South West Coast Path National Trail

National Trail: Southwest England

Minehead to Poole
1014km/630 miles

Land's End

An awesome continuous path around the whole of Devon and Cornwall, and much of Dorset and Somerset. Although not challenging in the sense that it is remote, there are many steep climbs and descents.

The excellent official website below contains suggestions for short and easy walks as well as information about the whole trail.

The route between Plymouth and Poole forms a section of European path E9.

Update. The South West Coast Path website below has details of current temporary diversions.

For details of easy access sections contact the South West Coast Path team or see the official path website.Some easy access walks are also included in the shorter walks leaflets listed below.

Connects with

• Camel Trail
• Channel to Channel
• Coleridge Way
• Dart Valley Trail
• Bournemouth Coast Path E9 (see Solent Way)
• East Devon Way
• Erme-Plym Trail/Erme Valley Trail (for Two Moors Way)
• Exe Valley Way
• GR24 (E9, via ferry Poole-St Malo)
• GR223 (via ferry Poole-Cherbourg)
• GR34 (E9, via ferries Plymouth-Roscoff and Weymouth-St Malo)
• Hardy Way
• Jubilee Trail (Dorset)
• Liberty Trail
• Macmillan Way
• Plymouth Link
• Monarch's Way
• Saints' Way
• Samaritans Way South West
• Tarka Trail
• Templer Way
• Two Moors Way
• Wessex Ridgeway

Highway Authorities

• Cornwall
• Devon
• Dorset
• Plymouth
• Somerset
• Torbay

Accommodation

Search our B&B database using the link below, ask at Tourist Information Centres, or see the South West Coast Path Guide (details below) for a comprehensive list of facilities.

Click here to find bed & breakfast accommodation on this path.

Tourist Information Centres

• South West Tourism www.westcountrynow.com
• Barnstaple 01271 375000
• Bideford 01237 477676
• Braunton 01271 816400
• Bridport 01308 424901
• Brixham 01803 852861
• Bude 01288 354240
• Budleigh Salter 01935 445275
• Combe Martin (seasonal) 01271 883319
• Dartmouth 01803 834224
• Dawlish 01626 863589
• Exmouth 01395 222299
• Falmouth 01326 312300
• Fowey 01726 833616
• Ilfracombe 01271 863001
• Ivybridge 01752 897035
• Kingsbridge 01548 853195
• Looe (seasonal) 01503 262072
• Lyme Regis01297 442138
• Lynton 01598 752225
• Minehead 01643 702624
• Newquay 01637 871345
• Padstow 01841 533449
• Paignton 01803 558383
• Penzance 01736 362207
• Perranporth 01872 573368
• Poole 01202 253253
• Plymouth 01752 264849
• Salcombe 01548 843927
• Seaton 01297 21660
• Sidmouth 01395 516441
• St Ives 01736 796297
• Swanage 01929 422885
• Teignmouth 01626 770769
• Torquay 01803 297428
• Wareham 01929 552740
• Weymouth 01305 785747
• Woolacombe (seasonal) 01271 870553

Booking and luggage transfer

• Let's Go Walking

Holiday providers

include Avalon, Bobs, Celtic Trails, Contours, Encounter Cornwall, Explore Britain, Footpath, Footscape, Hidden Cornwall, Kernow Trek, Let's Go Walking, Lightfoot, Sherpa, Walking Holidays Britain, Way2go4, West Country Walks, Westcountry

Public Transport

Below we give an outline of available services. See our Public transport for walkers page to find out how to obtain more details of service times and fares.

• Hourly buses (less frequent on Sundays) connect Minehead to the Great Western main line at Taunton for services to Penzance, Bristol, Reading and London and by Virgin Cross Country to Birmingham, northern England and Scotland. Minehead is also served by a preserved railway, the West Somerset Railway, linking the town with Bishops Lydeard: see www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk. It can also be reached directly by National Express coach services.
• Wessex Trains local services connect the main line at Exeter with Barnstaple, from where a variety of buses serve the north Devon coast at Lynton, Ilfracombe, Georgeham, Woolacombe (summer), Bideford, Westward Ho!, Appledore, Bude and Minehead. Bideford also has freqent bus services to the coast.
• Regular buses (less frequent on Sundays) link Bude to Exeter, and Padstow to Bodmin Parkway, both on the Great Western main line.
• Along the Cornish coast, Wessex Trains local services connect Newquay, St Ives, Looe and Falmouth Docks with the Great Western main line. Local buses serve many points on the coast including Boscastle, Tingtagel, Perranport, St Ives, The Lizard and Polperro.
• Plymouth and Exeter, on the Great Western main line, are the principle railheads for the South Devon coast, with buses serving Kingsbridge, Salcombe, Totnes and other points on the coast. Direct trains connect Exeter with Dawlish, Teignmouth, Newton Abbot, Torquay and Paignton, and with Exmouth.
• The East Devon and Dorset coast between Exeter and Weymouth is accessible by bus from main line stations at Exeter, Honiton and Axminster, with services to Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth, Seaton, Lyme Regis and Bridport and a service along the coast between Weymouth and Bridport from Exeter.
• Weymouth has trains to Dorchester, Bristol, South Wales, Bournemouth, Southampton and London and local services. From Weymouth there are buses to Lyme Regis, and from Weymouth, Wool and Wareham there are buses to Lulworth, Durdle Door and other points on the Isle of Purbeck.
• The Swanage Railway is a preserved steam railway connecting Swanage with Corfe Castle and Norden: for details see www.swanagerailway.co.uk
• Poole has regular SWT rail services to London, and some cross country services to Reading, Birmingham, northern England and Scotland. Buses connect Sandbanks ferry, on the path, with Poole station, and with Swanage and the east of Purbeck.
• A number of ferry services must be used to complete the route: details are in the South West Coast Path Guide (see below) and available from Tourist Information Centres and the Path Association (see above/below). International ferry services also connect with the path at various points: see the E9 page.

Maps

The Way is shown on these maps.

Strip maps

Available from the Ramblers' Association:

• South West Coast Path 1: Minehead to Bude, ISBN 9781851374229.
  Order Here! £9.95
• South West Coast Path 2: Bude to Portreath, ISBN 1851374272.
  Order Here! £9.95.
• South West Coast Path 3: Portreath to Lizard via Land's End, ISBN 1851374329.
  Order Here! £9.95.
• South West Coast Path 4: Lizard to Plymouth, ISBN 9781851374373.
  Order Here! £9.95.
  There are two further maps in this series due for publication in early 2008.

Also available:

• South West Coast Path Minehead to Falmouth strip map, Explorer digital map on CD-ROM. memory-map £99.95.
• South West Coast Path Falmouth to Poole strip map, Explorer digital map on CD-ROM. memory-map £99.95.

Publications

Available from the Ramblers' Association:

Official National Trail Guides by Aurum Press:
Each contains a full route description, circular walks and 1:25,000 scale Ordnance Survey mapping.

• South West Coast Path: Minehead to Padstow by Roland Tarr
  ISBN 1845132696
  Order Here! £12.99
• South West Coast Path: Padstow to Falmouth by John Macadam
  ISBN 9781845132705
  Order Here! £12.99
• South West Coast Path: Falmouth to Exmouth by Brian Le Messurier
  ISBN 1845131940
  Order Here! £12.99
• South West Coast Path: Exmouth to Poole by Roland Tarr
  ISBN 1845132718
  Order Here! £12.99
  

By the South West Coast Path Association:

• South West Coast Path The Other Way Round, describing the route in the opposite direction from Poole to Minehead. £4 from South West Coast Path Association (see below). This is purely a route description with no accommodation or other practical information.
• The South West Coast Path from Minehead to South Haven Point by Paddy Dillon, ISBN 1 85284 379 9. Cicerone £12.95
  Compact guide to whole route in daily sections with OS 1:50 000 map extracts, route descriptions and background information.
• Cornwall Coast Path Padstow to Falmouth by Edith Schofield, ISBN 1 873756 54 0. Trailblazer Publications £9.99.
  Confusingly titled but otherwise useful guide to the Cornwall section of the South West Coast Path including route descriptions, detailed background notes, sketch maps, public transport advice, accommodation suggestions.

Shorter walks

• The South West Coast Path through Torbay. Booklet £2.50 from Torbay Coast & Countryside Enterprises, Cockington Court, Cockington, Torquay TQ2 6XA.
  Guide to the 35km/22 miles through Torbay.
• Walks for Everyone. Around 35 walks using the path, including short (3km/2 miles or less) and easy access options, are listed on the South West Coast Path website below. [02/05]
• Path Descriptions. Detailed descriptions of around fifty shortish sections of the path, available at £1 each from South West Coast Path Association (see below).

Miscellaneous

• A history of the South West Coast Path, including an account of walking the coast from 1854. £2.50 from South West Coast Path Association (see below).
• Beneath the Skin of the Lizard, ISBN 1 898166 09 9. £4.65 from Cornwall County Council Lizard Peninsula Countryside Service.
  Guide to geology of the Lizard with circular walks off the coast path.
• The South West Coast Path Association (see below) also offer CD-ROMs, log books, patches and a variety of merchandise: contact them for details.

Contacts

• South West Coast Path Team Matford Lane Offices, County Hall, Exeter EX2 4LU, tel 01392 383560
  www.southwestcoastpath.com
• South West Coast Path Association Bowker House, Lee Mill Bridge, Ivybridge, PL21 9EF, tel 01752 896237
  www.swcp.org.uk
• See www.southwestcoastalpath.co.uk for more information about accommodation and places for refreshment near the path.