This is a circular walk of just over 4 miles with some moderately steep climbs.
The route starts above the harbour at the Trenwith car park and descends along Park Terrace with views over the rooftops. The walk then follows Street-an-Pol (aka "Street of the cove") to reach the sea beside the Art Club.
The walk then circles the harbour passing St Ia's church, the lifeboat station and the ancient Sloop Inn to reach the pier. The pier was originally built by John Smeaton and terminated in the lighthouse. A wooden extension was later built onto this, which was even longer than the current pier, but this didn't last long and the remnants can still be seen at low tide. The more substantial stone extension was added in the late 19th Century and the holes near the shore allow the sand to drain out of the harbour.
From the pier, the walk continues along Wheal Dream, past St Ives Museum to reach Porth Gwidden. At one time, this was the main landing point for St Ives and a lamp hung on the rock outcrop at the end of the island to guide shipping. This was subsequently replaced by a Coast Guard lookout to spot smugglers. Also on the island was a battery of cannons to repel any French invaders. The current lookout occupies the outermost cannon position.
The route crosses the Island, via the chapel which had been re-purposed both by the Coast Guard as a lookout and the War Office as a store who partially demolished it before realisation dawned that it was a chapel, and a rebuild followed very shortly.
After a descent to Porth Meor the route passes the Tate and joins the coast path. After following the coast past Carrack Du, the return is via farm tracks and the Church of St John.
The walk is available as a guided walk app for Android and also available in the iWalk app for iPhone.