Walking the coast from St Ives

Heading east from St Ives takes you around the spectacular St Ives Bay, towards Hayle and beyond to the magnificent Godrevy Head, immortalised in Virginia Woolf’s famous novel 'To the Lighthouse'.

As you walk, keep an eye out for grey seals playing and hunting for fish in the surf, and for the pod of bottlenose dolphins often seen further offshore. It’s also a good place to spot seabirds. Look out for guillemots, razorbills, fulmar and cormorant that all nest on the cliffs around the headland. It’s the perfect walk for a blustery autumnal day as you follow in Virginia Woolf’s literary footsteps.

Explore more of this beautiful bay by taking one of the most scenic train rides along the coast from St Ives to Carbis Bay and walk back. This short walk is just over a mile but if your feeling more adventurous, take the 3 mile walk to Lelant and catch the train back. You can do it the other way round of course and if you’re travelling to Cornwall by train, change at St Erth for the branch line to Lelant. In St Ives itself there’s the town trail for a longer walk, why not cover this section of the Coast Path all the way from Hayle to St Ives at just over 6 miles?

If you prefer a more rugged, wilder coastline, head west to Clodgy Point, a nice introduction to this atmospheric stretch of coastline that runs all the way to Cape Cornwall. If you feel like exploring further take the bus from St Ives and choose your spot!. The walk below from the Gurnards Head back is only 8.4 miles... but be warned, it's a long 8.4 miles!

Click on www.southwestcoastpath.com for more details of all these walks. You don’t always need a map to explore the coast. Just keep the sea on one side and follow the waymarked signs displaying the acorn. Happy walking!

Walk details and links:

Godrevy Head – 0.6 miles

Hayle to St Ives – 6.1 miles

St Ives town trail – 1.9 miles

St Ives to Clodgy Point – 3.3 miles

Gurnards Head to St Ives - 8.4 miles