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Arriving in Padstow

Travel distances

Penzance to Padstow

Penzance to Padstow 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 20 minutes

in normal traffic

By bike

About 5 hours 15 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 Penzance journeys and the A30 carries it almost the whole way, flowing freely for most of the year but slow on summer changeover Saturdays. Padstow's harbour car parks fill early and the final approach along the estuary slows on August weekends, so plan the Padstow end carefully.

Which way to go

The fastest route

Leave Penzance on the A30 east the whole way past Hayle, Camborne, Redruth and Bodmin to the Wadebridge turning, then the A39 and A389 along the west bank of the Camel estuary into Padstow.1 About an hour and twenty minutes in normal traffic, with one of the prettiest approach roads in Cornwall for the final stretch along the water.

The scenic route

For a cycling finish, leave the car at Wadebridge and ride the last five and a half miles into Padstow along the Camel Trail, the level former railway that follows the estuary.2 By road, the lanes off the A389 around St Breock and Little Petherick give a quieter, hillier alternative to the main road, though they are narrow in places.

Caravans and motorhomes

The A30, A39 and A389 are comfortable for caravans and motorhomes and are the sensible choice when towing.1 The narrow lanes around Little Petherick are best avoided with a large vehicle, so use Padstow's Rock Road or Link Road car parks on the edge of town, with a short walk down into the centre.

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

    Penzance

  2. Redruth

    0.8 miles off the A30, adds roughly 9 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.3

  3. Bodmin

    9 miles off the A39, adds roughly 25 minutes

    The old county town on the edge of Bodmin Moor, with its jail, its steam railway and the start of the Camel Trail at the head of the estuary.2

  4. Wadebridge

    4.7 miles off the main route, adds roughly 15 minutes

    A busy market town at the lowest bridging point of the Camel, the midpoint of the Camel Trail and the gateway to the estuary road into Padstow.

  5. Harlyn Bay Beach

    2.1 miles off the A389, adds roughly 11 minutes

    A wide, sheltered, north-facing sandy bay just west of Padstow, popular with families and surf schools, the last of the great beaches before the town.

  6. Arrive

    Padstow

Practical information

Parking

Padstow's main car park sits above the harbour and fills early in season, so the Rock Road and Link Road car parks on the edge of town are the larger and quieter choice, with a short walk down into the centre. Leaving the car at Wadebridge and cycling the last stretch of the Camel Trail is a popular alternative on a fine day.2 In Penzance, use the Harbour or Wharfside car parks before you leave.

Train and bus

Neither end is quick by public transport. Padstow lost its railway in 1967, so there is no direct train.4 The practical route is the main line from Penzance towards Bodmin Parkway, then a bus on to Wadebridge and Padstow, or First Kernow buses the whole way with a change.5 In summer the Rock foot ferry across the Camel is a quicker way into Padstow from that side.6

The best time to travel

May and September give warm weather and far fewer crowds than the school holidays. Avoid the August bank holiday weekend, when accommodation and parking across the Camel towns are at a premium, and travel early in the day for the easiest run along the A30 and the best chance of a space.

About the Penzance to Padstow journey

The fifty-three miles from Penzance to Padstow run most of the length of Cornwall, from Mount's Bay in the far south-west to the food town of the Camel on the north coast. It is the longest of the everyday journeys from Penzance, and for nearly all of it the A30 does the work before the lovely estuary road at the end.

Leaving Penzance, the A30 skirts Mount's Bay7 and runs east through the old mining country of Camborne and Redruth, the engine houses of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape standing in the fields,3 then on across the high central plateau towards Bodmin. From the Wadebridge turning the A389 follows the west bank of the Camel, the estuary widening all the way, until the working quay and the huddled streets of Padstow appear below. The Camel Trail shadows the same water for anyone on a bicycle.2

Penzance and Padstow are both old working harbours that have turned to visitors, one on the far south-west coast and one guarding the mouth of a north-coast estuary. Penzance built its name on tin, pilchards and the railway to Scilly; Padstow turned to food, a reputation built on Rick Stein's restaurants from the 1970s onward and since broadened well beyond them. The drive links the two ends of Cornwall by its fast main road.

What to do in Padstow

Padstow's harbour is the centre of everything, ringed by seafood restaurants, fishmongers and the queue for the famous fish and chips, with boats leaving for fishing trips and the Rock ferry throughout the day.6 The Camel Trail starts here and is worth riding even for a short stretch along the estuary.2 Above the town, the Elizabethan manor of Prideaux Place opens to visitors in summer and looks out over a deer park to the sea.8 For a walk, the coast path out to Stepper Point and the Daymark tower gives the full sweep of the estuary mouth and the Doom Bar below.

Read the Padstow guide

Going the other way: Padstow to Penzance

Padstow to Penzance reverses the A389, A39 and A30 and takes about the same hour and twenty minutes, the long run south-west down the spine of the county until Mount's Bay opens up at the end.

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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. 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[↩]
  3. 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[↩]
  4. 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[↩]
  5. First Kernow (no date). Bus services, routes and timetables in Cornwall [online]. Available at: https://www.firstbus.co.uk/cornwall First Kernow[↩]
  6. Padstow Harbour Commissioners (no date). Padstow harbour and the Rock foot ferry [online]. Available at: https://padstow-harbour.co.uk Padstow Harbour Commissioners[↩]
  7. St Michael’s Mount (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk St Michael’s Mount[↩]
  8. Prideaux Place (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.prideauxplace.co.uk Prideaux Place[↩]
  9. Project OSRM (no date). Open Source Routing Machine: route shape and detour calculations [online]. Available at: https://project-osrm.org Project OSRM
  10. 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
  11. Google (no date). Google Maps: live traffic and turn-by-turn directions [online]. Available at: https://www.google.com/maps Google Maps