The Southwest Coast Path
Somerset - Devon - Cornwall - Dorset
630 miles (1014km) of unequalled coastal walking, divided by counties to make your selection easier.
Start and finish your holiday anywhere from Minehead in Somerset to Poole in Dorset.
Please note that all distances shown are approximate.
Somerset and North Devon
The S.W.C.P. begins on the sea front at Minehead, climbing up onto rugged Exmoor with its purple terrain and high coastal cliffs, passing the tiny Culbone Church, with spectacular cliff and coastal scenery all the way to the highest point at Lynton, then descending to softer terrain from Combe Martin with Sandy Bays tiny coves and rocky headlands, the long sandy beaches at Woolacombe and Braunton. Round The Taw/Torridge Estuary skirting the Market Town of Barnstaple and the port of Bideford. The old shipbuilding town of Appledore with its narrow streets and the long sandy beach at Westward Ho! The path rounds Bideford Bay on the edge of fields and scrub oak woods littered with wild flowers, to the old fishing village of Bucks Mills and Clovelly with its 17th century harbour and steep cobbled street. On through wooded cliff tops round Hartland Point to Hartland Quay.
| Section | Distance | Walking Grades | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minehead | 9.5 miles | 15.5 km | moderate |
| 2 | Porlock Weir | 12.5 miles | 20.0 km | moderate |
| 3 | Lynmouth | 13.5 miles | 21.5 km | strenuous |
| 4 | Combe Martin | 12.5 miles | 20.5 km | moderate |
| 5 | Woolacombe | 15.0 miles | 24.0 km | moderate |
| 6 | Braunton | 13.0 miles | 21.0 km | easy |
| 7 | Instow | 11.0 miles | 17.5 km | easy |
| 8 | Westward Ho! | 11.0 miles | 18.0 km | strenuous |
| 9 | Clovelly | 10.5 miles | 16.5 km | strenuous |
| 10 | Hartland Quay | 12.0 miles | 19.0 km | severe |
Railway Stations
Barnstaple
Airports
Exeter
Books
R.D. Blackmoors 'Lorna Doone'
Henry Williamson 'Tarka The Otter'
Charles Kingsley 'The Water Babies' and 'Westward Ho!'
Charles Dickens 'Message from the Sea'
Cornwall Atlantic Coast
The lush green landscape of North Devon is replaced by rugged headlands exposing amazing distorted rock strata and secret sandy coves on Cornwall's Atlantic Coast. The trees found here are usually in sheltered valleys protected from the winter westerly winds between the cliff top headlands. Delightful fishing villages, Boscastle with its tiny harbour, Port Issac and Padstow. The mysterious legend of Port Quin. Rocky inlets at Crackington Haven and Trebarwith Strand. Tintagel, with its castle and the legend of King Arthur. Coves with evocative names like 'Hell's Mouth' 'Porth Joke' and 'Deadmans Cove.'
| Section | Distance | Walking Grades | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Stibb | 12.0 miles | 19.0 km | strenuous |
| 12 | Dizzard Point | 9.0 miles | 14.5 km | strenuous |
| 13 | Boscastle | 13.5 miles | 22.0 km | strenuous |
| 14 | Port lsaac | 11.5 miles | 19.0 km | strenuous (Ferry) |
| 15 | Padstow | 13.5 miles | 22.0 km | easy |
| 16 | Porthcothan | 11.0 miles | 18.0 km | moderate |
| 17 | Newquay | 11.0 miles | 17.5 km | moderate |
| 18 | Perranporth | 12.0 miles | 19.5 km | strenuous |
| 19 | Portreath | 18.0 miles | 29.0 km | moderate |
| 20 | St Ives | 6.5 miles | 10.5 km | severe |
Railway Stations
Barnstaple and Bodmin
Airports
Exeter
Books
Ronald Duncan's 'One Man is an Island'
Cornwall's Lands End and Lizard Peninsulas
St Ives a haven for artist's, attributed to the quality of it's light, is the gateway to the Lands End Peninsula with its unspoilt heather covered moors, rugged granite cliffs and the winding houses and chimneys, relic's left from a bygone age of tin mining. Stunning views from headlands at Zennor, Pendeen, Cape Cornwall, Land's End, Gwennap, Tater-Due and Carn-Du.
Magical Coves at Sennen and Lamorna. The Minack open air Theatre perched high on the cliff edge at Porthcurno. Mousehole is a very picturesque little fishing village. St Michaels Mount reached by boat, from Marazion at high water and by causeway at low water.
The Lizard coast is littered with coves such as Kynance and Church Cove, where the church is actually on the beach! Thatched cottages set around coves at Mullion and Cadgwith.
The Helford River creeks reach inland to Gweek and Constantine. The interesting sea port of Falmouth.
| Section | Distance | Walking Grades | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Zennor | 7.0 miles | 11.5 km | severe |
| 22 | Pendeen | 9.0 miles | 14.5 km | moderate |
| 23 | Sennen | 6.5 miles | 10.5 km | moderate |
| 24 | Porthcurno | 11.5 miles | 18.5 km | strenuous |
| 25 | Penzance | 14.0 miles | 22.5 km | moderate |
| 26 | Porthleven | 14.0 miles | 22.5 km | moderate |
| 27 | The Lizard | 10.5 miles | 17.0 km | moderate |
| 28 | Coverack | 13.0 miles | 21.0 km | moderate |
| 29 | Helford | 10.0 miles | 16.0 km | moderate (Ferry) |
| 30 | Falmouth | 13.5 miles | 22.0 km | moderate (Ferry) |
Railway Stations
St Ives, Penzance, Falmouth
Books
Derrick Tangy 'The Minack Chronicles'
Winston Graham 'Poldark'
Daphne Du Maurier's 'Jamaca Inn'
South Cornwall
From the historic sea port of Falmouth strategically placed on the mouth of Carrick Roads and guarded by the 16th century Penndennis Castle on one side and St Mawes Castle on the other. Crossing to St Antony Head, the coast is gentler footpath continues around serene headlands affording spectacular views over bays sheltering Pretty Villages such as Portloe, Mevagissey, Polperro and Cawsand. Also on route is Charlestown Harbour with its collection of old square-rigged sailing ships and shipwreck centre. Fowey a delightful Town with narrow streets was an important Town in the Crusades. St Catherine Castle was built in the 14th century to protect the port from the French.
| Section | Distance | Walking Grades | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Portloe | 12.5 miles | 20.0 km | moderate |
| 32 | Mevagissey | 7.0 miles | 11.5 km | strenuous |
| 33 | Charlestown | 10.5 miles | 16.5 km | moderate |
| 34 | Fowey | 12.0 miles | 19.5 km | strenuous (Ferry) |
| 35 | Looe | 17.5 miles | 28.0 km | moderate |
| 36 | Kingsand | 18.5 miles | 29.5 km | easy |
Railway Stations
Falmouth, Truro, St Austell, Looe and Plymouth
Airports
Newquay, Plymouth
South Devon
Rich, lush rolling countryside, red sandstone cliffs, sculptured by the sea. wooded river valleys and chocolate box cottages this is South Devon's coast line. The naval port of Plymouth is the start of this section, passing Newton Ferrers and Noss Mayo set in a deep Oak-wooded valley in the Yelm estuary. Salcombe beautifully set in a wooded valley with a pretty harbour Dartmouth, a charming Town with the ruins of its Castle still guarding the estuary mouth. One of the most beautiful estuaries is the Teign with Shaldon and Teignmouth on either side of the mouth. High red sandstone cliffs affording good viewing points interspersed with the small coastal towns of Dawlish, Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth and Seaton to the Dorset border.
| Section | Distance | Walking Grades | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | Wembury | 13.5 miles | 22.0 km | strenuous |
| 38 | Bigbury-on-Sea | 13.5 miles | 22.0 km | strenuous (Ferry) |
| 39 | Salcombe | 13.0 miles | 21.0 km | strenuous (Ferry) |
| 40 | Torcross | 10.0 miles | 16.0 km | moderate |
| 41 | Dartmouth | 11.0 miles | 17.5 km | strenuous (Ferry) |
| 42 | Brixham | 8.5 miles | 13.5 km | moderate |
| 43 | Torquay | 11.0 miles | 17.5 km | strenuous |
| 44 | Shaldon | 8.0 miles | 13.0 km | easy (Ferry) |
| 45 | Exmouth | 13.0 miles | 21.0 km | moderate |
| 46 | Sidmouth | 10.5 miles | 16.5 km | strenuous |
| 47 | Seaton | 14.0 miles | 23.0 km | moderate |
Railway Stations
Plymouth, Painton, Newton Abbot,
Exmouth, Honiton
Airports
Plymouth, Exeter
Books
Ronald Duncan's 'One Man is an Island'
Dorset
Dorset's coast ranges from sweeping valleys, high cliffs, with sea sculptured pillars, arches and coves, to the shingled Chesil Beach and sandy beaches at Weymouth, Swanage and Studland Bay, from Lyme Regis, with its famous Cob, the pretty villages of Charmouth with its thatched cottages and Burton Bradstock.
Thatched yellow stone cottages and the famous medieval swannery at Abbotsbury. Nature's spectacular sculptures at Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove.
| Section | Distance | Walking Grades | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48 | Seatown | 12.5 miles | 20.0 km | moderate |
| 49 | Abbotsbury | 14.5 miles | 23.0 km | strenuous |
| 50 | Weymouth | 13.0 miles | 25.5 km | moderate |
| 51 | Isle of Portland | 13.0 miles | 21.5 km | moderate |
| 52 | Lulworth | 11.0 miles | 17.5 km | severe |
| 53 | Chapman's Pool (Worth Matravers) | 10.0 miles | 16.0 km | moderate |
| 54 | Swanage | 7.5 miles | 12.0 km | moderate |
| 55 | Poole Harbour (South Haven Point) | |||
Please note: The final night of accommodation, following the walk to Poole, will be in Swanage
Railway Stations
Axminster, Weymouth, Wool and Poole
| The Basic Self-Guided Tariff Includes: | |||
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| The Complete Self-Guided Tariff Includes: | |||
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