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Arriving in Padstow

Travel distances

Falmouth to Padstow

Falmouth to Padstow on the map

Start and finish

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Distance

52 miles

by road

By car

About 1 hour 20 minutes

in normal traffic

By bike

About 5 hours

steady pace

By foot

About 16 hours

on foot

Before you set off

Padstow has one main road in. From Easter the approach past the town park-and-ride can queue at peak times, and on May Day the Obby Oss fills the streets entirely.1 On summer Saturdays allow an extra twenty minutes at the Padstow end. The drive from Falmouth to the outskirts of Padstow is usually clear.

Which way to go

The fastest route

Take the A39 north from Falmouth to Truro, then the A39 again northwest through Mitchell and Fraddon, joining the A39 all the way through Wadebridge before the A389 runs the last few miles into Padstow.2 The A39 carries the traffic but keeps moving. It is the most direct line.

The scenic route

Go north from Falmouth on the A39 to Truro, then northwest on the A30 to the north coast, dropping onto the B3276 coastal road at Newquay for the run through Mawgan Porth, Porthcothan and Treyarnon to Padstow.2 The last stretch of coast road is outstanding. Add about fifty minutes.

Caravans and motorhomes

The A39 is fine for a caravan or motorhome right to the edge of Padstow. Do not attempt the town centre with a large vehicle — park at the Padstow park-and-ride and walk down, or take the foot ferry from Rock. The Camel Trail is not a through route for vehicles.

Stops along the way

  1. Start

    Falmouth

  2. Truro

    0.3 miles off the A39, adds roughly 5 minutes

    Cornwall's cathedral city and county town, worth a coffee stop at Lemon Quay if time allows.3

  3. Mitchell

    on the A39, no detour needed

    A small village on the old coaching road with a pub and a brief reminder that the A39 was once the main road through Cornwall.

  4. Wadebridge

    0.3 miles off the A39, adds roughly 4 minutes

    The start of the Camel Trail and the last easy fuel stop before Padstow, with a good independent food scene.4

  5. Arrive

    Padstow

Practical information

Parking

Padstow's quayside parking is very limited and expensive in season. Use the Lawrenny Avenue car park above the town, or the main park-and-ride on the edge. Rock is a quieter alternative — park there and take the foot ferry across the Camel.5

Train and bus

By public transport it is a First Kernow bus from Falmouth to Truro, then a change for Wadebridge and another for Padstow.6 Allow at least two and a half hours. There has been no railway to Padstow since 19674 — the car or a direct hire are the realistic answers for this one.

The best time to travel

Weekday mornings outside July and August. Avoid the approach to Padstow on summer Saturday afternoons. May Day is best avoided by car entirely.

About the Falmouth to Padstow journey

Fifty-two miles from one estuary to another, Falmouth Harbour to the mouth of the Camel, and a contrast in register as much as in geography. Falmouth is working and maritime, with merchant ships in the Roads and a ferry service that has run since medieval times. Padstow is fishing-village-turned-destination, earning its keep from visitors and restaurants rather than from the sea, though the boats still work. The drive is mostly main road and mostly inside Cornwall's peculiar motorway-free network of fast A-roads — decent, unlovely, and ultimately beside the point. The point is the Camel estuary at the end of it, with the sand bars showing at low tide and the town arranged along the quay as if nothing much has changed.

What to do in Padstow

Walk the harbour first and take the foot ferry to Rock if the tide allows.5 Prideaux Place, the Elizabethan manor above the town, keeps a deer park and opens to visitors in season.7 The coast path west passes Stepper Point and the Doom Bar, and the family beaches at Harlyn and Constantine Bay are twenty minutes further by car. Book anywhere you intend to eat.

Read the Padstow guide

Going the other way: Padstow to Falmouth

Padstow to Falmouth is the same fifty-two miles in the opposite direction. Allow extra on summer Sunday evenings, when the changeover traffic on the A39 through Wadebridge slows things considerably.

Related journeys

Falmouth to Truro12 miles

Falmouth to Truro

25 mins by car (About 25 minutes)1hr 10mins by bike (About 1 hour 10 minutes)

Falmouth to Truro is 12 miles and about 25 minutes by car. Compare the A39 direct route, the Fal estuary scenic road, bus times, parking and the best time to travel.

Falmouth to Newquay38 miles

Falmouth to Newquay

55 mins by car (About 55 minutes)3hr 45mins by bike (About 3 hours 45 minutes)

Falmouth to Newquay is 38 miles and about 55 minutes by car. The A39 and A3075 direct route, the coast road via Perranporth, rail times, parking and when to travel.

Truro to Padstow24 miles

Truro to Padstow

45 mins by car (About 45 minutes)2hr 15mins by bike (About 2 hours 15 minutes)

Truro to Padstow is 24 miles and about 45 minutes by car. The A39 route, the creek-side alternative, the Camel Trail, buses, parking and where to stop.

See every Cornwall journey →

Article Sources
  1. Visit Cornwall (no date). Cornwall events calendar [online]. Available at: https://www.visitcornwall.com Visit Cornwall[↩]
  2. OpenStreetMap contributors (2026). Road network, road classifications and place names. Copyright and licence [online]. Available at: https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright OpenStreetMap[↩]
  3. Truro Cathedral (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.trurocathedral.org.uk Truro Cathedral[↩]
  4. Sustrans (no date). Camel Trail (Padstow to Bodmin) [online]. Available at: https://www.sustrans.org.uk/find-a-route-on-the-national-cycle-network/camel-trail Sustrans[↩]
  5. Padstow Harbour Commissioners (no date). Padstow harbour and the Rock foot ferry [online]. Available at: https://padstow-harbour.co.uk Padstow Harbour Commissioners[↩]
  6. First Kernow (no date). Bus services, routes and timetables in Cornwall [online]. Available at: https://www.firstbus.co.uk/cornwall First Kernow[↩]
  7. Prideaux Place (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.prideauxplace.co.uk Prideaux Place[↩]
  8. Project OSRM (no date). Open Source Routing Machine: route shape and detour calculations [online]. Available at: https://project-osrm.org Project OSRM
  9. Ordnance Survey (no date). National Grid references used to position each place on the route map [online]. Available at: https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk Ordnance Survey
  10. Google (no date). Google Maps: live traffic and turn-by-turn directions [online]. Available at: https://www.google.com/maps Google Maps