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Arriving in Newquay

Travel distances

Falmouth to Newquay

Falmouth to Newquay on the map

Start and finishThe route by roadSee the stops along the way on their own map ↓

Open this route in Google Maps ↗ for live traffic and turn-by-turn directions.

Distance

33 miles

by road

By car

About 55 minutes

in normal traffic

By bike

About 3 hours 20 minutes

steady pace

By foot

About 11 hours

estimated at a 3mph walking pace

Before you set off

Newquay is Cornwall's busiest resort and the roads in feel it from July onward, especially on summer Saturdays and around the August surf competitions. Fistral's own car park fills first, so arrive early or use one of the larger town car parks if you are heading for the beach.

Which way to go

The fastest route

Take the A39 north to Truro, then the A30 east to the Chiverton Cross roundabout and the A3075 north through Goonhavern into Newquay.1 It is a straightforward run of about fifty-five minutes, mostly on good open road, dropping into the town from the south near Trenance.

The scenic route

For the coastal version, leave the A30 at Chiverton and follow the B3277 to St Agnes, then the coast road north through Perranporth and along the cliffs above Perran Sands before rejoining the A3075 for Newquay.2 It adds around twenty-five minutes and takes in the old mining coast of St Agnes Head and the three-mile beach at Perranporth.

Caravans and motorhomes

The A30 and A3075 are both comfortable for caravans and motorhomes.1 Avoid the narrow coastal lanes around St Agnes Head when towing, and note that Newquay's beach car parks are tight in summer, so the larger long-stay car parks on the edge of town are the safer choice.

Stops along the way

Stops along the way — tap or hover a pin for a photo, the detour and a link to its guideStart and finishThe route by road

  1. Start

    Falmouth

  2. Truro

    0.2 miles off the A39, adds roughly 1 minute

    The county capital and a good first stop, with the cathedral and the Royal Cornwall Museum a few minutes from the ring road.3

  3. St Agnes

    A former mining village on the north coast, its clifftops crowned by the engine houses of Wheal Coates and the dramatic headland of St Agnes Beacon.4

  4. Perranporth

    2.9 miles off the main route, adds roughly 5 minutes

    Home to a vast three-mile surf beach backed by dunes, gentler and more open than Newquay and a favourite with families and learner surfers.

  5. Arrive

    Newquay

Practical information

Parking

Newquay has several large car parks close to the centre and the beaches. Tregunnel Hill and Manor Road are convenient for the town, and Fistral Beach has its own car park which fills quickly on a surf day. For summer weekends, arrive before 9am or use one of the long-stay car parks on the approach roads.

Train and bus

Newquay keeps its railway, so the train is a real option: take a bus or train from Falmouth to Truro, then the branch line to Newquay via Par, a scenic single-track run across the clay country.5 First Kernow buses also link Truro and Newquay frequently.6 Newquay Airport, just north of the town, carries domestic flights for those coming from further afield.

The best time to travel

May and September offer warm water, good surf and far fewer crowds than the school holidays. Avoid the August bank holiday weekend, when accommodation and parking across the town are at a premium.

About the Falmouth to Newquay journey

The thirty-three miles from Falmouth to Newquay join the two biggest names on Cornwall's south and north coasts, the yachting harbour of the Fal and the surf capital of the Atlantic coast. It is a quick trip, under an hour on the main roads, but it crosses from one kind of seaside to a completely different one.

The road climbs out of the Fal creeks to Truro, then runs onto the A30 across the spine of the county before turning north for the coast. The last stretch down the A3075 passes through the old mining country around St Agnes and the dune-backed beaches of the north shore, and the Atlantic swell that makes Newquay what it is begins to show in the size of the waves as you near the town.

Newquay grew from a small pilchard-fishing port into Cornwall's largest resort, and since the surf boom of the 1960s it has been the centre of British surfing. Fistral Beach, facing the full fetch of the North Atlantic, hosts national and international competitions through the summer, and the town's beaches, nightlife and surf schools draw a younger, livelier crowd than anywhere else in the county.

What to do in Newquay

Newquay is all about its beaches. Fistral, on the western headland, takes the biggest swells and is the heart of the surf scene, while Towan, Great Western and Tolcarne line the town side and are gentler for families. Watergate Bay, a couple of miles north, has a famous beach, a surf school and a well-known beach restaurant. In the town itself, Newquay Zoo and the Blue Reef Aquarium are reliable wet-weather options,78 and the clifftop walk out to Towan Head and the old Huer's Hut, from where lookouts once spotted the pilchard shoals, gives the best view along the coast.

Read the Newquay guide

Going the other way: Newquay to Falmouth

Newquay to Falmouth reverses the A3075 and A30 and takes about the same fifty-five minutes. The run south is usually quicker than the summer run north, and Truro again makes an easy stop if you want to break the drive or catch the train for the final leg.

Related journeys

Truro to Newquay14 miles

Truro to Newquay

30 mins by car (About 30 minutes)1hr 30mins by bike (About 1 hour 30 minutes)

Truro to Newquay is 14 miles and about 30 minutes by car. The fastest A3075 route, the coast road alternative, buses, parking and the best time to travel.

Falmouth to Padstow47 miles

Falmouth to Padstow

1hr 10mins by car (About 1 hour 10 minutes)4hr 30mins by bike (About 4 hours 30 minutes)

Falmouth to Padstow is 47 miles and about 1 hour 10 minutes by car via the A30 and A39. Compare the fastest and coastal routes, parking, the Camel Trail and stops.

Falmouth to Truro11.5 miles

Falmouth to Truro

25 mins by car (About 25 minutes)1hr 15mins by bike (About 1 hour 15 minutes)

Falmouth to Truro is 11.5 miles and about 25 minutes by car on the A39. Compare the fastest and scenic routes, the Maritime Line train, parking and stops.

See every Cornwall journey →

Article Sources
  1. OpenStreetMap contributors (2026). Road network, road classifications and place names. Copyright and licence [online]. Available at: https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright OpenStreetMap[↩]
  2. National Trust (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk National Trust[↩]
  3. Royal Cornwall Museum (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://royalcornwallmuseum.org.uk Royal Cornwall Museum[↩]
  4. Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.cornishmining.org.uk Cornish Mining World Heritage[↩]
  5. Great Western Railway (no date). Plan your journey: timetables and branch-line services in Cornwall [online]. Available at: https://www.gwr.com/plan-journey Great Western Railway[↩]
  6. First Kernow (no date). Bus services, routes and timetables in Cornwall [online]. Available at: https://www.firstbus.co.uk/cornwall First Kernow[↩]
  7. Newquay Zoo (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.newquayzoo.org.uk Newquay Zoo[↩]
  8. Blue Reef Aquarium (no date). Blue Reef Aquarium Newquay [online]. Available at: https://www.bluereefaquarium.co.uk/newquay Blue Reef Aquarium[↩]
  9. Project OSRM (no date). Open Source Routing Machine: route shape and detour calculations [online]. Available at: https://project-osrm.org Project OSRM
  10. Ordnance Survey (no date). National Grid references used to position each place on the route map [online]. Available at: https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk Ordnance Survey
  11. Google (no date). Google Maps: live traffic and turn-by-turn directions [online]. Available at: https://www.google.com/maps Google Maps