Travel distances

Newquay to Padstow

Newquay to Padstow on the map

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

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Distance

14 miles

by road

By car

About 25 minutes

in normal traffic

By bike

About 1 hour 25 minutes

steady pace

By foot

About 4 hours 40 minutes

estimated at a 3mph walking pace

Before you set off

This is a short hop, but both towns are among the busiest on the north coast and the roads feel it from July onward. Newquay's beach car parks fill from mid-morning, and Padstow's harbour car parks not long after, so travel early or late in the day in high summer and you will save yourself the worst of it.

Which way to go

The fastest route

Leave Newquay on the A3059 north-east past Cornwall Airport Newquay and St Mawgan, join the A39 briefly towards Wadebridge, then take the A389 along the west bank of the Camel estuary into Padstow.¹ It is a straightforward run of about twenty-five minutes on good open road, with one of the prettiest approach roads in Cornwall for the final stretch along the water.

The scenic route

For the coastal version, leave Newquay to the north and pick up the B3276 through Watergate Bay and Mawgan Porth, then on past the cliffs of Bedruthan and Porthcothan to Trevone and Harlyn before dropping into Padstow.² It adds around twenty minutes and runs within sight of the sea for much of the way, past some of the finest surf beaches on the north coast, but the lanes are narrow in places and slow in summer.

Caravans and motorhomes

The A3059, A39 and A389 are comfortable for caravans and motorhomes and are the sensible choice when towing.¹ The coastal B3276 is narrow, steep and busy in places, with tight bends through the villages, so keep a large vehicle to the main road and use Padstow's Rock Road or Link Road car parks on the edge of town.

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

Start
Newquay
Porth Beach
On the B3276, adds roughly 1 minute
A long, sheltered tidal beach on the eastern edge of Newquay, calmer than the surf beaches and backed by a sandy bar at low tide, the first stop on the coastal road.
Whipsiderry Beach
On the B3276
A quieter sandy beach beneath the cliffs at Porth, reached by steep steps and revealing caves and rock pools at low tide.
Mawgan Porth Beach
On the B3276
A broad sandy cove at the mouth of the Vale of Lanherne, roughly halfway along the coast road and a good place to break the journey.
Harlyn Bay Beach
0.8 miles off the B3276, adds roughly 5 minutes
A wide, sheltered, north-facing sandy bay just west of Padstow, popular with families and surf schools and the last of the great beaches before the town.
Arrive
Padstow

Practical information

Parking

Padstow's main car park sits above the harbour and is the obvious choice, though it fills early in season. The Rock Road and Link Road car parks on the edge of town are larger and quieter, with a short walk down into the centre. Parking at Wadebridge and cycling the last five miles along the Camel Trail is a popular alternative on a fine day.³ In Newquay, use the Tregunnel Hill or Manor Road car parks before you leave.

Train and bus

Both towns keep their bus links but neither is quick by public transport over so short a distance. First Kernow buses run between Newquay, Wadebridge and Padstow through the day, sometimes with a change at Wadebridge.⁴ Padstow lost its railway in 1967, so there is no direct train, though Newquay keeps its branch line from Par across the clay country.⁵ In summer the Rock foot ferry across the Camel is a quicker way into Padstow from that side.⁶

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 both towns are at a premium, and travel early in the day if you want a coastal run without the summer queues.

About the Newquay to Padstow journey

The fourteen miles from Newquay to Padstow join two of the biggest names on Cornwall's north coast, the surf capital of the Atlantic shore and the Camel estuary food town. It is the shortest of the Newquay journeys, under half an hour on the main road, but it strings together some of the finest beaches in the county if you take the coast.

The quick way runs inland on the A3059 past the airport and St Mawgan, then along the Camel estuary from Wadebridge into Padstow. The slow way hugs the cliffs on the B3276, past Watergate Bay, Mawgan Porth, the great rock stacks of Bedruthan Steps and the dune-backed beaches of Constantine and Porthcothan, before Trevone and Harlyn bring you to the edge of Padstow. Either way the broad tidal mouth of the Camel opens out at the end.

Newquay grew from a pilchard-fishing port into Cornwall's largest resort and the centre of British surfing, lively and young in a way nowhere else in the county quite matches. Padstow kept its working quay and turned to food, a reputation built on Rick Stein's restaurants from the 1970s onward and since broadened well beyond them. The short drive between them is one of the classic north-coast runs.

What to do in Padstow

Padstow's harbour is the centre of everything, ringed by seafood restaurants, fishmongers and the queue for the famous fish and chips, with boats leaving for fishing trips and the Rock ferry throughout the day.⁶ The Camel Trail starts here and is worth riding even for a short stretch along the estuary.³ Above the town, the Elizabethan manor of Prideaux Place opens to visitors in summer and looks out over a deer park to the sea.⁷ For a walk, the coast path out to Stepper Point and the Daymark tower gives the full sweep of the estuary mouth and the Doom Bar below.

Read the Padstow guide

Going the other way: Padstow to Newquay

Padstow to Newquay reverses the route and takes about the same twenty-five minutes on the A389 and A3059, or longer and prettier on the coast road. The coastal B3276 past Bedruthan and Watergate Bay is best saved for a fine day and an unhurried car.

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Article Sources

OpenStreetMap contributors (2026). Road network, road classifications and place names. Copyright and licence [online]. Available at: https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright OpenStreetMap[↩]
National Trust (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk National Trust[↩]
Sustrans (no date). Camel Trail (Padstow to Bodmin) [online]. Available at: https://www.sustrans.org.uk/find-a-route-on-the-national-cycle-network/camel-trail Sustrans[↩]
First Kernow (no date). Bus services, routes and timetables in Cornwall [online]. Available at: https://www.firstbus.co.uk/cornwall First Kernow[↩]
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[↩]
Padstow Harbour Commissioners (no date). Padstow harbour and the Rock foot ferry [online]. Available at: https://padstow-harbour.co.uk Padstow Harbour Commissioners[↩]
Prideaux Place (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.prideauxplace.co.uk Prideaux Place[↩]
Project OSRM (no date). Open Source Routing Machine: route shape and detour calculations [online]. Available at: https://project-osrm.org Project OSRM
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
Google (no date). Google Maps: live traffic and turn-by-turn directions [online]. Available at: https://www.google.com/maps Google Maps