Sennen Cove to Land's End Walk | The South West Coast Path

The South West Coast Path is a National Trail and England's longest waymarked footpath. Around 630 miles long it follows the coastline running from Minehead in Somerset all the way to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Some of the key spots on the route are:

North Devon & Somerset: Minehead, Lynton, Ilfracombe, Barnstaple, Bideford, Hartland Point
North Cornwall: Bude, Tintagel, Padstow, Newquay, St Ives
South Cornwall: Land's End, Penzance, Lizard's Point, Falmouth, Looe
South Devon: Plymouth, Salcombe, Dartmouth, Torbay, Teignmouth, Exmouth, Sidmouth
Dorset: Lyme Regis, Chesil Beach, Isle of Portland, Weymouth, Swanage, Poole

It is a superb coastal walk with stunning scenery along the way. According to the South West Coast Path guidebook, it takes most people 52 days to walk the path and as such the guidebook has been split into 52 sections each containing detailed itineraries for the day with useful information like places to sleep, eat & drink, tide timetables, points of interest along the path etc.

While in Cornwall recently, we did small sections of the coastal path around the places we stayed at. One such walk was from Sennen Cove to Land's End.

Sennen Cove to Land's End Walk

1. We parked at Sennen Cove Harbour Car Park (TR19 7DA). Parking charges were £1 for up to 2 hours, £2 for up to 4 hours and £3.50 for all day parking. From the car park, we started the walk with a moderately steep and long climb to Mayon Cliff. As we reached the top (the headland is known as 'Pedn-mên-du') there were stunning views over Whitesand Bay.

View of Sennen Cove from the Coast Path (above)

2. At the top is an old coastguard lookout which has now been refurbished by National Trust and contains information about the local area.

3. As we continued the walk along the granite clifftops we noticed the remains of a ship on the rocks below. A little further there was an information board and we got a better view of the shipwreck. It was the debris of a German cargo ship called RMS Mulheim that was wrecked at Land's End (In March 2003) when the chief officer fell unconscious while on watch. Later that year, in heavy seas, the ship was broken into two pieces and the wreckage lies there since then.

4. The walk continues past the site of an Iron Age cliff castle called Maen Castle. A mile and a half further out to sea is the Longships Lighthouse which is unmanned remotely monitored from Harwich.

5. We continued walking along high cliffs and windswept heath and reached Land's End, mainland Britain’s most south-westerly point. There is a visitor center, refreshments kiosks and other facilities here. And a lot of tourists as well who drive down to Land's End directly. We just spent a short time here taking in the scenery and continued walking.

6. A little further is a beautiful stone arch called Enys Dodnan Arch. The arch is not visible until you have passed the rocky outcrop. The best viewing point for the arch is the next headland on the route.

7. Just a short walk along the headland is Greeb Farm, a charming farm park home to sheep, goats, rabbits, pigs, miniature ponies, alpacas etc. There is also a craft workshop on the site.

8. From here we started to make our way back. We took the same path back down to Sennen Cove.

It was a moderately challenging walk and was around 5 miles (to and back). We loved the walk along the high cliffs. The rugged terrain, the fantastic views of the sea and the tranquility of the place; it was all fabulous. If you love nature/outdoors and enjoy walking, this is not to be missed.