If your first glimpse of Lantic Bay is on a sunny day, the beach looks as beautiful as any you’ll find in the Mediterranean. Turquoise water laps the beach and steep headlands hem it in on both sides making for a truly picturesque setting. It’s quite simply one of the most spectacular beaches in Cornwall.
But it doesn’t stand alone; you can also walk or swim across to smaller, even more secluded beaches, though Lantic itself is still a very quiet beach. We visited twice in the August summer holidays and couldn’t believe how few people we shared it with.
Here’s how to get to Lantic Bay via the quickest route.
The quickest walk to Lantic Bay
The stats
Distance: 0.65 miles (1.05km) each way
Elevation gain: 130m
Difficulty: Moderate
Trailhead: Lantic Bay National Trust Car Park
Summary: The walk to Lantic Bay is all on a good track but half the distance is downhill and relatively steep, so it’s a bit of a puff back up to the car park after you’ve visited the beach. The steps are in good condition so footing is generally solid for the most part, though small sections of loose soil are present when the stairs give way to a dirt track.
There are longer routes you can take to Lantic Bay, but in this guide we’re sharing the most direct option.
The trail
From the Lantic Bay National Trust car park you head out of the car park and turn left. Cross over the main road and head through the gate and onto the footpath.
The path follows the road at first but it’s very quiet and you’ll reach another gate at the 200m mark and from here you leave the road behind.
Once you’ve passed through the gate you turn left and walk along the worn trail leading gently uphill through farmland.
You can see the sparkling blue sea in the distance which is beautiful and you’re not far from the wow factor views to come.
After 100m the path flattens and after another 185m (485m from the car park) you will reach another gate. Don’t go through the gate and instead take the long staircase leading downhill to the right.
It has to be one of the most spectacular staircases in Cornwall with a direct view down to the glistening bay and little bobbing sail boats. No photos can truly do it justice, it’s a very special section of track.
After 65m you’ll see a second gate on the left and pass through it. The stairs give way to a narrow dirt path, which does have the odd bit of loose soil in various places, but it wasn’t too slippery on the whole.
You’ll see a bench seat on the right after a couple of hundred metres which is a nice rest stop on the way back up if you need it.
The track keeps heading downhill for another 25m after the bench at which point you see Lantic Bay signposted to the right.
There’s a bit of flat track but most of the way to the beach is still downhill. There are a couple of steepish bits with a minor amount of rocky terrain, but nothing too challenging.
You’ll arrive at the beach just over 1km after leaving the car park.
When you’re ready to leave the beach you head back along the same trail, but it’s harder now as you’re going uphill and it’s quite steep at points.
Lantic Bay
Lantic Bay is absolutely stunning and though at eye level you can see it’s more shingle than it is sand, it doesn’t diminish the beauty.
The bay is nicely sheltered making it a great place for a swim and it’s hard to resist when the water clarity is so good.
Our pictures are from high tide so you can see there’s still a lot of beach to enjoy when the tide is in, but for maximum space you would want to come closer to low tide.
Low tide is also when you can walk across to Little Lantic Bay to the left and various tiny unmarked bays to the right.
However, if you like to swim you can get across when the tide is up and this is when all the bays will be quieter as most people don’t swim over, and your only other way across is by boat.
Little Lantic Bay
Little Lantic Bay is as picturesque as the main beach and fully sandy which makes it lovely to walk or lay on. There’s also a little sea cave on the far side of the beach (the furthest side from Lantic Bay).
We visited in August and a few people had come across by boat but it was still very quiet. No one swam across but it’s very easy if the swell is low and only takes a little over 5 minutes.
A couple of hours either side of low tide you can walk across instead, or so we’re told because we’ve not yet visited at low tide.
The smaller more secluded bays
There are several bays to the right (when facing the sea) of Lantic Bay and the first one in particular has remote tropical island vibes.
The water is clear and turquoise and the small beach looks almost white on a sunny day.
A steep cliff surrounds the beach and the rugged rocks give it a Castaway feel. It’s incredible to think that for most of my life I had no idea that the UK had beaches like this!
Getting to it is a few minutes walk at low tide or a brief wade and swim at high tide. At high tide you could also walk along the rock wall instead if you didn’t want to swim, this route is 110m and a bit scrambly.
For reasons unknown barely anyone visited this little beach so we felt like it was our own private cove most of the time.
I continued round to the next bay, which again takes only a couple of minutes and is worth seeing. You can walk or swim through the gap in the rock walls and you’ll come to the next cove.
For me there was only a little sand/shingle at high tide, but I imagine it’s a fair sized cove at low tide. It’s very pretty but my favourite is the one before it.
I did swim out a bit further but the water got choppier so I stopped before I got to anything else of note, but if I didn’t have the phone with me I would have gone a bit further, so if you like exploring there may be more to see.
Keep them wild
Please remember to take all rubbish with you and keep these places wild and pristine - as with anywhere in the outdoors. It’s important to leave them exactly as you found them so they will remain beautiful for generations to come.
Litter tends to breed litter, so if you do spot any and are able to pick it up and dispose of it outside the area, it will go a long way to keeping the area clean.
Where to park for Lantic Bay
To follow our route you park at the Lantic Bay National Trust car park, postcode PL23 1NP, you can see the exact location here on Google maps. It’s a large car park and had plenty of space both times we visited in August.
The car park is free for NT members or £2.50 up to 1 hour, £5.00 up to 4 hours or £9.00 for the whole day. There are no toilets at the car park or anywhere along the trail.
It’s a 15 minute drive from Polperro, an hour from Newquay, or 35 minutes from Fowey, the Fowey route requires taking the small car ferry unless you want to take a longer route.
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The quickest route to one of Cornwall’s best beaches, Lantic Bay. We’re sharing directions, trail conditions and how to visit the other smaller coves surrounding Lantic Bay on any tide.