Loe Bar to Porthleven: A Coast Walk With Lunch at the Harbour

Loe Bar is one of the strangest and most beautiful places on the Cornish coast: a bank of shingle with Cornwall's largest natural lake, Loe Pool, on one side and the open sea on the other. This walk takes you down onto it from the National Trust car park at Chyvarloe, along the bar and the coast path into Porthleven, round the harbour for lunch, and back. It is a proper half-day, and one of our favourite ways to spend one.

At a glance

• Start: National Trust Chyvarloe car park, near Gunwalloe, TR12 7PY
• Distance: about 4 miles each way (around 90 minutes each way)
• Climbing: gentle; a slope down to the bar at the start and a short climb into Porthleven
• Time: half a day, a bit longer with lunch
• Terrain: field and coast paths; loose shingle on the bar itself, which is hard work, so wear boots
• From Trewena: about half an hour by car

The walk

Down to the bar. From the car park, the path slopes down through the fields to Loe Bar. It is a view that stops people: the still, dark water of Loe Pool on one side, and waves breaking onto the shingle on the other.

Along the bar. Walk the length of the bar between the lake and the sea. The shingle is loose underfoot, so take it steady. Look out for birds on the pool and, on a calm day, seals offshore.

Into Porthleven. From the far end of the bar, the coast path climbs gently and follows the cliffs into Porthleven, arriving above the harbour with its famous clock tower. Walk round the harbour and the town before heading back.

Never swim at Loe Bar. The currents are dangerous, the shingle shelves steeply into deep water, and people have drowned here. Walk it and watch the sea; swim somewhere else.

Lunch in Porthleven

The halfway point is the reward. Get a pasty and sit on the harbour wall, grab a coffee or an ice cream, or settle into the Ship Inn for a proper lunch. It is a classic old sailors' pub on the water, with tankards hanging up, beer mats all over the ceiling and a log burner going, and the food is good too.

A different way back

For a change of scene on the return, come back through the National Trust's Penrose estate, through the woods around Loe Pool, instead of retracing the coast path. Our guide to the Penrose estate walk covers the estate in more detail, including a longer start from Helston.

In autumn and winter

This is a great walk when the sea is up. Autumn and winter swells crash onto Loe Bar and over Porthleven's harbour wall, and the town is famous for its storm-watching. Stay well back from the water's edge when it is rough. See where to watch storms in Cornwall.

Plan your walk

• Autumn walks near Falmouth
• The Penrose estate walk
• Where to watch storms in Cornwall
• Cornwall in autumn for couples