West Cornwall
West Cornwall is in Cornwall. It covers the tip of the South West Peninsula between the Celtic Sea to the north and the English Channel to the south, leading out to the celebrated Land's End.
Towns and villages
- 🌍 Cadgwith — a popular summer holiday destination along the South West Coast Path
- 🌍 Hayle — the townscape of Hayle and its historic harbour are part of the Cornwall and West Devon Historic Mining Landscape World Heritage site
- 🌍 Helston — a gateway to the Lizard Peninsula, famous for its Flora Day celebrations and Furry Dance
- 🌍 Marazion — the tidal island of St Michael's Mount is half-a-mile offshore
- 🌍 Newlyn — it has many charming cottages and narrow lanes to explore, and is home to a collection of modern art
- 🌍 Penzance — pirate central, Penzance is a town long-associated with the arts
- 🌍 Porthleven — it is one of Britain's best-known surfing spots, described as "Cornwall's best reef break"
- 🌍 St Ives — artists' "colony" and home to a branch of the Tate Gallery
- 🌍 St Just in Penwith — home to the popular Lafrowda festival, a seven-day community and arts celebration in mid-July
- 🌍 Mousehole — a charming fishing village, known for its picturesque harbour
- 🌍 Pendeen — has a stunning lighthouse, a lovely beach, abd bronze-age monuments
- 🌍 St Buryan — its church is a Grade 1 listed building with a beautiful rood screen
- 🌍 St Levan — home to the spectacular open-air Minack Theatre overlooking the sea
- 🌍 Zennor — home to two megalithic burial chambers
Other destinations
- 🌍 Land's End — the most westerly point in England, beyond lies the Atlantic Ocean
- 🌍 Lizard — the most southerly point in Britain
- 🌍 Madron and Sancreed — parish area
- 🌍 Cape Cornwall — a small headland 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Land's End near the town of St Just
- 🌍 Helford River — has long been an important industrial and agricultural marine highway serving local mines, farms and quarries as well as the local fishing industry
Get in
By train
Regular trains run on the main line from London Paddington (8 daily all the way through Cornwall to Penzance, 5 hr 30 min) Bristol, Birmingham etc. to Truro and Penzance. There is also an overnight sleeper train which runs Su-F nights from London Paddington and Penzance.
By car
Cornwall can be accessed by road via the A30 which runs from the end of the M5 at Exeter, all the way through the heart of Devon and Cornwall down to Land's End. It is a grade-separated expressway as far as Carland Cross near Truro (The expressway is expected to be open as far as Camborne (between Redruth and Hayle) by March 2024). You can also get to Cornwall via the A38, crossing the River Tamar at Plymouth via the Tamar Bridge, which levies a toll on eastbound vehicles. On summer Saturdays and during bank holiday weekends roads to Cornwall are usually busy.
By bus
Cornwall is served well by National Express coach services from London Victoria coach station through to Penzance (8-10 hours, £20-25, several times a day as of Jan 2024), and other parts of the UK.
By plane
🌍 Land's End Airport (LEQ IATA) near Penzance, which has a helipad and runway for general aviation. The only scheduled flights shuttle to and from the Isles of Scilly.
Get around
By bus
Thanks to Transport for Cornwall, all bus tickets are interchangeable across the different companies. The Cornwall All Day ticket allows unlimited travel for a calendar day. As of 2023, fares are £5 for adults and £4 for under-19s. Payment is by cash or contactless. The two main bus companies are:
- Go Cornwall Bus covers all parts of Cornwall and connects with Plymouth (in Devon).
- Kernow (part of First Bus) covers western and central Cornwall.
Buses only serve designated stops when in towns; otherwise, you can flag them down anywhere that's safe for them to stop.
By train
CrossCountry Trains and Great Western Railway operate regular train services between the main centres of population, the latter company also serving a number of other towns on branch lines. For train times and fares visit National Rail Enquiries.
The Cornwall Ranger ticket allows unlimited train travel in Cornwall and Plymouth for a calendar day. As of 2023, this costs £14 for adults and £7 for under-16s.
See
Minack Theatre is an outdoor theatre built by hand into the side of cliff over looking the ocean; between the villages of Porthcurno and St Levan, the theatre includes a museum and offers tours when there are no performances.
The Tate St Ives, one of the four Tate galleries in the UK, focuses on Modern Art.
Penlee House, in Penzance, is home of the famous Newlyn School of Art.
National Trust properties
St Michael's Mount, Marazion, near Penzance, is a rocky island crowned by medieval church and castle, home to a living community
Godrevy - Gwithian, near Hayle, had stunning mix of long sandy beaches, high cliffs, and smugglers coves
Levant Mine and Beam Engine Pendeen sits high up on the exposed cliffs of the 'Tin Coast' and is part of the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site. At its heart, the restored 1840s beam engine running on steam.
Trengwainton, Madron, has a sheltered garden bursting with exotic trees and shrubs.
Do
Helford River is an idyllic river estuary between Falmouth and Penzance. An ideal stop over for yachts heading for the Isles of Scilly, or further afield, with a selection of excellent pubs and other attractions. There is also a passenger ferry crossing the river as part of the coastal path around Cornwall linking Helford Passage (a popular holiday destination for families) on the north coast to Helford Village on the south. Helford River Boats runs the ferry and a range of small hire boats with which you can explore the river in your own time. Also on the river are the Gweek Seal Sanctuary, Porth Navas Oyster Farm and Trebah Gardens.
The South West Coast Path runs along the coastline of Britain’s south-west peninsula. The Cornish section is supposed to be the most scenic (unless you talk to someone in Devon, in which case the Devon part is most scenic). It is particularly scenic around Penwith and the Lizard. The trail takes walkers to busy towns, remote cliffs, beaches, heaths, farms and fishing villages. Walking along it is a great way to experience the region in all its variety. (Walking the entire path takes several weeks, walking on a choice part of it is easier.)
Festivals
Allantide (Cornish: Kalan Gwav or Nos Kalan Gwav) ia a Cornish festival that was traditionally celebrated on 31 October elsewhere known as Hallowe'en. Many of the Allantide traditions are celebrated in Penzance as part of the town's Apple Day celebrations in late October. Bobbing for apples is traditional, and candy Gilliflower apples have been added for the kids.
Chewidden Thursday is a festival celebrated by the tin miners of West Cornwall on the last clear Thursday before (i.e. at least one week before) Christmas.
Furry Dance, also known as Flora Day, takes place in Helston in early May, and is one of the oldest British customs still practised today. The dance is very well attended every year and people travel from all over the world to see it.
Golowan, sometimes also Goluan or Gol-Jowan, is the Cornish word for the Midsummer celebrations, widespread prior to the late 19th century and most popular in the Penwith area and in particular Penzance and Newlyn. The celebrations are conducted from the 23rd of June (St John's Eve) to the 28th of June (St Peter's Eve) each year, St Peter's Eve being the more popular in Cornish fishing communities. The celebrations are centred around the lighting of bonfires and fireworks and the performance of associated rituals. They have seen a resurgence with the neo-Pagan movement. Some towns have a street-parade during this period.
Guldize is an ancient harvest festival in Autumn, which involved the "crying of the neck" ritual of chanting in the corn field. A revived Guldize celebration is held in Penzance, and in several other locations across Cornwall.
Montol Festival is an annual heritage, arts and community festival in Penzance, held between the 16th and 22nd of December each year.
Nickanan Night is traditionally held on the Monday before Lent. Sometimes called roguery night in West Cornwall, this event is an excuse for local youths to undertake acts of minor vandalism and play practical jokes on neighbours and family. The name Nickanan may come from the practice of knocking on doors and running away, known as 'Nick Nack' in some parts of the English-speaking world. The eating of pea soup and salt bacon is also associated with this date.
St Piran's Day (Cornish: Gool Peran) is the national day of Cornwall, held on 5 March every year. There is large parties widespread across the whole of Cornwall, with people dressing in the black, white and silver national colours.