The theme park at Land's End is not to everyone's taste or budget. Fortunately it's possible to experience all of the natural beauty of Land's End and the surrounding coastline on a circular walk from Sennen Cove, which also offers much thriftier parking.
In Summer, it's a good plan to arrive fairly early for a few reasons:
- The roads will be less busy, particularly with tour buses which don't easily fit down the narrow lanes.
- The route starts at the Harbour Car park, which has the cheapest all-day parking at Sennen Cove so it tends to fill up.
- Whilst the sun is still in the East, the views are at their best on the approach to Land's End.
The route follows the Coast Path from Sennen Cove to Land's End, diverging onto permissive paths where they offer better views. It passes the Pedn Men Du lookout which was originally built by the Coastguard but is now maintained by the National Trust, and has telescopes that the public can use when it is open.
The wreck of the RMS Mullheim is a reminder of how many ships have been wrecked along this stretch of coast. The trans-peninsula pilgrimage routes such as St Michael's Way and The Saints Way reflect the lack of enthusiasm in ancient times for risking a journey in a ship around Land's End.
The route continues along permissive paths around the headlands from Land's End before rejoining the Coast Path to Zawn Reeth and Nanjizal. This is a good stretch of coast to spot marine wildlife, including seals, dolphins and basking sharks as they cross between the Channel and the Atlantic.
Alongside the path at Nanjizal, the relics of a tin mine are still evident from access tunnels in the cliffs and a wheel pit that once drove ore-crushing apparatus.
Of the paths leading inland from the coast, the track to Bosistow Farm provides the least steep climb, so we use this one. The route then follows footpaths across the upper part of the valley and fields to Trevilley. Small lanes and paths across the fields make up the return route to Sennen Cove.
The walk is available as a guided walk app for Android and also available in the iWalk app for iPhone.