Walking in ENGLAND


Holiday

 Highlights


Visit magical St. Ives, a town of art, ices and fish ‘n’ chips.


Walk to Land’s End, the furthest Westerly point on the English Mainland


Mysterious Celtic standing stones and burials upon high coastal moors.


Quaint coves and beaches once the haunt of smugglers and wreckers, now the abode of seals and surfers.




Walking Holidays Self-Guided and Escorted General Information

CORNISH COASTAL PATH (WEST) FROM ST. IVES TO PENZANCE

Walking Around Land's End

This 40 mile section of the Cornwall Coast path contains generally shorter days than either our Cornwall North and South tours, allowing you more time to spend in coves, on beaches, or up on the cliff moorlands. However, shorter days can be deceptive; there are strenuous sections of rollercoastering path taking you to some of the finest seascapes in Britain. It is a walk with some remote and wild sections, juxtaposed with spots which are normally busy with day trippers.

Arriving in St. Ives you may wish that you had booked an extra night to visit all the attractions including the Tate Gallery and the Barbara Hepworth Museum. If you are not so interested in art, then just wandering the cobbled lanes, or perhaps visiting the beach at Carbis Bay is enough! Whichever way you look at it, this town, named after a fifth century Irish princess, is a major attraction. The next day the walk passes the ‘Carracks’ – rocks where  you will probably see Atlantic Grey Seals, before going inland to Zennor with its museum on Cornish life. Nearby D.H Lawrence wrote ‘Women in Love’ amidst the squawking seagulls. The trail returns to the coast threading its way through the coves and the old tin mines around Gurnard’s Head. There are both mine and lighthouse museums to visit around Pendeen Watch. The path skirts inland beside Cape Cornwall, once thought to be the most westerly point, past St. Just village to the pretty fishing village of Sennan Cove. Continuing onwards, a shorter day allows you to spend time at Land’s End which has natural ambiance with the Atlantic pounding around  Wolf Rock and the Long Ships and there is also tourist kitsch including a neo Greco tourist office. On clear days you may see the Scilly Isles 28 miles away. Strolling on to Porthcurno you pass a famous open air theatre at Minack Point. The next day visit the once rocking Logan Rock. There are beautiful places to pause at Penberth Cove before reaching Lamorna with its old smuggler’s pub, the ‘Lamorna Wink’. Passing Penzer point you get views to St. Michael’s Mount and you visit the pretty village of Mousehole before entering the busy resorts of Newlyn and Penzance.

 

 Inn to Inn 8 days

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Duration: 7 nights/8 days
Tour Code: WCS
Grade: Moderate with some strenuous sections
Day Stages: Minimum 5 miles, max 9 miles
 SELF-GUIDED Dates 2012

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April - October

 


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Accommodation

7 nights/8 days - Below are examples of our overnight stops in this part of Cornwall. We cannot guarantee sea views, but you will never be that far away from the waves! Other places might be used instead, if these choices are full or closed for whatever reason. In St. Ives we use a whole variety of guesthouses in this busy town. If these are booked you may stay at Carbis Bay 15 minutes walk away. In Zenner our guest house has sea or field views and the local cows provide the yogurt for the breakfast. The beds have been specially sourced to give you a good night’s sleep. Pendeen offers a homely B&B with spacious bedrooms and great breakfasts. At Sennan we stay at a Victorian farmhouse once used for producing mead. There is a spacious sitting room with a wood burning  fire and Aga cooked breakfasts. At Porthcurno our Edwardian cottage B&B offers afternoon cream teas, a private garden and is only 400 yards from the beach. At Lamorna we stay in a Granite farmhouse, where you can relax in the landscaped gardens watching the swallows. Finally in Penzance we stay at a charming Regency period guesthouse built in the 1830’s and now a Grade II listed building, with superb views of Mount’s Bay. All rooms are impeccably presented.

 

Sherpa Notes

Waymarks
The route is along the coastal path, it is well signposted with the acorn signposts of the Coastal path.
Accommodation and Meals
On a bed and breakfast basis in comfortable country inns and guesthouses. 
Start and End of Tour
The tour starts at St. Ives. There is a regular service of intercity trains, including overnight sleepers from London / Bristol etc, to St. Erth from where you change onto a branch line that continues to St. Ives. Regional flights to Newquay Airport.
After breakfast on day 8. Take a train to London or elsewhere, change at St.Erth onto main line just after St. Ives. Train connections back to London and elsewhere (not included). Overnight trains are also possible. Also flights back from Newquay Airport to Gatwick and other regional centres.

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