Cornwall Getaway: 4-day itinerary

Even though I’ve been wanting to visit Cornwall ever since watching About time, I was recently reminded of this fact while binge-watching the delightful first season of The Bucaneers. The dramatic coastline cut by staggering cliffs could possibly captivate just about anyone, including me. So, it was easy to choose it as the destination for a 4-day getaway from London. Here, I will share my itinerary along with practical information about the attractions included as well as a few of my opinions.

4-day itinerary in Cornwall

We left London early on a Friday and returned late on the following Monday, but feel free to use this itinerary on the days that better suit your needs. This post includes opening hours as of January 2025, so be aware of possible closing days.

Day 1 - London → Tintagel

We left our accommodation in London with our carry ons at 7 in the morning and headed to Paddington Station. Our train was due to leave at 8:03. We chose this particular time, instead of a later one, in order to take full advantage of the first day of the mini vacation. Besides, the 2 hour train ride was perfect for a morning nap (You might be thinking, who takes naps in the morning? The answer is me, I take naps in the morning and they are delightful. You should give them a go).

We arrived at Exeter St Davis station at 10:07 then switched to a local train to Marsh Barton, where the car rental office was. The change was seamless, only having to wait in the station a short while, which was good to stretch our legs a bit.

Then we walked to the rental office. Not going to lie, this walk was not exactly picturesque, given as it's a warehouses’ and car sellers’ area, but it was practical enough for our purpose.

We rented in the Marsh Barton Hertz office, because it had the best price at the time. We got the cheapest car available and ended up with a Vauxhall Corsa. We could fit our stuff easily in the trunk and it was moderately small, which was what we were looking for.

Recommendation: Rent the smallest car possible that is still functional to you, especially if you are not a seasoned driver on this type of road. The streets and roads in Cornwall are usually quite narrow or even single lane in some stretches. A small car will probably give the driver, and the rest of the people in the car, if any, more peace of mind on the road.

When we were strapped in and ready to go in our rental, we started the drive to Tintagel Castle, our first attraction of the trip. We had around an hour and a half to marvel at the rolling hills and listen to the amazing audiobook for Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (strongly recommend).

Hunger was starting to creep in. Luckily we were arriving at Tintagel village and were already visualizing the cornish pasties we were going to devour soon. We parked the car here.

Recommendation: You have to pay upon arrival and leave the ticket displayed on the console of the car. Be careful when taking the ticket from the Parking totem if it’s windy. Several people found themselves chasing it around the parking lot unsuccessfully.

We started walking from the parking lot to Tintagel Castle along the main street (Fore St). There you can find a bunch of little restaurants and shops; it’s the perfect spot for lunch, whether you want something quick, like we did, and something more relaxed, like a sit down place. We ate a delicious cornish pasty here. After that, walked over to Tintagel Castle.

Just to set your expectations appropriately, Tintagel Castle is made up of ruins and striking landscapes these days. The location is absolutely breathtaking and the history (and legends) of the place are very interesting, so it’s definitely worth a visit.

We wandered through the grounds for 3 hours, taking in the jagged cliffs, ancient ruins and rich backstory of the place. It was the perfect way to start our Cornish adventure.

After that we were pretty tired and still had a bit to drive to our accommodation in Penzance, so we opted to head there. But we had a couple of back up activities in case we wanted to add a bit more exploring to our day.

Back up option 1: St Nectan’s Waterfall

If there is sufficient daylight time left (and, let’s be honest, enough leftover energy in you), head over to St Nectan's Waterfall.

Back up option 2: Newquay

Visit Newquay and walk around the charming seaside town.

Winding down on the first day of the Cornish road trip, we headed over to our accommodation. We chose The Honeydew, in Penzance that suited our needs for the first night and left us closer to our starting point for the following day. But any place in Penzance or St Ives would probably be serviceable for this itinerary.

We went out for dinner to the Dolphin Tavern and had great Steak and Ale pies for dinner, the perfect bookend for the first day.

Day 2 - Southwest Coast Path

We are usually more likely to wake up and start our days early when on vacation, and this day was no exception. We started the day bright (well, rainy) and early with some tea and toast. We knew we had quite a bit to walk today, so starting early and taking advantage of the (cloudy) natural light seemed like the best course of action.

Our plan for the day was this: drive to a car park near Logan’s Rock, walk along the Southwest Coast path stopping at points of interest along the way and arrive at Sennen Cove. From there, take a bus back to the car. The weather had other plans.

When we left the accommodation, it was pouring rain and we got absolutely drenched. We drove to the parking lot, hoping the fickle british weather would ease up. It didn’t. We were prepared to walk under a bit of drizzle but not in the monsoon-like weather we were having. Our main concern at this point was that we were planning on walking along the Southwest Coast Path up to Minack Theatre, where we had tickets at 11 AM.

Pivoting from the plan, we drove to Minack Theatre and asked if they would open for our allotted time. After confirming they wouldn’t, we drove to Sennen Cove and waited out the rain in a coffee shop aptly named Sennen Cove Cafe. The food was delicious, we finally dried off and we got a bit of wind back in our sails, courtesy of a couple of slices of cake. As the rain subsided, we decided we were going to leave the car in a car park in Sennen Cove and start walking towards Land’s End.

The path is very clearly marked but for further comfort, we had the GPX file from AllTrails downloaded. While the trail showed in the file was not exactly what we wanted to do, it was similar enough and was nice to have as a back up in a few crossroads.

A few of the interesting stops on the trail are:

• Nanjizal Bay
• Carn Les Boel
• Pordenack Point
• Enys Dodnan Arch
• Land’s End
• First & Last House
• Mayon Cliff Ship Wreck
• Sennen Cove

But, honestly, the entire walk is filled with landscapes that could be featured in postcards. The walk gave us more of what we started seeing the day before in Tintagel: jagged coastline marked by impressive cliffs and white topped waves of deep blue. Even if you can do a short stretch of the trail, you will not be disappointed. Land’s End is probably the easiest bit to access with a vehicle, so consider walking around that area. On the side of the trails you will find wild blackberry bushes, long grass, sturdy rocks and friendly birds.

After walking for 5 to 6 hours, including a stop for lunch (classic Meal Deal Tesco sandwiches for us) and a million stops for pictures, we arrived to Minack Theatre and walked to the Porthcurno car park, where the bus stops. Here’s where we encountered our second major hiccup of the day: the bus was very very late. So late, we never even manage to see it. After waiting one hour, along with quite a number of other tourists, we called a taxi and managed to make it back to our car in Sennen Cove.

After learning quite a bit from our experience, I would recommend the following:

There are three possible strategies:

1. Leave the car on your starting point
2. Leave the car in the end point
3. Hike out and back

The main advantage of leaving the car at the beginning is that you can start walking straight away. But the disadvantage is having to figure out a way to return to the car at the end of the hike, when you are already tired. As for the second option, it addresses the disadvantage just mentioned but it means you have to get to your starting point by bus or taxi at the beginning of the day, delaying the start of the hike.

The third option we were contemplating while planning was hiking the trail out and back. The AllTrailstrail is actually a round trial, so we could have done that. But the comments were very clear that the inland part of the trail was not worth it. Another variation would be to do the Coastal Path out and back as well, and enjoy the views twice.

Note: Be mindful of the fact that there is no cell service in some parts of the path and in Cornwall in general.

For the second night, we chose an accommodation in St Ives, the Saltwater St Ives Inn. The room was very spacious and it had the possibility to add a parking space behind the building, which was very convenient. The nn was walking distance from the coast and main streets of St Ives, where we wandered around the cute streets, did some window shopping and had a delicious fish and chips dinner (Can you tell we were going for the full English experience?).

As with day 1, you could stay in Penzance. You can even stay at the same place the first two nights. We wanted to also visit the seaside towns a bit, and knew that we would not have much time during the day. So we thought that by switching accommodations nightly, there would be more of a chance to explore the towns we were staying at before dinner.

Day 3 - St Michael’s Mount + Trebah Gardens

For our third day in Cornwall, we wanted to explore a few of the attractions on the southern coast of this wonderful peninsula. Our first stop was Saint Michael’s Mount. We were intrigued by this tidal island, so reminiscent of its french counterpart, and wanted to visit and cross, at least once, by foot.

We started our journey on this grey Sunday, arriving at the parking lot after a short drive. We had purchased tickets online for the boat and the island in advance on the official site. We found our assigned departure harbour easily following the signs. The boat can seat around 10-15 people and you sail for 5 to 10 minutes, arriving on the harbour of the island. I’m not a fan of boats because I get sea sick very easily. But the trip was so fast, I had no problem.

We explored the island and its impressive castle for 2 to 3 hours. It can be done in a shorter amount of time but we wanted to walk back to the mainland, so we had to wait for the tide to recede anyway. This gave us the perfect opportunity to take the rich history and striking views at a relaxed pace.

After a quick lunch in the island’s café, we walked back along the causeway. The water wasn’t low enough in some bits, so we removed our shoes and dipped our feet into the cold sea water. It's definitely not necessary to do so, but it did add a bit more fun to our experience, in my opinion. From the causeway, remember to look back to the island for stunning views of the castle.

Back in the car, we headed to Trebah Garden, our next destination. It's a privately owned garden filled to the brim with dozens of plants from around the world. It has four miles of trails to wander to your heart content while inside. You can also find a small beach on one end and a café near the entrance.

Recommendation: We blindly followed Google Maps when going to Trebah Garden from St Michael’s Mount and we regretted it. So let me warn you so that you can save some stress and premature grey hairs: go through Mabe to avoid extremely narrow roads. It’s a bit longer but it’s more agile and way less stressful.

The roads we took were so narrow, that the branches of the bushes on the side of the road got in through the windows of the car ON BOTH SIDES. Because of this, funnily enough, a poor snail that was minding its own business on a passing shrub ended up inside of the car. There are places where cars can pass simultaneously every few dozen meters, but it's not for the faint of heart, unless you have previous experience.

We love wandering around botanical gardens, so we got a coffee at the entrance and wandered around to our heart’s content for two to three hours. We sat on the beach for a little while as well, enjoying the view.

Optional: Pendennis Castle

• Official page
• Opening times: 10 a 17 hs (check website for opening days and times that depend on the season)

After our slightly longer than expected visit to Trebah Garden, we did not make it in time to visit Pendennis Castle, but it’s nice to have some back up activities in mind in case you are running ahead of schedule. There are other privately owned gardens in the area that might also be your cup of tea. Feel free to check them out as well.

We planned to sleep in an apartment in St Austell. We decided to head to nearby Charlestown for a walk and some dinner, before turning in for the night. We enjoyed the last bit of light from the setting sun on the Charlestown harbour and then enjoyed a lovely Sunday Roast at the Rashleigh Arms.

Day 4 - Choose your own adventure

For day 4, when planning the trip, we were undecided on what we wanted to do. So we investigated a few options and made our choice on the very day.

In my heart of hearts, I knew I preferred going to Dartmoor National Park but was quite intimidated by the size of it and the numerous possible hikes. In the morning of the fourth day, during breakfast, we decided to head over to Dartmoor National Park, specifically the Castle Drogo area. It meant a relatively small deviation from the route back to Exeter, where we were going to return the car and take the train back to London later in the day.

The last morning of our Cornish getaway, we had a bit of driving to get to the Park. When we got to the visitor center near Castle Drogo, we asked one of the kind employees for a short hike recommendation. We decided to embarked on the Teign Gorge classic circuit:

• Full trail: 4.1mi / 6.56km / 2.5hs
• Difficulty: moderate
• Dog friendly
• More information here

We loved the trail through the woods and along the river. It had some ups and downs, terrain-wise, that were more challenging, but long stretches of mostly flat land.

Recommendation: pack some lunch and snacks and take advantage of the picnic tables near Fingle Bridge.

After the hike, we had a mid afternoon coffee with cake at the café in the Visitor Centre and rested for a little while. Fueled up and ready to go, we started the drive to Exeter. For the final steps, we returned the car without a hitch and took the train back to London.

Note: To return to Exeter St Davis station, the frequency of trains in Exeter St Thomas station is better than in Marsh Barton. So it's easier to catch a train there. You can also get an Uber or a taxi.

Planning tips

Maybe planning tips is a bit a stretch for this section but bear with me. I’m a big planner and love to have everything sorted before embarking on a new adventure. So, my general recommendation is to have most things pre-booked. Depending on the time of the year you travel, this may even be a necessity given the volume of people Cornwall welcomes in its busier seasons.

Book in advance:

• train tickets: you may even get a cheaper ticket booking in advance.
• There is a sleeper train, the Night Riviera, from London Paddington to Pnezance that might be a fun adventure in itself.
• attractions: places like Minack Theatre, Tintagel Castle and St Micheal’s Mount recommend on their websites to book in advance to ensure your ticket
• car rental: if you book the train ticket in advance, is a no-brainer booking the car as well
• accommodations: it's a touristy area, so there are many places to stay. Book in advance to have more options to choose from

Regarding the train, I found trains in the UK work generally well and on time. But we have experienced a few delays on different trips in the past years. It’s good to know that you can apply for delay repay on the webpage of the train company. The application for compensation is not the easiest, and the pages can be finicky, but it can be worth it depending on the amount of delay and the price paid for the ticket.

What to pack

Layers, layers, layers: weather in the UK can change one minute to the next so it's best to be prepared. Rain gear can be very useful. You may not be able to walk when it's pouring rain (it can also be unsafe in some trails of the area) but having the right rain gear can stop a drizzle from derailing your plans.

On one day you can go from rainy morning to sunny afternoons, so it's best to have layers to transition in the different temperatures throughout the day. And, as always, check the weather before travelling to make minor adjustments to your bag as needed.

Weather

We visited Cornwall in October and really enjoyed it, weather-wise (except for a couple of hours of heavy rain one morning). It was mildly cold, partially cloudy with some drizzle here and there. We got to see the sun and we also got rained on.

Driving Breakdown

Overall, the are a few points to be aware of before driving in the area, if you haven’t done so before:

• Most drives take longer than what Google maps estimates initially: it can be frustrating to drive for a while and see how the ETA keeps getting further away. Try not to let this rush you and enjoy the ride. The roads are quite narrow, with many twists and turns. So it’s best to be safe and drive at your own pace without keeping an eye on the clock.
• As mentioned before, roads are narrow and a smaller car can be easier to navigate for those without experience in this type of areas.

The driving times are estimates.

Final thoughts

We thoroughly recommend Cornwall as the destionation for your next long weekend getaway (or even longer, if the opportunity presents itself). With its striking coastlines, surrounded by nature, there is something for everybody in this rich English area.