Nine of the Best Beach Walks

Visiting Cornwall this spring or summer? Here is our pick of some of the most beautiful beaches in Cornwall for a coastal walk. If you have any suggestions, please let us know by commenting in the box below, we would love to hear from you. You can view more Cornish beaches here.

Whitsand Bay, Torpoint
Whitsand Bay Beach, located in South East Cornwall, is a stunning three mile stretch of beach running from Rame Head to Portwinkle. The dramatic scenery of the high cliffs and long stretches of sandy beach makes this one of Cornwall’s hidden gems, which can be found down its steep paths and steps. You can enjoy the beach with your four legged friend as its dog friendly all year round.

Polly Joke, Newquay
Polly Joke or Porth Joke, as it is also known, is a much quieter beach, which is an unspoiled beauty for you to enjoy. There are also caves and rockpools to explore. It is situated between Crantock beach to the north and Hollywell Bay to the south and is usually a calm and relaxing beach year round.

Sennen, Land’s End
Sennen is Cornwall’s most westerly surfing hotspot due to the top rate conditions. It is a very popular mile long sandy beach that neighbours Gwenver beach. The beach is just around the corner from Land’s End and is a breath taking location for you to enjoy. Visitors can also explore the village with the variety of cafes, restaurants, pubs, galleries and shops to discover.

Porthpean, St Austell
Porthpean is a popular sandy family beach near the historic village of Charlestown that is a short and easy walk away. It offers a safe place, due to its sheltered waters, for swimming and other watersports such as windsurfing and sailing for visitors to get involved in. There is also space for beach games and it is close to some of Cornwall’s best attractions including the Eden Project, making a trip to this beach really worthwhile.

Fistral, Newquay
Fistral Beach is Newquay's most iconic beach with its high quality of surf. The beautiful long beach is backed by stunning high cliffs and sand dunes and is one of the best surfing beaches in the UK and Europe. You can take this opportunity to learn from the surf school or practice your skills as the waves can regularly reach heights of 6-8 feet.

Summerleaze, Bude
Summerleaze is just a five minute walk from the centre of Bude, and boasts impressively large waves making it popular with surfers. The wide sandy beach also has a unique sea pool at the foot of the cliff, ideal for families on holiday and locals alike. At Summerleaze there are also a variety of activities you could enjoy, such as kayaking, sea fishing or climbing or coasteering with friendly professionals.

Pendower, The Roseland
Pendower is a beautiful south facing sandy beach boasting fine coastal views of Gerrans Bay. It’s about a mile long and located in the heart of the Roseland Peninsula. The beach is very popular with families due to the amount of fascinating rock pools to explore, and sand that is perfect for building sandcastles. You will also find a gentle stream, which will keep children occupied for hours!

Gunwalloe, Helston
Church Cove Gunwalloe on The Lizard is an attractive, south west facing, sandy cove overlooked by the tiny church of St Wynwallow. The beach is set in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which is clear to see once you visit this beach. You may recognise it from Poldark as the nighttime ship wrecking scenes were filmed here.

Daymer Bay, Rock
Here you can find long stretches of golden sand backed by dunes from Daymer Bay to Rock with superb views across the Camel Estuary. This beautiful beach is a short walk from the car park, accessed by steps. The headland walk to Polzeath is called Greenaways, which is accessible from both Daymer car park and Tristram car park in Polzeath. This is a wonderful part of the north Cornwall coastline.

Lantic Bay, Polruan
If you’re up for a bit of a hike then Lantic Bay will reward you with one of the most stunning locations in Cornwall.The trek down to the beach is steep and takes around 20 minutes so take your time and enjoy the view. Once you reach the shoreline, just stretch out on the beach and relax or go for a paddle. Due to the difficult access, this beach is usually quiet so it's a great place to get away from it all!