Walk - Plymouth to River Yealm

Easy to moderate

The first part of this journey follows the Waterfront Walkway along some of the vibrant, historic streets of the largest city on the South West Coast Path. The Path offers fantastic views over Plymouth Sound and has many extraordinary artistic features to look out for, all celebrating the rich history of this important city.

There is so much to see here (including a knitted breakfast, a porthole wall, a rhino and gold bullion) that it is not really possible to mention it all. You may like to get a copy of the guide to the Waterfront Walkway in advance, and perhaps also a copy of the Nautical Telegraph Code Book to help decode the messages set in pavements around the city!

From the blue pillar on Jennycliff, which marks the end of the Waterfront Walkway Path, the urban landscape is left behind as the Path enters part of the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. After Andurn Point the Path offers easy walking close to the sea, past the old naval gunnery school of HMS Cambridge and on to Wembury with its incredibly diverse plant and animal life and fantastic views of the Great Mew Stone.

Plymouth City Council have produced a guide to the walk that can be downloaded from here.

Plymouth is easily reached as it has a mainline train station and a large bus station serving much of Devon and Cornwall and regular buses to Wembury. 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.

You can shorten the route by catching the ferry (all year) from near the Mayflower Steps in Sutton Harbour to Mountbatten, which misses out the 5 mile (8 km) walk round Cattewater.

At the end of the walk you have need to catch seasonal ferry across the River Yealm. For latest times and dates of the ferries check our Estuaries and ferries page.

There are many car parks throughout Plymouth (Postcode for Sat Navs: PL1 3RJ). After Jennycliff, parking is available at Bovisand Bay, Crownhill Bay and Wembury.

There are plenty of toilets in the city of Plymouth, after which there are facilities at Jennycliff, Bovisand Bay and Wembury.

Plymouth has an extensive range of restaurants, shops, pubs and cafes and there are plenty of opportunities to buy refreshments without straying too far from the Path. Refreshments are also available at Jennycliff, Bovisand, Heybrook Bay and Wembury Beach and there is a shop, pub and restaurant just inland in the village of Wembury.

At the end of this stage, many people decide to stay in the villages of Newton Ferrers or Noss Mayo perched on the banks of the Yealm estuary, where there are a range of pubs and other places to eat.