Driving

Touring Cornwall by car is certainly the quickest way to get around and enjoy as many of the sights and attractions you can during your stay.

Newquay is a great base from which to tour Cornwall with even the furthest point, Lands End only 40miles (68km) away - or just over an hours drive. 

If you have come down by plane, train or coach there are a number of companies around Newquay to hire a car. Several are based at the airport. Unfortunately there isn’t one actually based in the town centre.

Exploring Cornwall

Visit Newquay Tourist Information has a large selection of maps and guidebooks to find your way around the county, including ones that show the location of attractions and places of interest.

Cornwall is primarily a rural county and whilst the main towns are joined by larger roads smaller villages and places of interest can be tucked away down beautiful country lanes or scenic coastal roads.

Cornwall has a long history and many of our town a villages have fairly narrow roads and limited parking so in some cases ‘Park and Ride’s can be a good option.

St Erth station is the Park & Ride to visit St Ives on the scenic St Ives Bay Line. Arrive by train on the Cornish main line (St Erth is the last stop before Penzance) or park your car at the station. Trains set off on the scenic 10-minute journey twice an hour during the day. The train runs 7 days a week, all year round.

Truro has a bus park and ride with a capacity off over 1200 cars at Langarth Park (Postcode TR4 9AN) and another, smaller one, at Tregurra Park (Postcode TR1 1RH).

Broadly Cornwall can be described as having a rugged, Atlantic north coast and slightly more protected south coast with the dramatic, and somewhat barren, moorland of Bodmin Moor to the east.

The nearest main towns to Newquay on the north coast are Padstow and St Ives. Padstow is about 16miles (26km) North of Newquay with a scenic coastal road passing by a number of picturesque areas including Bedruthan Steps plus a number of small villages and coves.

St Ives is some 30 miles (50km) down the coast from Newquay with Crantock, Holywell bay, Perranporth, St Agnes, Porthtowan and Carbis bay all notable places to visit enroute. Lands end is always a popular visit with a straight drive down main roads.

The Roseland Peninsula in the far south has small rural roads with frequently high verges and can be where some of the oldest villages of Cornwall can be found. This is best illustrated by Cadgewith, the only fishing village with no harbour so the boats are winched above the tide line when not in use.

Bodmin moor is a wholly different experience, wild and somewhat barren it has the highest point in Cornwall, Brown Willy and the world famous Jamaica inn. It is not very well served by public transport so car is the best way of exploring it; there are several car parks located around the moor at the start of some impressive wild walks.

Touring Cornwall and finding secluded coves, picturesque woodlands or finding those places that interest you really makes a Cornish holiday feel special. Much of Cornwall’s ancient and historical sites, such as the iconic Poldark era Tin Mining Engine Houses or stone age standing stones cannot easily be reached by public transport. In many case they are near fairly secluded car parks and still may involve some short walks. Picturesque locations like Golitha Falls or the barren beauty of Bodmin moor are only really convenient to get to by car.

Last updated 27 Feb 2021