A cross-Cornwall path of about 27 miles from Padstow to Fowey, coast to coast over the mid-county spine
The Saints’ Way, or Forth an Syns in Cornish, crosses Cornwall from north coast to south, running about 27 miles from Padstow on the Camel estuary to Fowey on the south coast. It is a walk of two or three days over field paths, old lanes and moorland edge, moderate rather than hard, though it rises and falls across the grain of the country and gives long views on the higher ground. Near Helman Tor the route splits into two branches that both lead on to Fowey, so there is a choice of finish.
The line the path takes is thought to follow an ancient cross-country route. Rather than sail the exposed passage round Land’s End, early traders and travellers between Ireland, Wales and Brittany could land on the north coast, walk over the narrow neck of Cornwall, and take ship again from the sheltered harbours of the south. The medieval churches, granite stiles and old tracks along the way are the physical trace of that crossing.
The modern trail was pieced together in 1984, when walkers came across a forgotten run of granite stiles and the old line was surveyed and reopened, linked from surviving rights of way. Its symbolic ends are two churches: St Petroc’s at Padstow and St Finbarr’s at Fowey, both dedicated to Celtic saints, which is where the name comes from.
Both harbour towns are reached by bus rather than train — the nearest railway is at Bodmin Parkway — but their good bus links and the walk’s modest length make it easy to arrange as a there-and-back over a weekend.
