Hiking from Portreath to Godrevy (South West Coast Path)
I’ve been wanting to do the full walk from Portreath to Godrevy for ages!
I’ve done bits of it before in short sections, and obviously I know Godrevy pretty well, but for ages I’ve wanted to the full Heritage coast walk (known locally as North cliffs)! The only reason it’s taken me a while to plan to because I needed a day where not only the weather would be just right, but also someone to look after the dog (dog parent life ain’t always easy folks!).
And so we planned it 2 weeks in advance, for some reason believing that the weather forecast that far ahead would be accurate. As it got closer to the day, it was hard to believe that the torrential rain, thunder and lightning we’d been having the week before would let up for us. In fact, up until AN HOUR before we met up to start the walk, it was crapping it down with rain and we considered postponing!
We didn’t need to worry though; Mother Nature was on our side and literally just as we were parking up at Portreath, the sun came out, and actually stayed out, for the entirety of our hike! We’d all come prepared with raincoats and wellies and we ended up being sweltering in the sunshine. It was basically a miracle.
The #hikesquad included Jack, Dean, Niki and myself; sadly Hannah couldn’t come but hopefully we did her proud! Google maps says the walk should take around 2 hours, and we did it in 4, so we win right?
To be fair, all being photography enthusiasts (and wanting to skip through every corn field and climb every scary looking rock along the way!), we stopped quite a bit and took our sweet time, simply enjoying the incredible views.
From Basset’s Cove, Hell’s Mouth, Fisherman’s Cove and Seal Cove, there are so many iconic stops along this section of the South West Coast Path – including plenty that either don’t have names or have names that I haven’t yet heard of.
The best part about this bit of coastline is how close it is to where I live. It’s literally 10 minutes down the road, and hiking across it like we did definitely brings a new sense of appreciation for being so close!
I’m already planning our next challenge… a longer hike next time! Any South West Coast Path suggestions very much appreciated too :)
Check out the film I made of our walk on YouTube:
The colour of the corn fields against the sky is stunning:))
I could have sat there all day! x
I’m planning to do the same walk in September. Thanks for the tip that it will take a lot longer than Google reckons (I have a camera too!).
There’s a bus service from Godrevy back to Portreath, but it looks like it finishes the week before I get there (17th September). Do you know of any other public transport link from Godrevy to Portreath?
Ooh exciting! And no I’m afraid I don’t; we took two cars and left one at the end and took one to the start, then the car at the end dropped me back to my car at the beginning… if that makes any logistical sense…
That is a smart idea. But we will only have one car. We might rethink, and do the walk in two halves instead.
Hi there! We did Portreath all the way to Hayle- it adds probably a good hour on to the walk. But at least there is a way to get back. You can get the train to Redruth and the connecting bus to Portreath. It sounds like a faff, but it is actually quite a nice way to return. (Takes just under an hour).
Anna- we’ve done from Newquay to Hayle so far. I really enjoyed the Newquay to Perranporth section!
I haven’t yet done anywhere along from Newquay to Perranporth – I really must add that to the list! x
Did it!
At least, we walked from Portreath to just past Basset’s Cove, then cut inland through Tehidy Woods back to Portreath. As expected, it took maybe 3 to 4 hours with the occasional/frequent camera stop.
BTW, Portreath – what the heck happened there?! When did they replace the heart of the town with a cheap council estate? It’s got a little harbour and a lovely beach, so I was expecting a clutch of stone cottages and roads-too-narrow-for-tourist-traffic, but no, it’s grim! Was there an earthquake in the 70s, and they had to flatten the centre and rebuild it quickly?
Whereabouts are you on the path in the last photo?