Route & stages · the South West Coast Path
The Best Sections of the South West Coast Path — by Walker Type
Quick answer. There is no single best section, only the best one for what you want. For scenery walk Penwith, St Ives to Marazion (stages 21–24). For a first trip walk Padstow to St Ives (15–20). For harbours and fishing villages walk Par to Plymouth (33–35) or Tintagel to Padstow (13–14). For geology walk Dorset, Seaton to South Haven Point (46–52). For quiet cliffs walk the Roseland and the Hartland peninsula. Cornwall has the most of everything because it is half the trail; Dorset is the shortest full county and the easiest to reach from London.
- St Ives → Marazion, stages 21–24Scenery
- Padstow → St Ives, stages 15–20First trip
- Par → Plymouth, stages 33–35Harbours
- Seaton → South Haven Point, stages 46–52Geology
- Falmouth → Mevagissey, stages 30–31Quiet
"Which section should I walk?" is the question the South West Coast Path gets asked most, and the honest answer depends on who is asking. This guide sorts the 52 stages by what different walkers want — views, an easy introduction, harbours, rocks, or nobody else on the path — using the highlights and ratings on each stage page and the 47 place pages in the culture section.
The distances and ascent are the same as on the stage pages, measured along the mapped route.
Cornwall v Devon v Dorset
Before the recommendations, the raw comparison. Somerset is included for completeness; at two stages it is an overture rather than a section.
| County | Stages | Days | km | mi | Ascent | m / km | Hard stages | Ferries and crossings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somerset & Exmoor | 1–2 | 2 | 35.0 | 21.7 | 1,158 m | 33.1 | 0 | 0 |
| North Devon | 3–10 | 8 | 166.1 | 103.2 | 3,925 m | 23.6 | 3 | 1 |
| Cornwall | 11–35 | 25 | 483.1 | 300.2 | 11,205 m | 23.2 | 3 | 8 |
| South Devon | 36–45 | 10 | 212.8 | 132.2 | 5,031 m | 23.6 | 2 | 7 |
| Dorset & the Jurassic Coast | 46–52 | 7 | 153.8 | 95.6 | 3,190 m | 20.7 | 3 | 1 |
Read across and three things show. Cornwall is half the walk, which is why it has the most of everything. The three big counties are almost identical in steepness — 23 m of climb per kilometre — so "Cornwall is easier than Devon" is not true on average; it is the individual stages that differ. And the ferries are a south-coast phenomenon: eight in Cornwall and seven in South Devon against one each in North Devon and Dorset.
For scenery: Penwith, St Ives to Marazion
Stages 21, 22, 23 and 24. Four days, 70.9 km, 1,656 m of ascent.
This is the granite toe of Cornwall and the densest run of famous places on the path. Day one is Zennor Head and Gurnard's Head to Pendeen Watch lighthouse — the roughest ground in Cornwall, graded hard, and the reason to do this section in four days rather than three. Day two passes the Botallack and Levant mines, Geevor and Cape Cornwall to Sennen Cove. Day three is Land's End, the Minack Theatre and Porthcurno and Logan Rock; day four is Mousehole, Penzance and St Michael's Mount. Stations at St Ives and Penzance.
The rivals, if you have done Penwith: the Hartland coast in North Devon (Hartland Quay's folded strata, Hartland Point, Speke's Mill Mouth) and the Dorset chalk between Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove and Old Harry Rocks. Both are harder walking than Penwith.
For a first trip: Padstow to St Ives
Stages 15 to 20. Six days, 112.6 km, 2,157 m of ascent, nothing graded hard.
The reasons are practical. The highest point in six days is 101 m. The two flattest days come at the end, when you are tired. There is a town or a beach with a café most days, so water and food are not a problem. And the scenery is not a compromise: Bedruthan Steps, Watergate Bay, the Gannel, Perran Sands, Wheal Coates and the St Agnes mining coast, Hell's Mouth, Godrevy lighthouse and finally St Ives. The Padstow–Rock ferry at the start runs year-round; the Gannel on stage 17 is a seasonal ferry or tidal stepping stones, with an inland detour near high water. The beginners' guide goes into the fitness and the booking.
The alternative first trip with a station at both ends is Marazion to Falmouth around the Lizard (stages 25–29): Lizard Point, Cadgwith, Coverack, the Helford and Trebah and Glendurgan gardens. Two of its crossings are seasonal, so it is a spring-to-autumn walk.
For harbours and fishing villages: south Cornwall
Two runs stand out. Tintagel to Padstow (stages 13 and 14) gives you Tintagel's Old Post Office, Trebarwith Strand, Port Isaac, Pentire Point and the Rumps, Polzeath and the ferry into Padstow in two days — but stage 13 is the second-steepest on the path, so it is a harbour walk with a sting.
Par to Plymouth (stages 33, 34 and 35) is gentler on the legs and denser in harbours: Gribbin daymark, Fowey and the Polruan ferry, Polperro, Looe and Looe Island, Whitsand Bay, Rame Head chapel, Mount Edgcumbe and the Cremyll ferry into Plymouth. Add Mevagissey to Par at the front for Pentewan and Charlestown. Par and Looe have stations; Plymouth is on the main line.
South Devon has the estuary towns — Salcombe, Dartmouth, Brixham and Berry Head — on stages 38 to 41, with a ferry across the mouth of almost every one.
For geology: Dorset, Seaton to South Haven Point
Stages 46 to 52. Seven days with the Portland circuit, six without; 153.8 km and 3,190 m, or 131.5 km and 2,830 m.
The Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site actually begins at Orcombe Point on stage 44, just east of Exmouth, so the red cliffs of Exmouth to Sidmouth and the chalk of Beer Head on Sidmouth to Seaton are part of it too — add them if you have nine days. From Seaton the sequence is the Undercliff landslip, Lyme Regis and the Cobb, the fossil cliffs at Charmouth, Golden Cap, the eighteen miles of Chesil Beach past Abbotsbury, Portland Bill and the quarries, Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove, the Lulworth ranges and Tyneham, Kimmeridge, St Aldhelm's Head, Dancing Ledge and Old Harry Rocks to the finish at South Haven Point. The stage page for Seaton to Seatown warns that the fossil cliffs are unstable — look at them from the path, not from underneath.
Three of the seven stages are graded hard, and stage 51 depends on the ranges being open. Weymouth station, on the main line from London, sits in the middle.
Cornwall's geology alternative is the Penwith mining coast above, or Millook Haven's chevron folds and High Cliff on stages 11–12.
For quiet: the Roseland, Hartland and the ranges
Quiet on this path means a stage with no town in the middle, and the ratings find them for you.
- Falmouth to Mevagissey (stages 30 and 31): the Roseland cliffs past St Anthony Head, Nare Head, Portloe, Caerhays and Dodman Point. Stage 30 is the longest on the path at 27.5 km and needs two ferries (St Mawes year-round, Place seasonal); stage 31's warning is simply "quiet — limited services".
- Clovelly to Bude (stages 9 and 10): the Hartland peninsula, both rated 4 for remoteness, both graded hard. Quiet because it is hard.
- Lulworth Cove to Worth Matravers (stage 51): remoteness 4, few exits, and empty on the days the ranges are open because so many people assume they are not.
- Porlock Weir to Lynmouth (stage 2): the Exmoor woods past Culbone Church, with few facilities between the ends.
Avoid, if quiet is the point, Sennen Cove to Lamorna in summer — the stage page's only warning is that Land's End is very busy — and the resort seafronts of Torbay on stage 42.
For a short, satisfying finish: the last two days
If you have walked the rest over the years, or just want to stand at the end, stages 51 and 52 are 47.3 km and 1,182 m from Lulworth Cove to the finish marker, with Old Harry Rocks and Ballard Down as the last high ground. The Sandbanks chain ferry beside the marker runs year-round, so getting away is the easy part.
Choosing between them
If you have one week and no strong preference, walk Padstow to St Ives. If you have walked that and want more, walk Penwith. If you want the trail's reputation for hard walking, go to North Devon. If you want the easiest journey from London, go to Dorset. And if you plan to do all of it eventually, the itineraries guide shows how the five counties chain together over five or six trips.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most scenic part of the South West Coast Path?
Most walkers would say Penwith — the granite coast from St Ives round Land's End to Mousehole, stages 21 to 24 — for Zennor Head, the Botallack engine houses, Cape Cornwall, Land's End, Porthcurno and St Michael's Mount in four days. North Devon's Hartland coast and the Dorset chalk between Durdle Door and Old Harry are the two rivals.
Which section of the South West Coast Path is best for a first-timer?
Padstow to St Ives, stages 15–20. Six days, none graded hard, the highest point 101 m, a station at the finish, and the beaches and headlands of north Cornwall the whole way. Marazion to Falmouth around the Lizard is the alternative with a station at both ends.
Which is better to walk, Cornwall or Devon?
Cornwall has more of everything because it is 25 of the 52 stages — the most famous scenery, the most harbours, the most ferries. Devon is two very different coasts: North Devon has the hardest climbing on the path, South Devon has the estuaries and seven crossings in ten stages. If you can only do one week, Cornwall; if you like a challenge, North Devon.
Is the Jurassic Coast section worth walking?
Yes, and it is the easiest section to reach from London by train. The seven Dorset stages take in the Undercliff, Lyme Regis, Golden Cap, Chesil Beach, Portland, Durdle Door, Lulworth and Old Harry Rocks, and finish at the marker at South Haven Point. Three of the seven are graded hard, so it is not the gentle option people sometimes assume.
Where is the quietest part of the South West Coast Path?
The Roseland and the coast to Mevagissey (stages 30–31, warned on the stage page as quiet with limited services), the Hartland peninsula (stages 9–10, remoteness 4), and the Lulworth ranges stage (51). None has a town in the middle, which is why they are quiet.
