The path started as a job, not a hobby. Coastguards patrolled this entire coastline on foot, watching for smugglers slipping brandy, tea and tobacco past the excise men, and they needed to see into every bay and cove to do it properly. That's why the path hugs the coast as tightly as it does, rarely taking the direct route between two points when a longer one gives a better view down into the water. The patrols carried on into the early twentieth century. The path they wore into the clifftops outlived the job by a long way.
It was stitched together and opened in stages through the 1970s, Cornwall in 1973, South Devon and Dorset in 1974, the Exmoor coast in 1975, and the final stretch through Somerset and North Devon in 1978, the year it became a National Trail properly. The 630-mile figure itself is more recent than that. It only reached its current length in 2003, when a loop around the Isle of Portland was added to the route.
It has been voted Britain's Best Walking Route twice, featured in National Geographic's 100 Hikes of a Lifetime, and named one of the world's most awe-inspiring long-distance walks by CNN. None of which actually matters as much as this: it starts a few miles from here, in Poole, and most people who walk any of it never walk more than a small piece.
Where it actually goes
The path runs anti-clockwise from Minehead to Poole through four counties, though it's just as well signed the other way if you'd rather start at this end. It's broken into seven official sections, and this is roughly what each one looks like.
The seven sections
Minehead to Ilfracombe (Exmoor and North Devon). The highest sea cliffs in England, plunging wooded combes running straight down to the water, and the first proper test of the whole path before you've even reached Devon.
Ilfracombe to Bude (North Devon and into Cornwall). Big surf beaches, the genuinely striking cobbled village of Clovelly, and Hartland Point, where the coastline turns properly wild.
Bude to Newquay (North Cornwall). Tintagel and its castle ruins, steeped in Arthurian legend, some of the steepest, most punishing valleys on the entire route, and the highest cliff on the whole path at 223 metres.
Newquay to Land's End (West Cornwall). St Ives, the wild granite headlands of the Penwith peninsula, and Land's End itself, the most westerly point of mainland England.
Land's End to Falmouth (The Lizard and South Cornwall). Britain's southernmost point, sheltered estuaries, smugglers' coves, and a noticeably gentler, greener coastline than the Atlantic-facing stretch you've just left.
Falmouth to Plymouth (South Cornwall and South Devon). Fishing villages like Polperro and Mevagissey, river crossings by ferry, and the slow shift into Devon's red sandstone cliffs.
Plymouth to Poole (South Devon and Dorset). Dartmouth, the English Riviera's imported palm trees, and finally the Jurassic Coast, 185 million years of exposed geology, Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove, and the finish at Poole Harbour.
Nobody expects you to do it in one go
A very fit, very fast walker can cover the whole thing in around 30 days. The current record is just over 10 days, held by a small handful of ultra-runners who treated it as exactly that, a run. But the average person who sets out to walk the entire path takes seven to eight weeks, usually broken into stages over several years rather than one continuous trip, and that's if they're doing the whole thing at all.
Most people aren't. Most people have a stretch. A weekend on the Jurassic Coast. A week in North Cornwall. A single unforgettable day that happened to fall on the right stretch of cliff at the right time of year. The path doesn't ask for a thru-hiker's commitment to mean something, and the vast majority of the people who walk any of it at all have no intention of ever finishing the whole 630 miles.
"You could also consider becoming a member. Take it at your own pace. It is not a race."
The people who walk it
We asked on Instagram for real stretches from real walkers, the bit that nearly broke them, the view that made the blisters worth it. Here's what came back.
"I finished the Dorset Jurassic Coast section from Sandbanks to Lyme Regis. I started because of my mental health, it's addictive being out there, especially when your noisy head finally goes quiet. So many stunning areas, but Tyneham Village to Lulworth Cove is where I felt really, really at peace."
"Day 50 of the SWCP, currently in Seaton trying to make the most of every moment before I finish next week. Every day has been full of wonder, a kestrel chasing a peregrine off its turf over the cliffs of Crackington, storms at Hartland Quay, choughs and seals, an owl parliament keeping me awake instead of the gulls. I even came face to face with an adder sliding into the bracken near Portloe, a sacred Celtic omen, apparently."
"Ran the trail marathon from Clovelly to Bude at the start of June. Nearly 3,000 metres of elevation, and I hadn't trained for the weather, a yellow warning for wind, 55mph gusts. Known as one of the most arduous sections of the path anyway. Wow."
"Finished the entire path. The most memorable stretch was the Lizard, winds gusting over 50mph for days, trying to walk in a straight line felt like leaving the pub after one too many, minus the lack of judgement, plus a huge bag on my back. Near Coverack, at 2am, the wind won, the guy ropes snapped, and the whole tent came down on top of me. I ended up covering the next 26 miles to Falmouth in a single day with a broken tent, only to reach the ferry crossing and find it cancelled for weather. The icing on the cake."
"Over thirteen years ago, a younger, less hairy and markedly more limber version of me began one of the best and most defining experiences of my life. Existence pares back to the true essentials, food, water, shelter and good company, and the kindness of strangers played out again and again, spare rooms, vacant holiday lets, even four-star hotel rooms, on nothing more than goodwill. My month-and-a-half on the SWCP cemented both my resolve to live a life outdoors, and my love for my native Westcountry."
"We finish the South West Coast Path tomorrow after 72 days by its side, and it's truly magical. Seals, sunsets, swimming at every beach, but the most amazing thing has been the people we've met, all walking it for their own reasons, in their own ways, wild camping right through to hotels. We got off the ferry at Helford and saw a couple we'd met days before waving at us from the inn, and ended up sitting in the pub together for hours, sharing stories."
Done a stretch of it yourself? Tell us on Instagram, where, and why that bit stuck. We'll add real stories here as they come in.
Before You GoGetting started
- Start with a short, well-served section. Somewhere with regular villages, food and public transport links, rather than the longest, most remote stretch you can find. The Jurassic Coast and South Devon sections are generally the gentlest introduction.
- Underestimate the elevation at your peril. Because the path hugs every cove and inlet, it drops to sea level and climbs straight back up again constantly. A short-looking day on the map can still involve serious ascent. It's always the knees.
- Check tide times if your route crosses an estuary. Several sections rely on seasonal ferries or fordable crossings that simply aren't passable at the wrong time.
- Book accommodation ahead in summer. Popular stretches get busy, and rooms along the path can sell out well in advance.
- Consider a luggage transfer service if you're doing more than a day or two. A courier moves your bag between stops for around £18–23 a day, which turns a heavy multi-day carry into a genuinely light walk.
Find a stretch, check the tides, and go. It doesn't have to be all 630 miles. It just has to be a start.
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