SWCP Land’s End to Plymouth

Over twenty days in the late summer of 2026, we hiked from Land’s End to Plymouth along the South West Coast Path, thus completing South Cornwall’s coast path. We arrived at Land’s End on 25 August 2026, and finished walking in Plymouth on 15 September. We planned and booked everything ourselves. We used the Trailblazer guidebook, booked BnBs/Pubs/Hotels as close as possible to the trail in November 2025, and used Luggage Transfer Ltd to move our two bags between each accommodation.

Below is a table summarizing each day. After that are my reflections on this walk and what’s next, followed by the list of blogs. You can enlarge the Google map for a closer look at the route we actually took.

Summary

#	Destination	Miles	Feet ascent	Highlights
-1	Cornwall!			Intro: South West Coast Path: Here We Come!
0	Land’s End Hotel			Plane with cancellation, bus, train, and taxi. Fighting jet lag, great views, seagulls, Land’s End to ourselves after the crowds left.
1	The Studio, Treen	6.7	1411	Cliffs, islands, coves, choughs, cows, blackberries, Minack Theatre, fix own dinner/breakfast in great studio.
2	Old Coastguard, Mousehole	9.4	2136	Rugged and rocky path, fishing villages, gorse, Penlee Lifeboat memorial. Most tiring day. View of island in rain from hotel.
3	Godolphin Hotel, Marazion	7.0	387	Light rain, road walking, Penlee Lifeboat station, Newlyn, Quavers and iced buns, Penzance swimming pool, crab-loaded chips, St Michael’s Mount and tides.
4	Kota Rooms, Porthleven	11.2	1886	Path’s great walkability, agriculture, old buildings, long lunch at Praa Sands during heavy rain, beach walk, unstable cliffs, old mining buildings. Small bedroom, bar’s live music and 5am soloist outside window.
5	Polurrian, Mullion	7.5	1283	Ready to walk 14 miles rather than 2×7, and want to skip waiting for 9am breakfast. Wide open vistas, path dancing along top of stable cliff, St Winwaloe’s Church of the Storms, Marconi monument, fine hotel. Large dining room to ourselves.
6	Top House Inn, Lizard	9.7	1506	Clifftop cows, Mullion Cove, golf course, looking back several days along coast, rounding Lizard Point, farm shop cream tea. Bedroom also had bunks.
7	Old Post Office, Coverack	8.8	1772	Tough overgrown trail, wet and very strong wind. Quavers for lunch, then take welcome inland shortcut with sheep and cows. Great old house on water but sloping bedroom. Fantastic dinner at Lifeboat House. Very homey.
8	Gallen-Treath, Porthallow	7.2	787	Rough sleep on sloping bed! Day off. Finding coast scenery somewhat monotonous, tough in annoying strong cross wind. Took inland route via Roskilly’s Farm with ponds and animals. Lunch from SPAR, cream tea at Fat Apples, SWCP halfway marker. Dinner at BnB with view and lots of Route 66 artefacts.
9	Trevarn, Mawnan Smith	10.7	1768	Fine straightforward walking, ferries across Gillian Creek and Helford Passage. Fallen trees from January storm. Polgwidden Cove used to launch D Day Landing, hay bales. standalone self contained BnB, short walk to busy pub.
10	Jacob’s Ladder, Falmouth	7.5	774	Peaceful, dewy morning, beachy coves, water sports as we approached Falmouth, WW2 home guard monument, watching yacht race from below Pendennis Castle, naval docks, climb to pub, less friendly welcome, laundrette, Chinese takeaway.
11	Plume of Feathers, Portscatho	6.5	833	Breakfast to take away. Recognize the joy from the variety and unknown that each day brings. Ferries to St Mawes and Place. Memorial to WW2 Operation Chariot at St Nazaire. St Anthony’s lighthouse, fine coastal walking, lunch at perfect viewpoint, very cool Portscatho vibe, no roast but best mussels, fish pie, and BBQ flatbread.
12	Lugger Hotel, Portloe	8.2	1588	Quieter after weekend, Nare Head bunkers and WW2 decoys, harbour views, swim, dinner at Portloe.
13	Wheelhouse, Mevagissey	12.9	2986	Tail end of rain at start, in and out of lots of coves, beaches, headlands, lookout hut as wedding venue, cross on Dodman Point, busy Mevagissey with seal, then quiet at 5pm, Indian dinner. Longest day not too bad, ate too much Indian food.
14	Pier House, Charlestown	8.1	2041	Breakfast from Cornish Bakery, lots of ups and downs, see coastline ahead of next few days, fish and chips and ice cream on arrival in Charlestown with very cool vibe, large comfortable pub.
15	Galleon Inn, Fowey	11.0	1729	Reflecting that all things of man are temporal. Golf course over Par, derelict China clay works, huge beach and kite surfer, rocky road treat, the Gribbin Daymarker.
16	Landaviddy Farm, Polperro	8.5	2208	Ferry to Polruan, open walking on clifftops with lots of ups and downs. Cute and touristy Polperro with long steep climb to BnB. Tea and cake on arrival, biscuits for dinner.
17	Fieldhead Hotel, Looe	5.7	935	Day off. Beautiful easy stretch with lots of Saturday walkers. Polperro memorial cross. Nelson the seal. Crab sandwich at Old Sardine Factory. Jacket spud with beans and cheese at hotel for dinner.
18	Finnygook Inn, Portwrinkle	10.4	2008	Early start, breakfast in town on way, deserted path, beaches to cliff tops, hike up hill by golf course, very friendly pub with lots of indoor dogs, fabulous roast dinner, great view.
19	Half Way House, Kingsand	10.1	1316	Foggy all day. Cows, sheep, shooting range, old fort, houses with no road access, chapel in the mist, old Cornwall/Devon border.
20	Premier Inn, Plymouth	7.4	791	Late start after breakfast, rocky shore, naval ship, Mount Edgcumbe, last Cornish cream tea, ferry to Devon, immediately urban, seafront to Mayflower steps, Flapjackery, no checkin until 3pm, no bags until 4:30 because of puncture, Wetherspoons for simple dinner, very comfortable bed with air conditioning.
	Totals	174.5	30145

Reflections

My thoughts below are written out to help me plan and prepare for future hiking adventures, though others might find them useful. With that in mind, I first provide an overview of our background.

Janet is originally from Louisiana and I am from the UK. We are in our late 50s and retired. We lived in the UK with our young kids for 5.5 years and have been visiting annually for the last five years, primarily to complete a multi-day, inn-to-inn hike. Our previous trips have been (1) Coast to Coast with our kids and two friends (2) the northern half of the Cotswold Way, using a hotel in Cheltenham as a base, (3) Hadrian’s Wall path (4) the southern half of the Cotswold Way with four friends, and (5) the eastern half of the Thames Path with two friends. Janet had not done any long-distance, multi-day hiking before the Coast to Coast. We both love it and plan to continue completing multi-day hiking trips throughout UK for as long as we are able to. I also backpack (hiking and camping) in remote areas by myself, with friends, or with our son Samuel. Janet and I also enjoy exploring with our motorhome.

The goals of this trip were to see how we handled a longer trip when it was just the two of us, to assess accommodation options, and to check out the South West Coast Path. This was a stepping stone towards our ambition of the much longer Land’s End to John O’Groats, which necessitates carrying all your own stuff rather than use luggage transfer. We achieved those goals, and learned more that will help us in future hikes.

Booking ourselves vs with a company. I am very glad we booked our first trip, the Coast to Coast, through a company (Packhorse), as I had no idea how it would work. For the northern Cotswold Way, we tried using one place as a base, getting to-and-from the trail each day, in an attempt to provide more flexibility, but much preferred staying on, or close to, the trail. For Hadrian’s Wall Path, we again booked through a company (Macs) and realized that (a) we could do all the booking ourselves and would enjoy the planning, and (b) we could then make, and own, choices aligned with our preferences. For instance, we prioritize staying on or near the trail over taking a taxi to accommodation. We identified that the tour operator primarily does two things: book the accommodation and book the luggage transfer service. Their mark-up is about 100%, which is well-earned, as it takes a lot of time, but doing that myself saves a lot of money. For the southern Cotswold Way and the eastern half of the Thames Path, I booked everything for ourselves and friends that joined us. That increased the pressure for me to get things right, but everything went smoothly, and hiking with friends adds a fun dimension.
Set goals and define preferences. When starting to plan a trip like this, the tremendous number of variables is overwhelming. Defining a few things up front helps with the multitude of decisions. This includes constraints. I outlined our goals above. We knew we wanted to start at Land’s End and targeted three weeks starting late August due to other constraints, though we prefer to avoid the UK school holidays (July and August). We wanted to aim for a max of 10 miles walking per day, with a hard maximum of 12 miles. Each night we had to have a private bedroom, with an ensuite bathroom as a high priority and a breakfast as desirable. During this trip, we learned that 12-15 miles is a better target, and not having breakfast included is generally better as it gives us flexibility to start earlier.
Booking accommodation. For the SWCP, my three main resources for choosing accommodation were Google, Booking.com, and the SWCP Association’s accommodation partners, known as Waymakers. There was an iterative process of finding viable accommodations along the whole route, working out the daily distance, and confirming availability, to avoid days over our 12-mile hard limit. Where possible, I booked direct rather than through Google/Booking.com. In some cases, I struggled to find refundable bookings, or chose not to pay more for that option. Some of the SWCP partners did not accept credit cards, so having my UK Bank Account for fund transfers was useful.
What we carried each day. We each had waterproof jacket and pants/trousers and a water bottle in our 13-liter Osprey daypacks. I carried a small first aid kit with what I deem essential: regular and blister bandaids/plasters/Compeed, tape for blisters, body glide, chafing cream, Imodium. I brought a roll of emergency toilet paper. Janet carried a “SheWee”. I carried a battery and cables for my phone. Anything that was essential to keep dry, like the guidebook or phone battery, was also in a ziplock. We wore long sleeves and long-pants/trousers for protection from sun/bugs/brambles, so did not need suncream. I also hike in fingerless fishing gloves to avoid sunburn and blisters on my hands. We both hike in double socks, Janet loving her new “creepers” toe-socks to avoid blisters between her toes. Janet hikes in lightweight waterproof boots, I hike in Hoka trailrunners using the “heel lock” lacing technique, essential on rough ground to avoid blisters. I always hike with hiking poles. Janet started with them, got a blister on her hand, and then generally did not use them, but would have used them more if it was very wet. On this trip, we were blessed with good weather and only had to hike once or twice in light rain.
Phone and connectivity. I have a Mint phone plan. Its international add-on worked well to provide data and as our primary phone which I used for local calling. Janet has AT&T. The international day pass was enabled, but she kept her phone on airplane mode except when on hotel WIFI, so the day pass charge was not triggered. In the past, we’ve bought Airalo data plans, though have accidentally triggered the AT&T daypass periodically. On future trips, I will likely use a local eSim on both phones and research how to avoid accidental trigger of the daypass. However, in many places, the cellphone signal was poor or non existent. All our accommodation had WIFI, ranging from very slow to super fast. When the connectivity was lacking, we enjoyed the isolation while being frustrated that we could not look things up online! Before we left home, we had downloaded books and TV shows that we could read/listen to/watch when the connectivity was insufficient. We prioritized horizontal time to aid leg recovery while airing the feet to help prevent blisters.
Navigation. I had digitally preplanned each day on OS Maps and downloaded a GPX file onto my Garmin watch. This made navigation easy! Many parts of the SWCP were not well marked. We frequently asked, “Which way?” and I’d just look at my watch. By default, the righthand choice of a fork would have worked as it was seaward! Sometimes, my plan was not on the official SWCP route but it was generally fine, with multiple parallel options. The OS Map can be unclear! Only once did I pull out the guidebook to confirm whether the footpath was on the bottom or top of the cliff (leaving Pentewan Sands)! I replanned a couple of days on my phone when we changed our mind about what we wanted to do. The measured distances using my Garmin watch are generally ~10% more than the map, due to both going off trail and measurement inaccuracies. Each night, we discussed the following day’s plan, reviewing our planning notes and the Trailblazer guidebook. In future, I need to get the Kindle version of the guidebook, as it has zero weight, and we can both read it at the same time!
Lessons about Logistics. When planning future trips, we will aim for 12-15 miles, as many days on this trip were too short. We will try to avoid an included breakfast as they tie down our start time, we often wanted to start earlier, and a full English is too much every day. We learned that trail-roughness can impact how tiring a day is as much as mileage and ascent, but it’s difficult to assess trail-roughness when planning. I need to try harder to find quiet sleeping locations – in the summer in the UK, you need to sleep with the windows open, and you get the noise from the bar across the town square as well as the pub you are above! Earplugs are important. We like to go to bed at 9pm.
Favourite bits. (These are subjective and very much depend on the timing and our situation.) Land’s End to ourselves; Minack Theatre; Treen accommodation; St Michael’s Mount, even though it was closed; crab-loaded chips; watching the rain pass from inside the cafe on Praa Sands; three great, but very different stays, at the Polurrian, Old Post Office in Coverack, and Gallen-Treath in Porthallow; dinner at Plume of Feathers; vibes of Mevagissey and Charlestown; easy walking on coastal moorland in great weather with cows or sheep and choughs; looking back where you were four days before; warm welcome and Sunday roast at the Finnygook Inn; ferry rides; eating blackberries; checking in early with luggage already arrived, a refreshing shower, lying on bed; each day’s unpredictability of not knowing how the walk, meals, or accommodation will turn out; having the blog to refer back to; spending time with each other: we are a great team and thrive doing this together.
The journey is the destination. I came to this realization on day 19. Each day, we were happy to relax in our room and not explore the town. We were enjoying the walking, and what we saw on the way, rather than where we were walking to. On short days, we wanted to walk more, not explore the destination. This is the distinction between a walking holiday and a traditional one-destination holiday!
SWCP vs other hikes. Comparing trips is difficult but an inevitable thought. We have found all of our hikes great! The Coast to Coast remains our favourite, perhaps because it was our first so the idea was new. How do I describe the SWCP in comparison to the other trails we’ve walked? The SWCP is mostly not touristy and has almost-continous fantastic views. Accommodation and meals are expensive. The trail is hilly, remote, exposed, rugged, and can be very windy. We aligned with someone’s description of the scenery as “one dimensional.” We enjoyed when the path headed in land as much as we did the coast as we love variety. We were blessed with good weather, good logistics, great food and accommodation, and good health.
What next? In 2027, we are walking the Cumbria Way over seven days without luggage transfer, so we will carry everything. This will help us prepare for a Land’s End to John O’Groats hike in 2028, which will be over 1000 miles and take over three months. After that, we will continue scenic and adventurous hikes in the UK, and perhaps Ireland. One thing that does not interest us is a Camino. Camino’s are pilgrimages, defined as “a special, purposeful journey to a holy or sacred place for religious or spiritual reasons.” Our British treks are our own form of pilgrimage, celebrating God’s creation. I see Caminos revolving around manmade artefacts, crowded, in landscapes and climate less favourable than Britain, and without the cool villages to stay in! Perhaps we will consider one when we have walked every path in Britain! This is not to say the Caminos are bad – they are just not for us, and I am a firm believer in “Hike Your Own Hike.” Similarly, I am not interested in thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, but that’s a discussion for another time.