Walking Holidays In Cornwall

Cornwall is quite simply unique. A land that has always felt itself to be a nation apart, Cornwall exists as an outstretched limb of land thrust accusingly away from “up country” England, pointing straight into the depths of the wildest Atlantic seascape. For walkers Cornwall feels like, and indeed literally is, right at the end of the trail. A place where the land simply runs out and the sun sets on the end of our immediate world.  Surrounded on three sides by so much ocean fury, Cornwall is almost a geographic island and, with its own Celtic heritage Cornwall has also been a social island which had its own language and even now displays its own unique culture, history and landscape - all of it waiting to be encountered on foot on a Cornwall Walking Holiday.

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Cornish Coast Path - highlight of the 630 mile South West Coast Path.

For those thinking of a Cornwall Walking Holiday,  the obvious choice is to wander the zenith of the UK’s best loved (and longest) National Trail – the South West Coastal Path.  The Cornish Coast Path section runs to around 330 miles, travelling along a rollercoaster trail through a harsh and wild land where ancient moorland peppered with prehistoric remains and ghostly tin mines abruptly butts up against the  most dramatic, breath taking and historically significant coastline in England. 

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This spine of mighty cliffs and coves starts near Hartland Quay on the Devon border before merging with the vast dunes and sandbanks of mighty river estuaries as it heads for the Lands End Trail at the most western point in the UK.  Walking in Cornwall delivers mesmerising skylines of mining relics, stone circles, towering crags and hidden smugglers coves.  Pitched against this, those enjoying a walking holiday in Cornwall benefit from tranquil overnight stays in a mix of hidden Cornish Hamlets, Mediterranean like harbours towns, and time warped fishing villages.  

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For sheer variety in a walking route the South West Coast Path sections have it all and whether your images of the Cornish Coast are rooted in the Famous Five or in Daphne du Maurier,  it still holds and delivers that mystical, sea salted atmosphere that has inspired coast path writers from Rosamund Pilcher to Thomas Hardy.  Whilst some things may have changed since they walked the Lands End Trail, one truth remains  – the most complete way to lose the holiday crowds, uncover this unique land and engage with its rugged coastline is by leaving the car behind and walking the Cornish Coastal Path.