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Arriving in Falmouth

Travel distances

Newquay to Falmouth

Newquay to Falmouth 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

Both ends of this journey are among the busiest in Cornwall through the summer. Newquay's beach car parks fill from mid-morning in the school holidays, and Falmouth's seafront and town-centre parking comes under real pressure on August weekends. The A30 and the A39 into Truro both slow in the holiday peaks, so set off early and you will have the easiest run.

Which way to go

The fastest route

Leave Newquay on the A392 to the Quintrell Downs roundabout and join the A30 south-east at the Highgate Hill junction near Fraddon.1 Follow the A30 to Carland Cross, turn off for the A39 into Truro, then stay on the A39 south through Playing Place and Penryn to The Moor in the centre of Falmouth. Around fifty-five minutes in normal traffic, almost all of it on fast main road.

The scenic route

For a prettier finish, leave the A39 south of Truro at Playing Place and follow the lanes through Point and Penpol above the Carnon and Restronguet creeks, past the seventeenth-century Come-to-Good Quaker meeting house, before rejoining the main road near Penryn.2 It adds about ten minutes and takes in some of the quietest water in the county, but the lanes are narrow, so keep to the A39 if you are towing or pressed for time.

Caravans and motorhomes

The A392, A30 and A39 all carry heavy traffic every day and present no difficulty for a caravan or motorhome.1 The creekside lanes on the scenic alternative around Feock and Point are single track with high hedges and few passing places, so leave those for a car and use Falmouth's park-and-ride at Ponsharden when towing.

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

    Newquay

  2. Truro

    0.2 miles off the A39, adds roughly 1 minute

    The cathedral city and county capital at the head of the Truro River, a natural halfway stop for the Royal Cornwall Museum and the three-spired cathedral before the road south.3

  3. Penryn

    0.2 miles off the B3292, adds roughly 6 minutes

    Falmouth's older neighbour, a granite-built stannary town whose high street runs steeply down to the Penryn River and a working boatyard quay.

  4. Gyllyngvase Beach

    0.5 miles off the A39, adds roughly 3 minutes

    Falmouth's main town beach, a sheltered crescent of sand a short walk from the centre and the first sight of open water as you arrive.

  5. Arrive

    Falmouth

Practical information

Parking

Falmouth's main car parks sit along the seafront and around The Moor and the Maritime Museum, and the larger ones at The Dell and the park-and-ride at Ponsharden are the easier choice in summer, with a bus or a short walk into town. In Newquay, use the Tregunnel Hill or Manor Road car parks before you set off.

Train and bus

There is no direct train. The practical route by rail runs through Truro: the Atlantic Coast Line from Newquay to Par, the main line west to Truro, then the Maritime Line down to Falmouth, which calls at Penryn and sets you down close to the seafront.4 The Maritime Line runs around every half hour.5 First Kernow buses also link Newquay and Truro through the day.6 Allow around two hours with connections.

The best time to travel

Late spring and early autumn show both towns at their best, busy but not overwhelmed. In July and August aim to leave Newquay early and arrive in Falmouth before the seafront car parks fill, and avoid Falmouth Week in mid-August if you would rather miss the crowds, though the regatta is a spectacle if you time it to join in.7

About the Newquay to Falmouth journey

The thirty-three miles from Newquay to Falmouth cross Cornwall from the surf coast of the north to the deep natural harbour of the south, swapping the Atlantic rollers of one shore for the sheltered creeks of the Fal on the other. For most of the way it is a fast run on the A30 and A39, the two roads that between them carry the bulk of the county's traffic.

Leaving Newquay on the A392, the road joins the A30 across the high central farmland, then turns south at Carland Cross and drops through Truro into the wooded creeks of the Fal. Falmouth grew around its harbour, one of the deepest natural anchorages in the world, and spent centuries as a packet port sending mail and news out across the Atlantic. The approach runs out through Penryn, the older of the two neighbouring towns, before the water opens up at The Moor.

Newquay and Falmouth both live off the sea but could hardly feel more different: Newquay the lively surf capital facing the full fetch of the Atlantic, Falmouth a university harbour town spread along a sheltered seafront with a maritime museum and one of the great sailing waters of Britain. The drive between them is the quickest way to trade one coast for the other.

What to do in Falmouth

Falmouth is built for a day by the water. The National Maritime Museum Cornwall on Discovery Quay tells the story of the harbour and of small boats from around the world, and the seafront beaches of Gyllyngvase and Swanpool are a short walk or bus ride from the centre.8 Pendennis Castle, one of Henry VIII's coastal forts, guards the harbour mouth from its headland and gives a wide view across the Carrick Roads to St Mawes.9 The town's long main street of independent shops, galleries and cafes runs parallel to the water, and boat trips leave the Prince of Wales Pier for the Helford River, St Mawes and the upper Fal through the season.10

Read the Falmouth guide

Going the other way: Falmouth to Newquay

Falmouth to Newquay reverses the A39 and A30 and takes much the same fifty-five minutes. The climb north out of the Fal creeks is straightforward, and once on the A30 the road runs well back to the Newquay turning. Truro makes a natural halfway stop in either direction.

Related journeys

Falmouth to Newquay33 miles

Falmouth to Newquay

55 mins by car (About 55 minutes)3hr 20mins by bike (About 3 hours 20 minutes)

Falmouth to Newquay is 33 miles and about 55 minutes by car via the A30 and A3075. Compare the fastest and coastal routes, the branch line, parking and stops.

Newquay to Truro14 miles

Newquay to Truro

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Newquay to Truro is 14 miles and about 30 minutes by car. The A3075 route, the coast road, buses, the Langarth Park & Ride and the best time to travel.

Newquay to St Ives30 miles

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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. Historic England (no date). The National Heritage List for England [online]. Available at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list Historic England[↩]
  3. Truro Cathedral (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.trurocathedral.org.uk Truro Cathedral[↩]
  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. Falmouth Week (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.falmouthweek.co.uk Falmouth Week[↩]
  8. Falmouth Harbour (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://falmouthharbour.co.uk Falmouth Harbour[↩]
  9. English Heritage (no date). Pendennis Castle [online]. Available at: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/pendennis-castle English Heritage[↩]
  10. Fal River (no date). Ferries, Park & Float and getting around the Fal [online]. Available at: https://www.falriver.co.uk Fal River[↩]
  11. Project OSRM (no date). Open Source Routing Machine: route shape and detour calculations [online]. Available at: https://project-osrm.org Project OSRM
  12. 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
  13. Google (no date). Google Maps: live traffic and turn-by-turn directions [online]. Available at: https://www.google.com/maps Google Maps