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Arriving in Newquay

Travel distances

Penzance to Newquay

Penzance 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

40 miles

by road

By car

About 1 hour

in normal traffic

By bike

About 4 hours

steady pace

By foot

About 13 hours 20 minutes

estimated at a 3mph walking pace

Before you set off

Newquay's beach car parks fill from mid-morning in the school holidays, and the A30 can be slow on summer changeover Saturdays between Camborne and the Chiverton roundabout. Penzance itself parks easily, so plan the Newquay end carefully in high summer and travel early.

Which way to go

The fastest route

Leave Penzance on the A30 east past Hayle, Camborne and Redruth, stay on the dual carriageway past the Chiverton roundabout, then take the A392 north at Quintrell Downs down into Newquay.1 About an hour in normal traffic, most of it on fast main road across the central plateau.

The scenic route

For a slower, prettier version, leave the A30 near Chiverton and follow the north-coast lanes through Perranporth and the dunes behind its great beach before cutting across to Newquay.2 It adds time and the lanes are narrow in places, but it trades the main road for the surf coast, so keep to the A30 and A392 if you are towing.

Caravans and motorhomes

The A30 and A392 are the main roads across this part of Cornwall and carry caravans and motorhomes without trouble.1 In Newquay head for the larger car parks at Tregunnel Hill or Manor Road rather than the small beach car parks, which fill from mid-morning in summer.

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

    Penzance

  2. Hayle

    0.4 miles off the A30, adds roughly 5 minutes

    An estuary town at the mouth of the Hayle River, with a long industrial heritage and the three-mile beach at the Towans stretching north toward Godrevy.

  3. Redruth

    0.8 miles off the A30, adds roughly 9 minutes

    The heart of the Cornish mining district, once among the richest square miles in the world, ringed by the engine houses of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape.3

  4. Perranporth

    1.4 miles off the A3075, adds roughly 5 minutes

    A north-coast surf village on the scenic alternative, with a vast three-mile beach of golden sand backed by dunes.

  5. Arrive

    Newquay

Practical information

Parking

Newquay's Tregunnel Hill and Manor Road car parks are the larger and easier choices and sit within a short walk of the town and the main beaches. The beach car parks at Fistral and Great Western fill from mid-morning in summer. In Penzance, use the Harbour or Wharfside car parks or the long-stay by the station before you set off.

Train and bus

There is no direct line between the two. The practical route by rail is the main line from Penzance to Par, then the Atlantic Coast Line branch from Par across the clay country to Newquay.4 Allow around two and a half hours with the connection.5 First Kernow buses also run between the towns with a change.6

The best time to travel

May, June and September give the best balance of weather and quiet roads. In high summer travel early in the day to get ahead of the A30 traffic and to find a space in Newquay's beach car parks.

About the Penzance to Newquay journey

The forty miles from Penzance to Newquay carry you from the wide sweep of Mount's Bay in the far south-west to the Atlantic surf of the north coast, two very different kinds of Cornish water. The drive runs east and then north, up the A30 across the mining country and over the central plateau to the long beaches of the north.

Leaving Penzance, the A30 skirts Mount's Bay7 and runs east through Hayle and the old mining towns of Camborne and Redruth, where the engine houses of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape stand in the fields,3 before the A392 turns north at Quintrell Downs and drops into Newquay and the first sight of the surf at Fistral.

Penzance and Newquay sit on opposite coasts and could hardly feel more different. Penzance is the working capital of the far west, looking out across Mount's Bay to St Michael's Mount and the Scilly boats; 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. The drive between them is the quickest way to trade the south-west toe of Cornwall for the Atlantic coast.

What to do in Newquay

Newquay is all about the beaches and the surf. Fistral, facing the full fetch of the Atlantic, is the best-known surf beach in Britain, and the town beaches of Towan, Great Western and Tolcarne sit below the cliffs around the old harbour. Away from the sand, Newquay Zoo in Trenance Gardens8 and the Blue Reef Aquarium on the seafront9 make good family afternoons, and the South West Coast Path out to Towan Head gives an easy walk with wide views along the coast. The harbour still lands a catch and keeps a handful of good places to eat.

Read the Newquay guide

Going the other way: Newquay to Penzance

Newquay to Penzance reverses the A392 and A30 and takes about the same hour, the run south-west down the main road until Mount's Bay opens up on the final descent into the far west.

Related journeys

Newquay to Penzance40 miles

Newquay to Penzance

1hr by car (About 1 hour)4hr by bike (About 4 hours)

Newquay to Penzance is 40 miles and about 1 hour by car via the A30. Compare the fastest and coastal routes, the main line train, parking and stops.

Penzance to Padstow53 miles

Penzance to Padstow

1hr 20mins by car (About 1 hour 20 minutes)5hr 15mins by bike (About 5 hours 15 minutes)

Penzance to Padstow is 53 miles and about 1 hour 20 minutes by car via the A30 and A389. Compare the fastest route, the Camel Trail, parking and stops.

Penzance to Truro26 miles

Penzance to Truro

40 mins by car (About 40 minutes)2hr 45mins by bike (About 2 hours 45 minutes)

Penzance to Truro is 26 miles and about 40 minutes by car via the A30. Compare the fastest and coastal routes, the direct 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. 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[↩]
  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. St Michael’s Mount (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk St Michael’s Mount[↩]
  8. Newquay Zoo (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.newquayzoo.org.uk Newquay Zoo[↩]
  9. Blue Reef Aquarium (no date). Blue Reef Aquarium Newquay [online]. Available at: https://www.bluereefaquarium.co.uk/newquay Blue Reef Aquarium[↩]
  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