The Marazion to Porthleven walk follows the South West Coast Path for approximately 15.8km. It is a one way route rather than a circular walk, maintained as part of the National Trails network.
Leaving Marazion, the path passes a scatter of oddly named offshore rocks, among them The Frenchman, The Bears, and Little London, before reaching Perranuthnoe. This small, largely undeveloped village may date back to Roman times, and its church, dedicated to Cornwall’s patron saint, Piran, holds a Norman font and a set of carved stone heads around the doorway. The village pub, the Victoria Inn, has a strong claim to being the oldest recorded inn anywhere in Cornwall, with roots stretching back to the twelfth century.
Beyond Perranuthnoe, the path reaches the narrow, exposed headland of Cudden Point before arriving at Prussia Cove, a place with a genuinely colourful history. This was once the base of John Carter, one of Cornwall’s most successful smugglers, who styled himself the King of Prussia and gave the cove its name. One story tells of Carter breaking into the Penzance Custom House to reclaim nothing but the goods that had previously been seized from him. Today the cove has a rather different reputation, as the home of the International Musicians’ Seminar’s masterclasses. Nearby, a memorial on Little Cudden marks the end of HMS Warspite, a Royal Navy battleship nicknamed the ship that refused to die after serving through both World Wars, which broke free from the tugs taking her to the breaker’s yard and ran aground here.
The path continues past the sandy sweep of Praa Sands and on towards Rinsey Head, where the going turns noticeably tougher. Above Porthcew stand the ruins of Wheal Prosper, a tin mine engine house and chimney now in the care of the National Trust, sited at the point where the underlying rock changes from granite to slate. In June, the cliffs here are often thick with purple heather and foxgloves.
From Rinsey Head and neighbouring Trewavas Head, the views stretch out towards The Lizard, with Mounts Bay opening up behind. Beyond Tregear Point stands a monument to the many sailors lost in wrecks along this stretch of coast, who were buried directly on the clifftops until the Grylls Act of 1808 required burials to take place in consecrated ground instead.
Just before Porthleven, at low tide, you can spot the Giant’s Rock, also known as the Moonstone, a glacial erratic made of a rare gneiss found nowhere else in the country. One theory holds that it arrived here embedded in an iceberg, drifting down from northern Europe during the last Ice Age.
Those wanting a shorter day can stop at Perranuthnoe, around 3.8km in, or Praa Sands, around 10.2km in. For a longer walk, the path continues beyond Porthleven to Mullion Cove, a further 11.5km.
Parking is available at Marazion, Perranuthnoe, above Prussia Cove, Praa Sands, above Rinsey Head, and at Porthleven.
Weather
Plan The Walk
Places along this walk
Places to stay
- Beacon Crag
- Tidewatch
- An Mordros Hotel
Where to park
- Kittos Field
- Praa Sands Long Term Car Park
- Maggies Patch
Pubs
- Victoria Inn
- Harbour Inn
- Stones Reef
- The Ship Inn
- The Atlantic Inn
Cafes
- The Peppercorn Café
- The Welloe
- Twisted Currant
- Cantina (was The Harbourside Refuge)
- Amelies @ The Smokehouse
- The Hideaway
- Nauti But Ice
- Kota
- Harbour View Cafe
- Kota Kai
- Sea Drift
- Go Nauti
- The Square
- The Mussel Shoals
- Harbour Head
- The Cabin
Attractions
- Harbour Inn Terrace
- Porthleven Bowling Club
Shops
- The Corner Deli
- TrevennerStores
- Londis
- Ann's Pasties
- The Customs House Gallery
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