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Arriving in Truro

Travel distances

Penzance to Truro

Penzance to Truro on the map

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

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Distance

26 miles

by road

By car

About 40 minutes

in normal traffic

By bike

About 2 hours 45 minutes

steady pace

By foot

About 8 hours 40 minutes

estimated at a 3mph walking pace

Before you set off

Truro parks easily by Cornish standards, with a park-and-ride at Langarth on the edge of the city, and Penzance is one of the simpler western towns to leave, with long-stay car parks along the promenade and by the station. The A30 between Camborne and the Chiverton roundabout is the one stretch that slows, at the morning and evening peaks and on summer changeover Saturdays.

Which way to go

The fastest route

Leave Penzance on the A30 heading east, past Marazion and Hayle and through the old mining towns of Camborne and Redruth, staying on the dual carriageway to the Chiverton Cross roundabout, then take the A390 east into Truro.1 It is a straightforward run of about forty minutes, fast main road almost the whole way, dropping into the city past the park-and-ride at Langarth.

The scenic route

For a slower start, follow the shore of Mount's Bay east out of Penzance through Marazion, with St Michael's Mount rising from the water offshore,2 before joining the A30 near Hayle. It adds only a few minutes and opens with one of the great views of the far west, though the A30 is quicker if you are pressed.

Caravans and motorhomes

The A30 and A390 are the main roads across this part of Cornwall and carry caravans and motorhomes without difficulty.1 The coastal lanes around Marazion are narrower and busier in summer, so keep a large vehicle to the A30 and use the long-stay car parks at Marazion for St Michael's Mount.

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. Marazion

    1.4 miles off the A30, adds roughly 10 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.2

  3. 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.

  4. 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

  5. Arrive

    Truro

Practical information

Parking

Truro's Moorfield, Garras Wharf and Old Bridge Street car parks sit close to the centre, and the park-and-ride at Langarth on the edge of the city is the easy choice on a busy day. In Penzance, use the Harbour and Wharfside car parks or the long-stay by the station before you set off.

Train and bus

There is a direct main-line train from Penzance to Truro, about thirty-five minutes along the south coast, calling at Camborne and Redruth, and running through the day.4 It is the simplest way between the two, with no change needed.5 First Kernow buses also run the length of the route through Camborne and Redruth.6

The best time to travel

Late spring and early autumn show both ends at their best. The A30 is busiest between Camborne and Chiverton at the morning and evening peaks and on summer changeover Saturdays, so travel in the middle of the day for the clearest run.

About the Penzance to Truro journey

The twenty-six miles from Penzance to Truro run east along the A30, the fast spine of the far west, from Mount's Bay to the cathedral city at the head of the Truro River. It is one of the everyday journeys of West Cornwall, on good main road almost the whole way, and it swaps the toe of the county for the nearest thing Cornwall has to a capital.

Leaving Penzance, the road skirts Mount's Bay with St Michael's Mount offshore,2 then climbs inland through Hayle and the old mining country of Camborne and Redruth, where the engine houses and chimney stacks of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape stand in the fields on either side.3 Beyond the Chiverton roundabout the A390 drops east into Truro, and the three spires of the cathedral come into view across the valley.

Penzance and Truro are the two capitals of the west in their different ways. Penzance looks out across Mount's Bay and built its wealth on tin, pilchards and the railway that made it the gateway to the Isles of Scilly; Truro is a Georgian and Victorian city built on tin money, with the only cathedral in Cornwall and the Royal Cornwall Museum at its heart.7 The drive between them is the long run east along the main road that ties the far west to the rest of the county.

What to do in Truro

Truro rewards an unhurried wander. The three-spired cathedral, finished in 1910 on the site of the old parish church, dominates the centre and holds concerts and services throughout the year.7 The Royal Cornwall Museum on River Street tells the story of the county from its minerals to its art,8 and the Georgian terraces of Lemon Street and Walsingham Place are among the finest in the West Country. The pannier market, the independent shops of the old city and the riverside walk down to Boscawen Park all repay the time, and the city makes a natural hub for the rest of Cornwall.

Read the Truro guide

Going the other way: Truro to Penzance

Truro to Penzance reverses the A390 and A30 and takes about the same forty minutes, running west through Redruth and Camborne before Mount's Bay opens up on the final descent towards the far west.

Related journeys

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Truro to Penzance is 26 miles and about 40 minutes by car, or 35 minutes by direct train. Routes, the Marazion approach, parking and where to stop.

Penzance to St Ives10 miles

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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. St Michael’s Mount (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk St Michael’s Mount[↩]
  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. Truro Cathedral (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://www.trurocathedral.org.uk Truro Cathedral[↩]
  8. Royal Cornwall Museum (no date). Home page [online]. Available at: https://royalcornwallmuseum.org.uk Royal Cornwall Museum[↩]
  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