We are regular visitors to Cornwall and love it just as much through the autumn and winter months as we do in the summer. I think the rugged coastline of the South West Coast Path is one of its most beautiful features, but I have to admit that we’ve not managed to explore it as much as we would have liked, due to our two small children, who are not huge fans of being dragged on long hikes. But for our most recent visit, we left the boys with my parents and headed down just the two of us. We were keen to fit in some walks that would showcase what Cornwall’s coastline has to offer.

I really wanted to see the pretty fishing village of Mousehole, so we chose the walk from Mousehole to Lamorna Cove. It’s 4.8 miles and rated as moderate-strenous, taking in woodland, clifftops, and pretty coves along the way. Although you could walk it either way, we opted to start at Mousehole as I’ve heard of so many people being unfairly ticketed at Lamorna Cove car park that I didn’t want to risk it! We parked (for free) outside Mousehole and walked down into the village to start the walk.

After much debate between my husband and I, we downloaded the IWalkCornwall app and paid £1.99 to purchase this particular walk. My husband wasn’t keen to pay the money, but later admitted that it was well worth it! It tracks you using GPS, giving you little snippets of historical information at particular markers, and reminds you when you need to follow the next direction.

Mousehole is a really tiny and pretty fishing village, with a harbour and few cafes, shops and pub. It’s famous for it’s Christmas light display, which they were busy putting up when we were there.

We followed the path uphill, out of the village, past the bird hospital, and quickly we found ourselves following the hedgerows along the coast. Being early October, there were still plenty of juicy blackberries to be found, and we couldn’t resist stopping to sample a few.

We followed the hedgerows for a while, and then emerged on the headland. The terrain was a bit tricky in places and I have to admit that we did wish at points that we’d brought hiking boots with us (we were equipped with trainers, which were fine, but it was definitely muddy and rocky in parts). You can see the pine trees in the photo below, which is the Kemyel Crease Nature Reserve - a conifer plantation which slopes down to the sea, and which was planted as a wind block for the vegetation on the land behind.

There are some rewarding ascents, and rocky passages as you approach Lamorna Cove, and it’s a fantastic place to just find a spot to sit and admire the feeling of being outside and (mostly) alone. We did see a few other people as we made our way along the path, but mostly it felt like we were the only people around.

Lamorna Cove has a small cafe where you can grab a drink and a sit down, which we did, before heading back on our way. Obviously you could choose to head back the way you came, along the coast, or you can take the quicker route across the fields, which is what we did.

If you’re looking for a pretty and moderately challenging walk along the Cornish coastline, this is a must for your list.