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Arriving in Penzance

Travel distances

Fowey to Penzance

Fowey to Penzance on the map

Start and finishThe route by roadSee the stops along the way on their own map ↓

Open this route in Google Maps ↗ for live traffic and turn-by-turn directions.

Distance

53 miles

by road

By car

About 1 hour 25 minutes

in normal traffic

By bike

About 5 hours 20 minutes

steady pace

By foot

About 17 hours 40 minutes

estimated at a 3mph walking pace

Before you set off

This is the longest of the Fowey journeys and the A30 carries it almost the whole way west, flowing freely for most of the year but slow on summer changeover Saturdays between Bodmin and Camborne. Penzance itself parks easily by Cornish standards, with long-stay car parks along the promenade and by the station, but Fowey's own parking fills early, so an early start helps.

Which way to go

The fastest route

Leave Fowey on the A3082 to St Blazey, join the A390 west to St Austell, then the A391 north to the A30.1 Follow the A30 west the whole way, past Redruth, Camborne and Hayle to the far end near Crowlas, then into Penzance, with the sweep of Mount's Bay opening up on the final descent. About an hour and twenty-five minutes in normal traffic.

The scenic route

For a slower coastal finish, leave the A30 at Hayle and follow the shore of Mount's Bay by Marazion, with St Michael's Mount ahead the whole way into Penzance.2 It adds around fifteen minutes and runs within sight of the sea, but the A30 is far quicker if you are pressed for time.

Caravans and motorhomes

The A3082, A390, A391 and A30 are the main roads to the far west and take caravans and motorhomes comfortably from end to end.1 The coastal lanes around Marazion are narrower and busier in summer, so keep a large vehicle to the A30 and use the long-stay car parks at Marazion for St Michael's Mount. The steep climb out of Fowey is best avoided when towing by using the top-of-town car parks.

Stops along the way

Stops along the way — tap or hover a pin for a photo, the detour and a link to its guideStart and finishThe route by road

  1. Start

    Fowey

  2. St Austell

    5.8 miles off the B3269, adds roughly 3 minutes

    The capital of the china-clay country, its pale spoil tips landscaped into hills, one now roofed with the biomes of the Eden Project.3

  3. Redruth

    0.8 miles off the A30, adds roughly 8 minutes

    The heart of the Cornish mining district, once among the richest square miles in the world, ringed by the engine houses of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape.4

  4. Hayle

    0.4 miles off the A30, adds roughly 5 minutes

    An estuary town at the mouth of the Hayle River, with a long industrial heritage and the three-mile beach at the Towans stretching north toward Godrevy.

  5. Marazion

    1.3 miles off the A30, adds roughly 10 minutes

    The access point for St Michael's Mount, the tidal island crowned by a medieval castle and subtropical gardens, reached on foot across the causeway at low tide or by ferry at high.2

  6. Arrive

    Penzance

Practical information

Parking

Penzance is one of the easier western towns for parking, with long-stay car parks along the promenade, by the railway station and at St Anthony's near the harbour. For St Michael's Mount, use the car parks at Marazion rather than driving down to the causeway, which floods at high tide. In Fowey, use the Caffa Mill or top-of-town car parks before setting off.

Train and bus

There is no direct train. The journey by rail runs through the interchanges: a bus from Fowey to Par, then the main line all the way west to Penzance, a scenic run along the south coast and across the causeway at Marazion.5 Penzance is the westernmost railway station in Britain,6 and from its harbour ferries and flights leave for the Isles of Scilly.7 Allow around three hours for the whole journey with connections.8

The best time to travel

Any time outside the summer changeover Saturdays is easy on the A30. May, June and September give the best balance of weather and quiet roads, and an early start from Fowey gets you ahead of the holiday traffic heading west. Penzance is pleasant year-round and makes a mild winter base for the far west.

About the Fowey to Penzance journey

The fifty-three miles from Fowey to Penzance run most of the length of Cornwall, from a wooded south-coast estuary to Mount's Bay in the far south-west. It is the longest of the everyday journeys from Fowey, and for nearly all of it the A30 does the work, the fast road that carries the county's traffic down towards Land's End.

Leaving Fowey for St Austell and the A30, the road turns west across the high central plateau, through the old mining country of Redruth and Camborne, the engine houses and chimney stacks of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape standing in the fields.4 Beyond Hayle the land narrows towards the toe of Cornwall, and Mount's Bay opens ahead, a great curve of coast with St Michael's Mount rising from the water offshore.2

Fowey and Penzance are both old harbour towns that built their fortunes on the sea, but they face very different waters. Fowey is a narrow, tidal creek on the sheltered south-east coast; Penzance looks out across the wide sweep of Mount's Bay and built its wealth on tin, pilchards and the railway that made it the gateway to the far west and the Isles of Scilly. It remains the natural capital of West Cornwall, and the drive down to it is the long way from one end of the county to the other.

What to do in Penzance

Penzance rewards a wander. The Egyptian House on Chapel Street is an extraordinary painted Regency facade, and Chapel Street itself runs down past the Admiral Benbow and old merchants' houses to the harbour. The Penlee House Gallery and Museum holds the finest collection of the Newlyn School painters who worked the fishing communities nearby,9 and the Jubilee Pool on the promenade is a beautiful Art Deco seawater lido, now partly geothermally heated.10 Marazion and St Michael's Mount are a couple of miles east and easily combined with a visit,2 and the harbour is where the ferry leaves for the Isles of Scilly.7

Read the Penzance guide

Going the other way: Penzance to Fowey

Penzance to Fowey reverses the A30 and the A390 and takes about the same hour and twenty-five minutes. The run east is usually clear once past Camborne, and the roads move well all the way back, with the steep descent into Fowey at the very end.

Related journeys

Fowey to St Ives52 miles

Fowey to St Ives

1hr 20mins by car (About 1 hour 20 minutes)5hr 15mins by bike (About 5 hours 15 minutes)

Fowey to St Ives is 52 miles and about 1 hour 20 minutes by car via the A30. Compare the fastest and scenic routes, the branch line, Park & Ride and stops.

Truro to Penzance26 miles

Truro to Penzance

40 mins by car (About 40 minutes)2hr 45mins by bike (About 2 hours 45 minutes)

Truro to Penzance is 26 miles and about 40 minutes by car, or 35 minutes by direct train. Routes, the Marazion approach, parking and where to stop.

Fowey to Truro26 miles

Fowey to Truro

45 mins by car (About 45 minutes)2hr 30mins by bike (About 2 hours 30 minutes)

Fowey to Truro is 26 miles and about 45 minutes by car via the A390. Compare the fastest and scenic routes, the train via Par, parking and stops.

See every Cornwall journey →

Article Sources
  1. OpenStreetMap contributors (2026). Road network, road classifications and place names. Copyright and licence [online]. Available at: https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright OpenStreetMap[↩]
  2. St Michael’s Mount (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk St Michael’s Mount[↩]
  3. Eden Project (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.edenproject.com Eden Project[↩]
  4. Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.cornishmining.org.uk Cornish Mining World Heritage[↩]
  5. Great Western Railway (no date). Plan your journey: timetables and branch-line services in Cornwall [online]. Available at: https://www.gwr.com/plan-journey Great Western Railway[↩]
  6. National Rail Enquiries (no date). Train times and journey planner [online]. Available at: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk National Rail[↩]
  7. Isles of Scilly Travel (no date). Ferry and flights to the Isles of Scilly from Penzance [online]. Available at: https://www.islesofscilly-travel.co.uk Isles of Scilly Travel[↩]
  8. First Kernow (no date). Bus services, routes and timetables in Cornwall [online]. Available at: https://www.firstbus.co.uk/cornwall First Kernow[↩]
  9. Penlee House Gallery & Museum (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://penleehouse.org.uk Penlee House[↩]
  10. Jubilee Pool (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://jubileepool.co.uk Jubilee Pool[↩]
  11. Project OSRM (no date). Open Source Routing Machine: route shape and detour calculations [online]. Available at: https://project-osrm.org Project OSRM
  12. 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
  13. Google (no date). Google Maps: live traffic and turn-by-turn directions [online]. Available at: https://www.google.com/maps Google Maps