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Arriving in Falmouth

Travel distances

Padstow to Falmouth

Padstow 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

47 miles

by road

By car

About 1 hour 10 minutes

in normal traffic

By bike

About 4 hours 30 minutes

steady pace

By foot

About 15 hours 40 minutes

estimated at a 3mph walking pace

Before you set off

The A39 and A30 carry this journey quickly for most of the year, but the estuary road out of Padstow, the St Columb stretch and the approach into Falmouth all slow on summer weekends. Padstow's car parks fill by mid-morning in season, so an early start makes the whole run easier.

Which way to go

The fastest route

Leave Padstow on the A389 to Wadebridge, take the A39 south to the Indian Queens junction, then the A30 to Carland Cross and the A39 into Truro.1 Stay on the A39 south through Penryn and on to The Moor in the centre of Falmouth. Around an hour and ten minutes in normal traffic, nearly 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 Add about ten minutes, and keep to the A39 if the hedges feel tight or you are towing.

Caravans and motorhomes

The A389, A39 and A30 handle caravans and motorhomes without difficulty from end to end, carrying heavy traffic every day.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.

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

    Padstow

  2. Wadebridge

    4.7 miles off the main route, adds roughly 15 minutes

    The town at the lowest bridging point of the River Camel and the hub of the Camel Trail down to Padstow.3

  3. St Columb Major

    A handsome former market town on the A39, famous for its twice-yearly Shrove Tuesday hurling match, one of the last survivals of medieval street football in Cornwall.

  4. Truro

    0.2 miles off the A39, adds roughly 2 minutes

    The cathedral city and county capital, a natural halfway stop for the Royal Cornwall Museum and the three-spired cathedral before the road south.4

  5. 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.

  6. 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 Padstow, use the Harbour car park above the town before you set off.

Train and bus

There is no direct train. The practical route by public transport is a First Kernow bus from Padstow to Bodmin Parkway, the main line to Truro, then the Maritime Line down to Falmouth, which calls at Penryn and sets you down close to the seafront.5 The Maritime Line runs around every half hour and takes about twenty-five minutes on its own.6 Allow around two and a half hours for the whole journey 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 Padstow 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 Padstow to Falmouth journey

The forty-seven miles from Padstow to Falmouth run from the north coast to the south, from the broad tidal Camel to the deep natural harbour of the Fal, and take in a good cross-section of central Cornwall on the way. It is the longest of the everyday Padstow journeys and the one that changes landscape most as it goes.

Leaving the sandflats and oak woods of the Camel estuary, the road climbs to the high central farmland around St Columb, then drops south through Truro and on 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.

Padstow and Falmouth are both harbour towns that have turned to visitors, but they wear it differently: Padstow compact and foodie around a working quay, Falmouth spread along a seafront with a university, a maritime museum and one of the great sailing harbours of Britain. The drive between them is the quickest way to swap 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. The town's long main street of independent shops, galleries and cafés 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.

Read the Falmouth guide

Going the other way: Falmouth to Padstow

Falmouth to Padstow reverses the A39 and A30 and runs about the same time. The climb north out of the Fal creeks is straightforward, and once on the A30 the road moves well. Truro makes a natural halfway stop to break the journey, and the final stretch along the Camel estuary into Padstow is one of the prettiest approach roads in the county.

Related journeys

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.

Padstow to Truro24 miles

Padstow to Truro

45 mins by car (About 45 minutes)2hr 15mins by bike (About 2 hours 15 minutes)

Padstow to Truro is 24 miles and about 45 minutes by car via the A39 and A30. Compare the fastest and scenic routes, buses, parking and stops along the way.

Padstow to Fowey38 miles

Padstow to Fowey

55 mins by car (About 55 minutes)3hr 45mins by bike (About 3 hours 45 minutes)

Padstow to Fowey is 38 miles and about 55 minutes by car via Bodmin and the A390. Compare the fastest and scenic routes, the ferries, parking and stops.

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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. Historic England (no date). The National Heritage List for England [online]. Available at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list Historic England[↩]
  3. 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[↩]
  4. Truro Cathedral (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.trurocathedral.org.uk Truro Cathedral[↩]
  5. First Kernow (no date). Bus services, routes and timetables in Cornwall [online]. Available at: https://www.firstbus.co.uk/cornwall First Kernow[↩]
  6. 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[↩]
  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. 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