Walk - Padstow to Porthcothan

13.2 miles (21.3 km)

Padstow Porthcothan

Easy - Easy

This section of Coast Path offers a day of easy walking along low cliffs, with beautiful, tempting beaches below. The path leaves the attractive town of Padstow behind, passing the sheltered beach of Hawker’s Cove, before leading you out to the Atlantic Coast. The path can become narrow in places and is quite rocky around Constantine Bay.

Walking round Trevose Head, one of Cornwall’s most prominent headlands, provides spectacular views of the sandy bays ahead and if you can resist the beaches on your journey you will have more time to enjoy the sheltered dune-backed beach of Porthcothan at the end of your walk.

Dogs on the coastpath

Report a problem

Safety advice

Printable map

There are a range of wonderful places to lay your head near the Coast Path for a well-earned sleep. From large and luxurious hotels, to small and personable B&B's, as well as self-catering options and campsites. The businesses that support the Path, where you've chosen to visit, are listed here.

Penhalonga B&B

01841 521122/07815 833158
Family run B&B, full English breakfast. Single nights. Dogs welcome. Call Liz
Visit website

The Annexe Eastholme

07970 947682

Self catering one bedroom apartment, kingsize bed, heating, wifi, parking, fully equipped, linen and towels included. Drying/laundry available on request for a small fee.

Visit website

YHA Treyarnon Bay

01841 520322

Just 50m from the sea and 10m from coastal footpath offering private rooms, bell tents, pods and pitch up. Licenced Bar and Cafe. Perfect place to rest your head.

Visit website

Tregella Place Camping

07964 973054

Basic rural site with some facilities. 10 min drive from Padstow

Visit website

Penlan B&B

01841 520440
Situated 250m from Porthcothan Bay beach close to the Coast Path, midway between Padstow and Newquay on bus route. Twin ensuite .
Visit website

Porthcothan Retreats

07838847294

Nestled among the idyllic Cornish coastline just off the South West Coast Path lies Porthcothan Retreats, 4 unique cabins each sleeps 2

Visit website

Coswarth House

07907626084

A beautifully furnished boutique hotel in a listed building with breakfast served at Rick Stein's Cafe. Each room has a luxury bathroom.

Visit website

South Quay B&B

01841 532 383
A house on the harbourside in Padstow. 2 double rooms, the en suite top bedroom has a tiny terrace under the gable of the house.
Visit website

Dennis Cove Campsite

01841 532349

Closest campsite to the harbour,10min walk from the Path via the Camel Trail. Serene site bordering the Camel Estuary. A perfect base to explore the Cornish coastline & beaches.

Visit website

Mariners Lettings Ltd

01208 869257
Mariners Lettings - seven self-catering properties in Rock ranging in size from two to five bedrooms, 500 metres from the SW Coast Path
Visit website

Moyles Farm

01208 862331

Amazing views over open farmland, a perfect retreat to relax and unwind after a day on the Path. Range of accommodation including Shepherds Huts. Lifts to Path & luggage transfer on request.

Visit website
You'll be spoilt for choice for where to eat and drink along the Path. With lots of local seasonal food on offer, fresh from the farm, field and waters. Try our local ales, ciders, wines and spirits, increasing in variety by the year, as you sit in a cosy pub, fine dining restaurant or chilled café on the beach. The businesses that support the Path, where you've chosen to visit, are listed here.

Rest A While Tea Garden

01841 532919
A delightful Tea Garden where you can relax enroute with outstanding views just 50m off the Coast Path. Serving hot & cold drinks & Cream Teas (traditional, savoury, vegan, gluten-free). Outside seating only. 11 am -3.00 pm
Visit website

Padstow Tasting Rooms

07873 590728

Explore award winning craft beers at the Padstow Tasting Room. Enjoy tasting flights, ciders, wines, cocktails, and more with our cold platters and crab sandwiches!

Visit website

Old Custom House

01841 532359

Prime position on Padstow’s South Quay, quality food and drink with a view plus 23 rooms & self-catering option

Visit website

Carnewas Tearooms

01637860701

The family run Carnewas Tearooms and Garden is on the coastal path overlooking Bedruthan Steps with views onto Parkhead.

Visit website

Oystercatcher

01208 862371

Contemporary menu & sea view plus dog friendly, self-catering apartments

Visit website
What is on your list of things to do when you visit the Path? From walking companies, to help you tailor your visit, with itineraries and experts to enhance your visit, to baggage transfer companies and visitor attractions there are lots to people and places to help you decide what you'd like to do. The businesses that support the Path, where you've chosen to visit, are listed here.

Trevose Golf & Country Club

01841520208

Trevose Golf & Country Club offers high-end coastal accommodation, golf, tennis, pool, and the acclaimed Constantine Restaurant for a luxury getaway.

Visit website

NCI Stepper Point

07810 898041
Visit website

Padstow Taxi

07485217760

Padstow taxi service, offering transfers and south west coast path shuttle and luggage transfers

Visit website

Padstow Tourist Information

01841 533449

All the information you need to enjoy your visit to Padstow.

Visit website

The National Lobster Hatchery

01841533877

Experience pioneering marine conservation in action on the beautiful estuary in Padstow and be inspired to make a difference.

Visit website

Stepper Point NCI, Padstow

Situated above the Coast Path with commanding views out to sea and over the Camel river. Visitors most welcome.

Visit website
Porthcothan Beach, near Newquay, from SWCP. SWCP Team photo. Porthcothan. Photographer Jennifer Rowlandson, Tiverton. The cliffs at Porthcothan Bay. Photographer Andrew Trenoweth, Cornwall. Steps;Taken just above the beach at Trevone,Cornwall. Photographer Victor Osborne. (2012 Photo Competition entry) Pentire Point walkers, looking west, Newland Rock. Photographer Andrew Besley. Harlyn Bay. Photographer Ted Forman. Stepper Point and Pentire Point from Gunver Head. Photographer Ted Forman. 'Steps' taken at Trevose Head, Padstow. Photographer Lindsay Philp, Padstow, Cornwall Minnows Islands, near Trevose head. Photographer Mike Mayor Resting at Trevose Head. Photographer David Hook, Bristol. Trevose Head Lighthouse. Photographer Jennifer Rowlandson, Tiverton. Trevose Head Photographer Kingsley Scott (2013 Photo Competition entry) Longcarrow cove and Merope Island in background. Photographer Paolo Bartolini (2012 Photo Competition entry) Merope Island (near Trevone) Photographer Paolo Bartolini - GENOVA - Italy (2012 Photo Competition entry) Wallflowers. Taken on the coast path from Trevone to Padstow approx 1/2 mile past Porthmissen Bridge. Photographer Rebecca Avant, Salisbury. Treyarnon Bay Photographer Kingsley Scott (2012 Photo Competition entry) Admiring the view. Near Gunver Head on a walk from Padstow to Trevone. Photographer Becky Avant. Warren Cove Near Porthcothan. Photographer Colin Milner. Merope Island. Photographer Ted Forman Trevone. Photographer Mike Mayor 'Coast' taken at Trevone,Padstow. Photographer Lindsay Philp, Padstow, Cornwall. Padstow at Dusk Photographer Phil Robinson (2012 Photo Competition entry) The long walk ahead, looking down the coast from Pepper Hole. Photographer Steve Hancock (2012 Photo Competition entry) Coastal Path from Harlyn Bay Photographer Lynne Naylor (2012 Photo Competition entry) Peaceful Harbour, Padstow, Cornwall. Photographer Tom Frew, Padstow. Padstow. Photographer Jaap Gaasenbeek Trevone Rocky Beach Sunset Photographer Kingsley Scott (2013 Photo Competition entry) A panorama of Padstow. Photographer Hugo Dunn, Somerset. Dogs and all at Trevone near Padstow. Photographer Victor Osborne (2012 Photo Competition entry) Between Porth Mear and Porthcothan, looking north towards Trevose Head Photographer Matt Whorlow, Saltash Sunset over the Merope Rocks at Gunver Head Photographer Tom Philp (2012 Photo Competition entry) Sea of grass, looking towards Cataclews Point. Photographer Steve Hancock (2012 Photo Competition entry) looking out from Trevose Head Photographer Chris Davis (2013 Photo Competition entry) War Memorial overlooking Padstow. Photographer Ted Forman 'On the Way' taken at Harbour Cove, Padstow. Photographer Lindsay Philp, Padstow, Cornwall. Bedruthen Steps Photographer Chris Davis (2013 Photo Competition entry) A hill next to Rock Beach, Cornwall. Photographer Hugo Dunn, Somerset. Porth Mear.taken on the coastal path between Pentire and Porthcothan Photographer Sarah Jennings (2013 Photo Competition entry) All clear at Trevose Head Photographer Victor Osborne (2012 Photo Competition entry) Padstow Sunset Photographer Bob Small (2013 Photo Competition entry) 'Keeping Watch' taken on Stepper Point by the Daymark beacon. Photographer Lindsay Philp, Padstow, Cornwall Camel Estuary from Butter Hole. Photographer Ted Forman. Long strides to Stepper Point Photographer Victor Osborne (2012 Photo Competition entry) Trevone just above the beach on the north coast . Photographer Victor Osborne (2012 Photo Competition entry) TREVOSE HEAD Photographer Victor Osborne. (2012 Photo Competition entry) Padstow Harbour. Photographer Ted Forman Steps;Taken just above the beach at Trevone,Cornwall. Photographer Victor Osborne. (2012 Photo Competition entry) Trevose Head Corn Bunting Photographer Andy Moir (2012 Photo Competition entry) Constantine Bay: panorama following the Coast North Photographer Paolo Bartolini (2012 Photo Competition entry) View to Mother Iveys Bay near Padstow. Photographer Clare Williamson, Worcester. 'Long Cove' Looking towards Merope Rocks, Polventon Bay near Harlyn Bay. Photographer Vicky Williams Taken from Treyarnon Point looking over Constantine Bay Photographer Sue Searle (2012 Photo Competition entry) 'For those in peril'. Looking from Mother Ivey's Bay to Lifeboat Station and Merope Rocks in background. Photographer Alex Bishop, Maidstone. View south from Fox Cove. Photographer Ted Forman. Constantine Bay Sunset Photographer Kingsley Scott (2012 Photo Competition entry) Boobys Bay, North Cornwall. Photographer Jack Philp, Camberley. Treyarnon Bay, Cornwall Photographer Steve Rumming (2013 Photo Competition entry) Constantine Beach. Photographer Mandi Brooks, Cornwall. Treyarnon and Constantine Bay. Photographer Ted Forman. Mother Ivey's Bay. Photographer Jennifer Rowlandson, Tiverton Open The Gate. Photographer Victor Osborne. (2012 Photo Competition entry) 'Harlyn Bay Beach'. Photographer Vicky Williams, Old Colwyn, North Wales Love on Trevone Bay near Padstow. Photographer Alex Stevenson, Cornwall. On Our Way at Crugmeer Padstow Photographer Victor Osborne (2012 Photo Competition entry) Dusk at Trevose Head. Photographer: James Uglow

Interactive Elevation

Highlights

  • Gun Point: featuring on maps dating from 1801, here you will find the remains of fortifications thought to date back to the time of the Spanish Armada.
  • Orchids and reed buntings in the marshes of Harbour Cove.
  • Views from Stepper Point with its navigation station. Much of this area is farmed under the Countryside Stewardship scheme, which means that the land is farmed in an environmentally sensitive way, banishing chemical fertilisers and encouraging wildlife and flowers.
  • Nesting birds on limestone layers of Marble Cliffs, Porthmissen.
  • Round Hole near Trevone: a collapsed sea cave.
  • Harlyn: an Iron Age cemetery was discovered buried beneath the Harlyn Inn. It contained over 100 coffins with human remains and bronze and iron ornaments. These are now in the museum in Truro. Keep a look out for seals around Harlyn Bay.
  • The Old Fish Cellars above Harlyn Bay which were once used for processing pilchards. Carved into the lintel are the ironic words “Lucri Dulcis Odor” or “Profit Smells Sweet”. No doubt the smells were far from sweet when the building was a working fish cellar and the profit itself far from sweet due to the 16th-century Curse of Mother Ivey! 
  • Padstow's Lifeboat Station in Mother Ivey’s Bay, open to visitors Mon-Fri 10.00-16.00 (including weekends during the summer).
  • Trevose Head Lighthouse opened in 1847 and is available for holiday hire.
  • Enjoying the wonderful names, such as Big Guns Cove, Cat’s Cove and Stinking Cove.
  • Watching the surfers and having a picnic at Constantine Bay: a beautiful beach of golden sands backed by dunes.
  • The marine life of Treyarnon Bay is exposed at low tide.
  • Resting on the beach in Porthcothan Bay.

Shorter option

Stop at Treyarnon Bay (11.4 miles, 18.3 km).

Longer option

Continue to Mawgan Porth (an additional 4.4 miles, 7.2 km).

Public transport

The nearest train station is Bodmin Parkway, from where you can get a bus direct to Padstow (about 1hr journey), from where you can change buses for Porthcothan. For timetable information, zoom in on the interactive map and click on the bus stops, visit Traveline or phone 0871 200 22 33.

Parking

Padstow (Post Code for Sat Navs: PL28 8DT), Trevone, Harlyn, Trevose Head, Treyarnon Bay and Porthcothan.

Section 15: Padstow to Porthcothan

Starts 166 miles (268 km) from Minehead

Ends 452 miles (728 km) to Poole

Previous section in South West Coast Path Port Isaac to Padstow

Next section in South West Coast Path Porthcothan to Newquay

Local maps and publications

Nearby Walks

close
close

Walk Finder

Find...

Postcode, placename or click the icon to use current location

Click/hold and drag the map to set the centre point of your search location under the red crosshair

from this location

Difficulty

Length (miles)

Themes

close

Find somewhere to Eat & Drink, Sleep or Do

Find...

Postcode, placename or click the icon to use current location

Click/hold and drag the map to set the centre point of your search location under the red crosshair

from this location
close

Interactive Map