18km – with Prasana.
↑730m ↓820m
Before we started our walk we visited the Minack Theatre in Porthcurno. It reminded me of open air theatres in Greece, directly by the seaside with a view onto the ocean and cliffs. The coastal path passes the theatre, but it’s so cleverly constructed that you can’t see anything from outside. You need to (surprise) pay 4.50£ to get in. But definitely worth it. Or you book a ticket for a show – but then not for 4.50 ;-).
The south coast of Cornwall is very different from the north coast. Turquoise water, diverse terrain, beautiful coves with fishing boats and little cottages, bays, sand beaches and lots of streams. I guess I don’t need to mention the ups & downs. For the first time, I actively saw a stream flowing into the ocean. What a city child I am…
It’s said that if you’re on a long distance walk all the ugly shit comes up that’s going on in your life. Ah well… my walk wasn’t long enough for that. But towards the end I was really tired so that things that keep my mind busy in everyday life started to nag me badly. And after 3 days, 60km and 2500m up and down, my left foot gave up. It turned into a lifeless, lazy attachment that I had to drag along behind me until Mousehole where we finished our walk. From there we took a bus to Penzance as the coastal path leads along the main road between Mousehole and Penzance. So not really a nice walk. Apart from that I would have scolded and nagged like a 3-year-old if I would have had to walk one more meter.
All in all, Cornwall’s coastal walk was a really demanding one, not necessarily because of the distance but the ascent and descent. (Dear southwestcoastpath.com, please implement the elevation gain into your distance calculator! Much appreciated.) Bring proper hiking boots. You often have to balance out the unevenness of the ground. But I like this kind of walk. I could detach from everyday life for some time, forget about work, school and whatever that there is and just concentrate on the landscape and my pain :-). So when is the next long weekend??
More information about the South West Coast Path:
Hi David, thank you so much for your comment. You’ll have a great time I’m sure! It’s a great walk and in small stages probably even more enjoyable. Look out for seals. They might be there around Easter already. Ask the locals or the people at you accommodation where their favourite spot is!
Happy hiking and enjoy the time with your family!
Stef
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Evening Stef,
We are planning the exact same trip this years Easter holidays. But with shorter stages and in 5-6 days. The reason for this is that we’ll be walking it with a 7 and 10 year old.
The plan is to camp or bivouac if possible.
Really looking forward to it, and thank you for sharing this trip.
I loved reading it.
Regards,
David
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