chloedickensonLast Updated on 9th July 2023
AD | This post about the ultimate Cornwall road trip is sponsored by Classic Cottages and contains affiliate links. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own, please see my disclaimer for more.
Whether you’ve got 48 hours in Cornwall or a full week dedicated to road-tripping around Cornwall, I truly believe that this beautiful English county has something to offer everyone. Despite being to Cornwall on holiday as a kid, I don’t actually remember much of it at all, so when we were planning our South Coast England road trip, I knew that I wanted to add Cornwall to our itinerary.
We spent five days in Cornwall on our most recent trip and while I think that’s definitely enough time to see and do everything you want in Cornwall, I could have probably quite happily stayed much longer! Cornwall is famed for its beautiful beaches, excellent surf and of course, its beloved Cornish pasties and in today’s travel guide, I’ll be spilling the beans on all the best things to do in Cornwall to ensure that you have an awesome trip!
7 Day Cornwall road trip itinerary map
The map above is a rough route of our Cornwall road trip so you can see an approximate route that will take you to all the best spots in Cornwall.
7 Day Cornwall road trip itinerary summary
- Polperro
- Lantic Bay
- Eden Project
- Lizard Point
- Kynance Cove
- St Michael’s Mount
- Porthcurno Beach
- Minack Theatre
- Land’s End
- Sennen Cove
- St Ives
- Gwithian Beach
- Tintagel Castle
1. Try a Cornish Pasty in Polperro – Cornwall road trip
Polperro was the first official stop on our Cornwall road trip after we’d arrived in Cornwall from Plymouth and we’d spent the night at a campsite just near Looe. The adorable fishing village of Polperro is full of picturesque souvenir shops, gorgeous little cafes and ice cream parlours and ample places to try a Cornish Pasty!
We paid a visit to the Polperro Bakery where we indulged in the first Cornish pasties of our trip, I went for a mint and lamb one and Matt opted for the traditional variety; both were absolutely divine and I’m already thinking about heading back there for more 😜.
2. Admire the views of Lantic Bay
Lantic Bay, specifically the walk leading down to Lantic Bay, was one of my favourite places in the whole of Cornwall. The walk from the Lantic Bay National Trust car park (£2 for 1 hour, £4 for 4 hours, £8 for whole day) is around a 45-minute walk each way and you can also complete a circular loop that takes you right along the clifftop, with stunning views of the bay and ocean below.
The beach at Lantic Bay is stony, so it’s not exactly the best place to pitch up for the day and sunbathe, but there were still plenty of families playing on the beach, swimming in the sea and frolicking in between the awesome rock formations. The water is also truly beautiful here; it’s so clear and blue, even on a cloudy day.
3. Get green-fingered at the Eden Project
I’ll be completely honest now and say that the Eden Project wasn’t my favourite thing to do in Cornwall at all and if you want my wholehearted opinion, I’d say that it wasn’t worth the money. However, I know that it’s something that a lot of people want to see/do in Cornwall, so I’ve included it in this post anyway, just to give you a bit of an honest opinion.
With a ticket price of £32.50 for adults, I think it’s a bit steep for what it actually is, but then the ticket price is classed as a donation to the Eden Project, so if you’re a big fan of flowers, plants and trees and looking after the environment and climate change, then it’s nice to think that your donation goes some way to helping with these causes. Also, the £32.50 ticket price means that your ticket is valid for one year from the date of purchase, so if you live nearby, or you plan on visiting the Eden Project multiple times, it’s actually somewhat of a bargain.
Inside the Eden Project, you’ll find enormous biomes that reside in a giant crater that was once a former clay mine and it’s now home to the world’s largest indoor rainforest. While naturally, it’s all incredibly cool to see, I think that the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore ruined anything remotely close to the Eden Project as nothing (in my opinion) could compare to the remarkable flower domes in Singapore. However, as I said, I’m always a fan of advocating for people to make their own opinions about places, so if you think that the Eden Project is likely to be your kind of thing, please just ignore me completely!
4. Be swept up in nature at Lizard Point – Cornwall road trip
Contrary to my opinions and expectations of the Eden Project, Lizard Point vastly exceeded all my expectations beyond belief. The scenery and landscape here blew me away and at first, I was a little disappointed that the weather was so grim and grey, but if anything, it only made everything look even more spectacular.
While Land’s End is much more famous than Lizard Point, this is actually the most southerly point of mainland England and it’s equally as mesmerising and stunning, in my opinion.
To get to Lizard Point, you can either park in Lizard itself on a large grassy area in the main square of the town (it’s “free”, with a suggested donation of £3), or you can park in the National Trust Lizard Point car park (although I’m not sure of the parking fees here as we left our car in Lizard and then walked to the lookout point).
5. Take a dip at Kynance Cove – Cornwall road trip
From Lizard, you can actually walk to Kynance Cove along the South West Coast Path, or you can complete the Lizard circular coastal walk that’s around 7 miles in total and will likely take you around 3 hours. Alternatively, you can park in the National Trust Kynance Cove car park (£2 for 1 hour) and then walk down to the cove from there which takes around 10 minutes. However, I’ve heard that this car park can get incredibly busy and in this case, you will be directed to a large private field which is about a 30-minute walk to the cove.
As we arrived at Kynance Cove after 8.30pm (we’d had a very busy day!), the whole place was practically empty and while it would have been awesome to see the cove during beautiful sunshine, especially after all the incredible pictures I’d seen of it during good weather, I think it actually looked really amazing in stormy weather.
6. Walk across to St Michael’s Mount
Unfortunately, we timed our visit to St Michael’s Mount terribly which meant that the tide was in by the time we got there so we couldn’t walk across the causeway like you can when the tide is out. You can get a boat across, but we didn’t really want to do that, so we just admired the view of the Mount from Marazion Beach.
If you do want to walk across the causeway to get to the island, be sure to check tidal crossing times to see the best time to get across.
7. Soak up the sunshine at Porthcurno Beach
We didn’t actually intend to visit Porthcurno Beach at first as our original plan was to visit Pedn Vounder Beach, but as we were driving, the weather was pretty awful so we decided to skip the latter and somehow ended up at a viewpoint overlooking Porthcurno Beach.
Neither of us are particularly beachy people and while I absolutely adore looking at the beach and sea (I could literally stare out from viewpoints like the one above all day), we don’t often spend a lot of time actually chilling on the beach. Porthcurno Beach is an absolute dream though and the water here is so blue and magical, even when it was incredibly overcast and drizzling with rain. The lookout point featured in the photo above is pretty much right next to the Minack Theatre entrance, so if you were wanting to watch an open-air performance, you can enjoy both these things at the same time.
8. Watch an open-air performance at the Minack Theatre
Speaking of the Minack Theatre, this epic clifftop open-air theatre is a marvel to enjoy in itself, but if you’re looking to take your visit one step further, be sure to pre-book a theatre performance to watch while you’re there. Alternatively, you can book a guided tour that will show you more about the history of the theatre and surrounding garden areas that reside on top of a rugged cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
9. Go west at Land’s End – Cornwall road trip itinerary
Land’s End is arguably one of the most famous places in Cornwall, and perhaps even in the whole of the UK, most notably famed for the Land’s End to John O Groats walk, cycle or run journey.
It was my first visit to Land’s End and while you certainly won’t see me hopping on a bike and completing the famous traverse anytime soon, I was just happy to visit the renowned landmark, especially as we coincidentally timed our visit there with one of the attraction’s firework shows.
Entrance to Land’s End costs £7 per car which I thought was pretty steep at first, especially considering that you’re essentially paying to see the coastline and the sea, but I do think it’s well worth the money and especially because we got to see the firework show which was included in the price of the entrance fee.
While you’re at Land’s End, be sure to take a walk along the coast and stop at Gamper Bay where you can see the shipwreck of RMS Mulheim; a German cargo ship that was wrecked at Land’s End in March 2003. Apparently, it was too dangerous and difficult to try and rescue the wreck, so it’s now just left there as an additional landmark as part of your visit to Land’s End.
10. Do the coastal walk along Sennen Cove
While you can drive to Sennen Cove and park up and enjoy the town that way, it’s also great to access Sennen Cove by walking along the coast all the way from Land’s End.
From the Mayon Cliff Old Coastguard lookout point, you can see all the way to Sennen Cove and if you want to explore it further, you can continue along the coastal path which will take you all the way there.
11. Stroll on the spectacular sand at Gwithian Beach
Gwithian Beach might just be my favourite beach in Cornwall; just look how lush that sand is! It was also ridiculously quiet when we visited Gwithian Beach, which I couldn’t believe considering just how pristine and beautiful it was. We did visit on a pretty overcast day, but it still surprised me how quiet it was, I hope you get as lucky if you decide to add Gwithian Beach to your Cornwall road trip itinerary!
12. Play on the beach in Perranporth – Cornwall road trip itinerary
Perranporth is a seaside town that I visited as a kid with my family but I can’t remember that holiday at all, so it was lovely to revisit it while we were in Cornwall as part of our South Coast England road trip.
As you can see from the picture above, Perranporth Beach was positively heaving while we were there and I’m pretty sure you can expect it to be like this throughout the whole of summer.
If you’re prepared to brave the crowds, then Perranporth is definitely one of the best places in Cornwall as it’s such a lovely little seaside town, with lots of great fish and chip shops, yummy ice cream parlours and of course, that huge expanse of spectacular beach.
13. Spot the hotel from ‘The Witches’ at Fistral Beach
Fistral Beach is another one of the best things to do in Cornwall and if you’re a fan of the Roald Dahl book and adapted film, The Witches, you may notice The Headland hotel which was actually a filming location for the original movie which sits perched atop a little hill overlooking Fistral Beach.
Fistral Beach itself is renowned for being one of the best beaches in Cornwall, thanks to its “surfable” waters which makes it a fantastic place for watersports fans. Of course, the beach is also ideal for families who just want to spend the day frolicking in the sand, paddling in the sea and eating ice creams that will inevitably get covered in sand!
14. Wander the cute streets of Padstow
We only made a brief stop in Padstow, but from what we saw of it, I’d highly recommend adding it to your list of unmissable things to do in Cornwall.
Padstow is also home to Rick Stein’s flagship Seafood Restaurant and if you’re wanting to try it out while you’re visiting the quaint fishing village, you can expect lengthy queues at times as it’s one of the top eating spots in the area!
15. Go dolphin-watching from Port Isaac – Cornwall road trip
Port Isaac is a great place to base yourself if you’re looking for somewhere to stay with sea views, plenty of great little cafes to eat and of course, lots of dolphin-spotting opportunities!
It’s an adorable fishing village that’s also known for its water sports and even though we visited fairly late in the evening, the waters were teeming with stand-up paddleboarders, swimmers and boat trips. It was also home to the TV series Doc Martin, so if you’re a fan of the show, it’s pretty cool to wander around and visit all the filming locations.
16. Be blown away by the landscape at Tintagel Castle
To conclude this post about the best things to do in Cornwall, I’ve saved probably my favourite place in Cornwall for last and incidentally, the last place we visited before heading back into Devon.
The village of Tintagel and Tintagel Castle itself is one of the most remarkable places in Cornwall and the scenery and landscape here will certainly blow your mind. Tintagel Castle looks like something straight out of Game of Thrones and while it might sound a bit dramatic, I was actually a bit overwhelmed by how breathtaking it was.
As it was pouring with rain hours before we actually went to Tintagel Castle, we didn’t get there until after 8 pm which meant the swing bridge and entrance to the visitor part of the castle were closed, but I genuinely wouldn’t have had it any other way as it meant we had the whole lookout point to ourselves and we could still see everything we wanted to, without having to pay the £17 entrance fee!
We parked in the King Arthur’s Arms pub car park (and we also stayed there overnight for just £5) and from there, it’s about a 10-15 minute walk to the castle.
If I could only recommend one place to you guys that you absolutely have to visit in Cornwall, I think it would be Tintagel Castle!
Bonus things to do in Cornwall
While I think we managed to see and do an awful lot in Cornwall, there are of course a few things that we missed out on, so I’ve added a few bonus things to do in Cornwall below.
- Go for a swim at St Ives
- Enjoy some water sports at Newquay
- Visit Porthmeor Beach
- Spend time at Watergate Bay
- Experience The Lost Gardens of Heligan
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Have you ever been to Cornwall? Is it somewhere you’d like to visit one day? Let me know in the comments or on Instagram @imjustagirl_16.
