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Arriving in Penzance

Travel distances

Falmouth to Penzance

Falmouth to Penzance 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

27 miles

by road

By car

About 50 minutes

in normal traffic

By bike

About 2 hours 45 minutes

steady pace

By foot

About 9 hours

estimated at a 3mph walking pace

Before you set off

The A394 through Helston is the one slow point, especially on Flora Day in early May and on summer changeover Saturdays when holiday traffic heads for the Lizard. Penzance itself parks easily by Cornish standards, with long-stay car parks along the promenade and by the station.

Which way to go

The fastest route

Leave Falmouth on the A39 to the Treluswell roundabout, then take the A394 west through Helston and Ashton, past the turning for Marazion and St Michael's Mount, into Penzance.1 It is a straightforward run of about fifty minutes, with the sweep of Mount's Bay opening up on the final descent.

The scenic route

For a slower coastal version, turn off the A394 at Helston for the B3304 and follow the shore of Mount's Bay through Porthleven, Praa Sands and Perranuthnoe before rejoining the road at Marazion. It adds around twenty minutes and runs within sight of the sea for much of the way, with St Michael's Mount ahead the whole time.

Caravans and motorhomes

The A394 is the main road down to Penzance and takes caravans and motorhomes comfortably.1 Helston's one-way system is tight, so follow the signed through-route rather than turning into the town centre when towing, and keep to the A394 rather than the coastal B3304 lanes.

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. Penryn

    0.4 miles off the A39, adds roughly 3 minutes

    Falmouth's older neighbour on the way out of town, a granite stannary town worth a look before the road turns west.

  3. Helston

    5.3 miles off the main route, adds roughly 4 minutes

    The old stannary and market town at the gateway to the Lizard, famous for the Furry Dance held each May and for the Flambards attraction on its edge.2

  4. Marazion

    0.5 miles off the A394, adds roughly 4 minutes

    The access point for St Michael's Mount, the tidal island crowned by a medieval castle and subtropical gardens, reached on foot across the causeway at low tide or by ferry at high.3

  5. Arrive

    Penzance

Practical information

Parking

Penzance is one of the easier western towns for parking, with long-stay car parks along the promenade, by the railway station and at St Anthony's near the harbour. For St Michael's Mount, use the car parks at Marazion rather than driving down to the causeway, which floods at high tide.

Train and bus

Penzance is the end of the main line, so the train is excellent: take a bus or train from Falmouth to Truro, then the main line west to Penzance, a scenic run along the south coast and across the causeway at Marazion.4 It is the westernmost railway station in Britain.5 First Kernow buses also run the A394 corridor via Helston.6 From Penzance, ferries and flights leave for the Isles of Scilly.7

The best time to travel

Any time outside the Helston pinch points is easy. Avoid Flora Day in early May if you do not want to join the crowds, though it is a spectacle if you do, and travel early on summer Saturdays when the Lizard traffic builds through the town.

About the Falmouth to Penzance journey

The twenty-seven miles from Falmouth to Penzance run along the south coast of the far west, from the Fal to Mount's Bay, and bookend the Lizard peninsula between them. It is about fifty minutes on the A394, a road that keeps the sea somewhere off to the left for most of the way and finishes with one of the great views in Cornwall.

The route leaves the wooded creeks of the Fal, climbs over the neck of the Lizard through Helston, the gateway town to Britain's most southerly peninsula, and runs on through the old mining and farming country of Breage and Ashton. Then Mount's Bay opens ahead, a great curve of coast with St Michael's Mount rising from the water offshore, and the road drops down past Marazion into Penzance.

Penzance built its fortune on tin, pilchards and trade, and later on the railway that made it the gateway to the far west and the Isles of Scilly. Its promenade, Georgian town centre and the subtropical planting that thrives in the mild Mount's Bay climate give it a civic grandeur that the smaller harbour towns never had. It remains the natural capital of West Cornwall and the jumping-off point for Land's End, the Penwith moors and the islands.

What to do in Penzance

Penzance rewards a wander. The Egyptian House on Chapel Street is an extraordinary painted Regency facade, and Chapel Street itself runs down past the Admiral Benbow and old merchants' houses to the harbour. The Penlee House Gallery and Museum holds the finest collection of the Newlyn School painters who worked the fishing communities nearby,8 and the Jubilee Pool on the promenade is a beautiful Art Deco seawater lido, now partly geothermally heated.9 Marazion and St Michael's Mount are a couple of miles east and easily combined with a visit,3 and the harbour is where the ferry leaves for the Isles of Scilly.7

Read the Penzance guide

Going the other way: Penzance to Falmouth

Penzance to Falmouth reverses the A394 and A39 and takes about the same fifty minutes. The run east is usually clear once past Helston, and if you would rather leave the car, the main line from Penzance to Truro connects with the Maritime Line down to Falmouth.4

Related journeys

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.

Falmouth to St Ives28 miles

Falmouth to St Ives

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Falmouth to St Ives is 28 miles and about 50 minutes by car via the A30. Compare the fastest and scenic routes, the branch line, Park & Ride and stops.

St Ives to Penzance9 miles

St Ives to Penzance

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St Ives to Penzance is just 10 miles by road, about 20 minutes by car. Find the fastest route, the scenic train option, parking and public transport advice.

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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. Visit Cornwall (no date). Cornwall events calendar [online]. Available at: https://www.visitcornwall.com Visit Cornwall[↩]
  3. St Michael’s Mount (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk St Michael’s Mount[↩]
  4. 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[↩]
  5. National Rail Enquiries (no date). Train times and journey planner [online]. Available at: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk National Rail[↩]
  6. First Kernow (no date). Bus services, routes and timetables in Cornwall [online]. Available at: https://www.firstbus.co.uk/cornwall First Kernow[↩]
  7. Isles of Scilly Travel (no date). Ferry and flights to the Isles of Scilly from Penzance [online]. Available at: https://www.islesofscilly-travel.co.uk Isles of Scilly Travel[↩]
  8. Penlee House Gallery & Museum (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://penleehouse.org.uk Penlee House[↩]
  9. Jubilee Pool (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://jubileepool.co.uk Jubilee Pool[↩]
  10. Project OSRM (no date). Open Source Routing Machine: route shape and detour calculations [online]. Available at: https://project-osrm.org Project OSRM
  11. 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
  12. Google (no date). Google Maps: live traffic and turn-by-turn directions [online]. Available at: https://www.google.com/maps Google Maps