Past Tintagel's medieval Old Post Office and Trebarwith Strand to the fishing village of Port Isaac.
Highlights
- Tintagel Old Post Office
- Trebarwith Strand
- Port Isaac
Know before you go
- Switchback cliffs
Climbs 862 m and descends 879 m, topping out at 126 m and dropping to 6 m. Measured along the mapped route.
What you walk on, by distance (from OpenStreetMap way types).
Four axes rated 1–5 — the single rating above is only the headline.
Past Tintagel's medieval Old Post Office and Trebarwith Strand to the fishing village of Port Isaac.
Places on this leg with a full history, and free audio guides you can read or hear.
Tintagel to Port Isaac is 9.3 miles (14.9 km). Allow about 5 h 12 min of walking, before stops.
Stage 13 climbs about 862 m and descends about 879 m, with a high point of about 126 m. On the South West Coast Path the ascent, not the distance, is what decides how long a day takes — the route repeatedly drops to sea level and climbs straight back out.
It is graded hard. Rated out of five: physical demand 2/5 (Modest), terrain 3/5 (Moderate), navigation 2/5 (Modest), remoteness 2/5 (Modest). On the SAC hiking scale it is T2 — some steep, rough or uneven ground.
By distance the surface is footpath 92%, track 1%, road & lane 7%. Percentages come from the mapped way types along the route.
March to October is the usual window for this leg. Outside it, daylight is short, some estuary ferries stop running and cliff-top wind and rain make an exposed route much harder work.
Water on this stage is moderate. We map 5 refill points on the leg — mostly pubs, cafés and taps in the villages the path passes through. Shade is minimal: this is open cliff-top walking, so carry more than you think in summer.
Highlights on this leg are Tintagel Old Post Office, Trebarwith Strand, Port Isaac. It also passes 1 place we cover in depth: Tintagel Old Post Office. There is 1 free audio guide between them.
Switchback cliffs.