Portwrinkle to Looe – South West Coast Path walks
July 5, 2024
Portwrinkle to Looe is the last Cornish section before we start making overnight stays. The drive is getting too long from our base in Kingswear for just a day-trip, so we must travel. However, from my point of view, it’s a great opportunity to actually experience some of the very beautiful Cornish towns. 
First stop will be a stay in Looe, but then I’m very excited to go to the land of Rick Stein in his home town Padstow. I keep seeing short-stay offers in my magazines; 2 or 3 nights staying in some “Rick” accommodation, meals in his restaurants (I believe between him and his son there are a few), wine from his vineyard and a signed copy of his latest book. Let’s be honest it’s the last that sold it. I just hope in between all this we’ll have time to explore the section of coast path around Padstow
Anyway, I digress, back to the coast path from Portwrinkle to Looe. As always, 2 circular walks.
Portwrinkle to Downderry
Don’t you just love some of the names around Cornwall? Portwrinkle…love it, but who does the naming? Port, ok that’s obvious, but wrinkle?
The highlights of this section of the coast path:
- Instantly taking a detour from the path to visit Hoodny Cove. We had 2 pups with us who were very keen for a run, so our first port of call (Portwrinkle….get it) was down to the beach. Hoodny Cove is very picturesque; a large sandy beach with a curved quay and a small harbour.
- It’s all about the beaches on this walk. We pulled into Finnygook beach and at the end Downderry beach. We had two very happy dogs with all the beach-running that was available.
Finny Gook beach – another interesting name. This time with a story. Apparently this area was where Silas Finn (Finny) smuggled goods. To evade the taxmen he would dress as a women in a bonnet and dress. The word ‘gook’ means bonnet in old Cornish dialect. There you go then, Finnygook beach.
Join us for our walk from Seaton to Looe...
We actually started where we left off on the previous walk, in Downderry. But just a mere stones throw from there, along a low path next to the sea, is the very small village of Seaton. Although small, there’s a lovely beach and there are also two eateries. The Beachhouse, a café/restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and The Smugglers Inn pub.
Other points of interest along this section:
- The Monkey Sanctuary – open seasonally and unfortunately, we were a bit early in the season. Something else to add to the must-return-and-see list.
- Millendreath beach (which I think sounds like something out of Lord of the Rings)– another glorious spot to sit and enjoy the sea-views. There’s a small café that has beach huts as outdoor seating…such fun.
- The lovely views of Looe island from Millendreath beach and walking into Looe.
- The town of Looe. It’s one of those extremely picturesque fishing towns with a labyrinth of streets with small independent shops and eateries, a beautiful beach and a very pleasing walkway out to a tiny lighthouse.
The fishing town of Looe
Our walk ended in the harbour-town of Looe. On this occasion we had a quick wander around the town…just to give us a taster of what was there for a stay; pubs – check; nice restaurants – check; great views – check; pier and lighthouse – check; pasty shop – check, in fact a few different pasty shops. Should we try one now just to check they’re proper Cornish-pasty pasties? Well, it would be rude not to. ‘Sarah’s Pasties’ enticed us in. One classic (Clark) and one spicy chickpea and lentil for me. Oh, and a seat by the sea to enjoy them. A great way to fuel up for the hike back (BTW, they were very large so we were able to enjoy them as a snack at the end of the walk too!)
