Hiking the South West Coast Path

The South West Coast Path in South West England is the longest National Trail in Great Britain at 630 miles, offering spectacular landscapes with wild and rugged coasts, stunning beaches and lush gardens. This coastal path begins on the shores of the Irish Sea inMinehead, Somerset, then runs along the north coast of Exmoor and leads south to Cornwall, which it circles completely. In doing so, you pass Land’s End, the westernmost point, and Lizard Point, the southernmost point of the British mainland, before the path runs eastwards along the English Channel coast to Devon and finally ends in Dorset at Poole Harbour. It takes roughly seven to eight weeks to complete the entire route.

Experiencing the South West Coast Path

The South West Coast Path can easily be broken down into smaller sections, either as multi-day tours or day hikes. This way, you can experience many of the highlights along the English south-west coast even on shorter trips. Since this part of the British mainland has the mildest climate on the island – favoured by the warm Gulf Stream in the Atlantic – the path can be walked all year round. In summer, there’s naturally the chance for refreshing breaks with a dip in the sea. For this reason, you should book your accommodation well in advance for a summer tour. The path mostly runs above the rocky cliffs, but leads in a constant up and down through the mouths of small valleys or along sandy beaches accessible at low tide. So the total ascent does add up quite a bit.

Since I only had a week’s stay available myself, I chose Lizard Point in the far south, Sennen Cove in the far west and Trebarwith Beach in North Cornwall, to get different impressions of the coastal landscape on day hikes. From Trebarwith Strand, I hiked past former slate quarries over to Tintagel, which legend says is the birthplace of King Arthur. Accordingly, the village and the castle ruins by the sea are teeming with people, but just a few metres further on it’s quiet again. At Sennen Cove, besides rounding the westernmost tip of Great Britain, there’s a great choice of inviting sandy beaches and turquoise sea, e.g. Porth Chapel Cove, Porthcurno Beach. At Lizard Point, there are also varied rock formations and swimming beaches such as Kynance Cove.

Alongside the scenic highlights are impressive castles and, above all, the lush gardens with exotic plants for this latitude, which survive the winters in Cornwall’s mild climate and sheltered valleys.

More pictures from Cornwall in the Great Britain photo gallery.