Travel distances

St Ives to Newquay

St Ives to Newquay on the map

Start and finish

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Distance

30 miles

by road

By car

About 45 minutes

in normal traffic

By bike

About 3 hours

steady pace

By foot

About 10 hours

estimated at a 3mph walking pace

Which way to go

The fastest route

The fastest route takes the A30 east from St Ives to the Indian Queens junction, then the A392 north-west into Newquay. In good conditions this takes around 45 minutes and the road is dual carriageway for much of the way.

The scenic route

For a more rewarding drive, leave St Ives on the B3306 coastal road, passing through Zennor and St Just before rejoining the A30. At Goonhavern, leave the A30 for the A3075 through Perranporth, following the cliff tops past Perranporth beach before dropping into Newquay from the south. This adds around 25 minutes.

Caravans and motorhomes

The A30 and A392 combination is entirely suitable for caravans, with dual carriageway and wide lane sections throughout. Avoid the B3306 and A3075 coastal alternatives when towing, as both include narrow sections and steep hills.

Stops along the way

Start
St Ives
Hayle
The Hayle estuary marks the eastern boundary of the Penwith peninsula. The town's three-mile beach and its RSPB-managed estuary are both worth a stop.
Perranporth
Perranporth's vast south-facing beach is three miles long and backed by dunes. The surf here is gentler and more consistent than Newquay, making it popular with learners and families.
Arrive
Newquay

Practical information

Parking

Newquay has several large car parks close to the town centre and beaches. The Tregunnel Hill and Marcus Hill car parks are the most convenient for the town; Fistral Beach has its own dedicated car park that fills quickly in summer. Arrive before 9am on peak summer weekends.

Train and bus

First Kernow operates a regular bus service between St Ives and Newquay, though most journeys require a change. Travel time by bus is approximately 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes depending on connections. By train, travel from St Ives to St Erth, change for the main line to Newquay via Par. Total rail journey time is around 1 hour 40 minutes.

The best time to travel

Newquay is Cornwall's busiest resort and is at its liveliest in summer. For a quieter visit, May and September offer warm weather, good surf and far fewer crowds. Avoid the August bank holiday weekend, when accommodation and parking are at a premium.

About the St Ives to Newquay journey

The 30-mile journey from St Ives to Newquay is a cross-Cornwall trip between two of the county's most recognisable coastal towns, both facing the Atlantic but with very different characters. St Ives is intimate and art-world famous; Newquay is bigger, louder and emphatically surf-focused, with a string of west-facing beaches that catch swell from the full fetch of the North Atlantic.

What to do in Newquay

Newquay's beaches are the main event: Fistral, the surf capital of Cornwall, faces due west and handles the biggest swells; Tolcarne and Great Western are gentler and better for families; Watergate Bay, three miles north, has surf schools and the famous Beach restaurant. The town also has the Blue Reef Aquarium and Newquay Zoo on the headland.

Read the Newquay guide

Going the other way: Newquay to St Ives

The return from Newquay to St Ives follows the same A392 and A30 corridor. If you took the coastal A3075 route on the way out, the A30 makes a faster return. Coming back into St Ives, the view of the town from above Carbis Bay rewards the final climb.

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Article Sources

Project OSRM (no date). Open Source Routing Machine: route shape and detour calculations [online]. Available at: https://project-osrm.org Project OSRM
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
Google (no date). Google Maps: live traffic and turn-by-turn directions [online]. Available at: https://www.google.com/maps Google Maps