.7 miles, 9.2 km).

Public transport

The nearest train station is Bodmin, from where you can get a bus to Pastow or Port Isaac via Wadebridge. For timetable information, zoom in on the interactive map and click on the train station and bus stop symbols, visit Traveline or phone 0871 200 22 33.

The ferry from Rock to Padstow runs on demand almost every day of the year, except Sundays in the winter. See our estuaries and ferries  page for details.

Parking

Port Isaac (Postcode for Sat Navs: PL29 3RT), Port Quin, inland from Lundy Hole, Pentireglaze, Hayle Bay, Polzeath, Daymer Bay, Rock and Padstow.