The Port Isaac to Padstow walk follows the South West Coast Path for approximately 18.8km. It is a one way route rather than a circular walk, maintained as part of the National Trails network.
From Lobber Point, just outside Port Isaac, look back for a view that takes in both the harbour you have just left and, further along the coast, Tintagel’s church and castle.
The path soon reaches Port Quin, a small natural harbour with a genuinely sombre story attached to it. Local tradition holds that sometime in the nineteenth century every man in the village was lost at sea in a single fishing disaster, forcing the women left behind to abandon their homes entirely. It is sometimes called, simply, the village that died. Above Doyden Point stands a rather more cheerful landmark, Doyden Castle, a nineteenth century folly now cared for by the National Trust and let out as a holiday home, along with the old remains of antimony mines nearby at Gilson’s Cove.
The going gets properly scenic from here. Lundy Beach offers rock pools, sea caves, and a natural arch known as Lundy Hole, worth a stop before the path climbs Carnweather Point for sweeping views across Port Quin Bay towards The Rumps and the offshore islet of The Mouls*. The Rumps itself was once an Iron Age promontory fort, and excavations here have uncovered stone faced ramparts, the footprint of circular houses, and pottery made from clay sourced all the way from the Lizard peninsula. Pentire Point, just beyond, gives fine views south over Padstow Bay and some notable examples of pillow lava in the rock underfoot.
JV’s Top Tip– The Mouls* along with the Isles of Scilly are the only places in Cornwall where puffins can be seen, and then only at certain times of year, typically during the breeding season in late spring and early summer. Learn more…
As the path drops towards the Camel Estuary, it passes above the Doom Bar, a shifting sandbank at the river mouth that has claimed hundreds of ships over the centuries. Local legend blames a mermaid’s curse for its formation, cast after a fisherman shot her in anger. From Hayle Bay, popular with surfers, the route continues past the Bronze Age burial mounds on Brea Hill before reaching Rock, where a passenger ferry crosses the Camel Estuary into Padstow itself, bringing the walk to its end in one of Cornwall’s best known harbour towns.
Those wanting a shorter day can stop at Polzeath, around 14.3km in. For a longer walk, the path continues beyond Padstow to Trevone, a further 9.2km.
Parking is available at Port Isaac, Port Quin, inland from Lundy Hole, Pentireglaze, Hayle Bay, Polzeath, Daymer Bay, Rock, and Padstow.
Plan The Walk
Places along this walk
Places to stay
- Hathaway Guest House
- Kittywake
- St Petroc's Bistro & Hotel
- Padstow Harbour Hotel
- The Old School
- Cullinan's Bed & Breakfast
- Strand House
- Drang House
Where to park
- Lead Mines
- Padstow Harbour Hotel
- South Quay Car Park
- Rock Quarry Car Park
- Daymer Bay Car Park
- Oystercatcher
- Tristram Cliff Top Car Park
Pubs
- The Golden Lion
- Oystercatcher
- The Harbour Inn
- The Shipwrights
- The Old Custom House
- The London Inn
- The Old Ship Hotel
Cafes
- Victoria House
- The Waterfront
- Galleon beach cafe
- Cafe India
- Flo's Kitchen
- The Mote
- Outlaws
- Cupcakes
- St. Petroc' Bistro
- The Rock Inn
- The Seafood Restaurant
- National Trust Pentire
- Puccinis
- Burgers & Fish
- Jo Jo's Kitchen
- Blue Tomato Cafe & Takeaway
- The Cornish Cove
- Slipway Hotel
- Outlaws Fish Kitchen
- Fee's
- TJs Surf Shop, Kitchen and Bar
- Greens of Padstow
- Cally Oyster Bar & Grill
- Reggies Street Food
- The Clipper
- Embers
- Prawn On The Lawn
- Cherry Trees
- Caffè Rojano
- Pucellis
Attractions
- Brea Hill
- Pentire Point
- Lundy Bay
- Padstow Museum
- Surf's Up Surf School
Shops
- Secrets
- Pride Of Place
- Port Isaac Pottery
- Nicki B's Pasty Shop
- Fearless
- Chough Bakery
- The Cornish Bakery
- The Drang Gallery
- Whistlefish
- RNLI shop
- Boathouse
- TJs Surf Shop, Kitchen and Bar
- Down by the Ferry
- The Harbour Shop
- Mountain Warehouse
- Quay Art Gallery
- Regatta Great Outdoors
- Cornish Delights
- Dydh Da
- Padstow Piskies
- Padstow Gallery
- Cornish Spirit
- Buttermilk
- Padstow Bookseller
- Pendragon's Ice Cream & Fudge
- Driftwood Contemporary
- Roly's Fudge Pantry
- Trespass
- Anns Cottage
- Karensa
- Tarquin's Gin School & Shop
- Ann's Cottage Surf Shops
- The Picture House
© OpenStreetMap contributors
A Walk Around Port Isaac
Port Isaac Guides
The best places to park in Port Isaac
The best things to do in Port Isaac
The best places to stay in Port Isaac
