How difficult is the South West Coast Path?

Opens with an easy climb over Exmoor's grassy shoulder above Minehead, then settles into a long, damp stretch of ancient woodland through Culbone, a roadless combe with waterfalls and England's smallest complete church, more felt as a slow green tunnel than a coastal walk. Past County Gate the trees fall away and the path commits to the cliff edge, building to the section's sting: a hard pull past Foreland Point and a punishing drop off Countisbury Hill into Lynmouth's gorge. Villages are few and well spaced; Porlock Weir is effectively the last proper resupply before the finish.

Opens with the hardest ground on the whole trail: Great Hangman, at 318m the highest point on the entire South West Coast Path, followed by Little Hangman on the drop into Combe Martin. Ilfracombe interrupts with a proper Victorian seafront and townscape before the path eases into the surf coast, Woolacombe, Croyde and Saunton Sands, busy and popular in season. Past Croyde the character changes completely: flat, hard-surfaced walking on the old railway bed of the Tarka Trail around Braunton Burrows and the Taw estuary, a long, easy but unglamorous finish into the Barnstaple flats near Heanton Punchardon.

The least coastal stretch of the whole trail: from Heanton Punchardon the path follows the Tarka Trail's old railway bed, flat and paved, around the Taw and Torridge estuaries through Barnstaple, Instow, Appledore and Bideford, proper towns, road-adjacent, with more pavement than clifftop. Real walking resumes past Westward Ho!, where deep, energy-sapping combes start between the cliffs on the way to Buck's Mills. Clovelly is the reward: a steep, cobbled, car-free fishing village reached down the wooded Hobby Drive, its harbourside pub the obvious place to stop. The estuary miles are easy underfoot but genuinely dull. Most walkers just want them over with.

The most physically demanding stretch on the whole path. Clovelly to Hartland Point is steep combe after steep combe, and Hartland Quay to Bude is worse, around ten valley climbs in eight miles with almost nowhere to leave the path or resupply, widely reckoned the single hardest day on the route. Cornwall barely eases off: High Cliff near Crackington Haven is the county's tallest, and the path keeps climbing past Beeny Cliff and Pentargon waterfall. Boscastle's harbour is the one proper break in an otherwise exposed, thinly served run; Tintagel's castle ruins provide the finish.

Tintagel's crowds and clifftop ruins give way to quieter, steeper ground toward Port Isaac, a working fishing village squeezed into its harbour. Beyond it the path turns properly wild around The Rumps and Pentire Point before dropping into the beach-resort run of Polzeath, Daymer Bay and Rock, sand underfoot for a change. The Camel Estuary ferry to Padstow is the hinge of the day, the only realistic way across without a long detour inland via Wadebridge, after which Padstow's harbour crowds and Harlyn's quieter beach round things off. Villages come thick and close throughout; this is one of the more sociable stretches of the trail.

A rhythm of short, steep drops into coves and equally steep climbs back out, Porthcothan, Bedruthan, Mawgan Porth, Watergate Bay, each manageable alone but repetitive enough to add up over the stretch. Newquay breaks the pattern hard: Fistral Beach and the harbour are properly built-up, holiday crowds and surf shops after a run of quiet clifftop. Just south, the Gannel estuary is the one crossing worth planning around, its footbridge tide-dependent and a summer rowing ferry the only alternative at higher water. Beyond Crantock the crowds thin again through dune country to Perranporth and Bolingey.

Cornwall's mining coast: the engine houses of Wheal Coates stand above Chapel Porth, then a scatter of abandoned shafts and spoil heaps carries the path through to Portreath, the old mineral port. Cliffs are lower and the walking easier than further west, but genuinely undulating rather than flat. Past Godrevy Point, lighthouse, reliably visible seals, the path drops into the dunes of the Towans and Hayle's beach-town sprawl, then finishes quietly along the reed-fringed Hayle estuary to St Erth, a low-key inland finish a long way from any cliff.

Widely rated the hardest and best stretch of the whole path. St Ives to Zennor is boulder country, a slow scramble over granite with almost no flat ground, six miles that can take longer than routes twice the distance. Beyond Zennor the going eases but stays rugged past the old tin-mining ruins at Levant, Geevor and Botallack, before Land's End's crowds briefly interrupt an otherwise wild run. Small hamlets dot the map throughout, but real services cluster at a handful of points, St Ives, Pendeen, Sennen, then Porthcurno, Lamorna and Mousehole toward the end, with long, properly remote stretches in between. Mousehole's harbour makes a gentler finish before Newlyn.

A long, varied stretch that never settles into one rhythm. Marazion and St Michael's Mount give an easy, sandy start before the path rollercoasters past Prussia Cove and Rinsey to Porthleven, then eases along Loe Bar. Mullion marks wilder ground: heather and serpentine cliffs through the Lizard National Nature Reserve, short steep pulls building to Lizard Point, the southernmost point of mainland Britain, and turquoise coves at Kynance and Cadgwith. Coverack is the natural late stop; St Keverne itself sits inland, the path detouring round old quarry workings near Porthallow rather than passing through the village. Villages and cafés are rarely far apart throughout.

Gentler than the Lizard's west side, undulating rather than punishing, with an inland loop around old quarries near St Keverne and a string of small harbour villages (Coverack, Porthallow) keeping services close by. Two water crossings shape the route: Gillan Creek can be waded at low tide or walked round the head, but the Helford River has no realistic land alternative and is normally crossed by the small passenger ferry from Helford village. Beyond Helford Passage the path softens into wooded, grassy pasture around Rosemullion Head before Falmouth's harbour, then the quieter villages of Flushing and Mylor Churchtown close out the stretch.

A short, gentle day dominated by water rather than cliffs: the path threads wooded creeks around Mylor and Restronguet before the King Harry Ferry carries you across the Fal (Carrick Roads) to the Roseland side, a crossing that avoids a huge road detour via Truro and effectively defines the day. Beyond Philleigh, St Just in Roseland's creekside churchyard and St Mawes give way to a string of small, well-kept villages, Portscatho, Gerrans, round to Nare Head. Settlements come thick and close throughout; this is sociable, low-key walking rather than remote coast, finishing gently on the approach to Veryan.

A long, steady grind of headland after headland rather than one defining feature, Dodman Point, Nare Head and the coves around Portholland and Gorran Haven keep the climbing coming without ever feeling remote, with villages and cafés rarely far off. Mevagissey and Fowey are the natural pauses, the latter reached across a ferry that effectively carries the whole route onward, there's no realistic land alternative. Beyond it, Polruan to Polperro is the sting in the tail: walkers consistently rate it the toughest ups-and-downs of Cornwall's south coast, a genuine rollercoaster of steep coves. Looe and Downderry bring things back to a gentler finish.

Polperro's steep lanes ease at Talland Bay before Looe, a proper working town and the first real break. Climbing resumes over Bodigga Cliff to Seaton and Portwrinkle, then the path crosses the Tregantle MOD range, a signed perimeter path takes over on the days it's firing, before the long shingle sweep of Whitsand Bay. Rame Head and the twin villages of Cawsand and Kingsand lead into the wooded parkland of Mount Edgcumbe, a soft finish before the Cremyll foot ferry carries the route across the Tamar and into Plymouth proper.

Leaving Plymouth means choosing between the long official loop around the Cattewater via Laira Bridge or the optional Mount Batten ferry shortcut that cuts several miles off. Either way the walking stays urban and road-adjacent until Jennycliff and Bovisand return proper cliff underfoot. Wembury marks a return to quieter coast, with views to the Great Mew Stone before the Yealm estuary crossing at Newton Ferrers/Noss Mayo. Beyond it, Lord Revelstoke's Drive gives easy, high parkland walking before a few steeper pulls down to coves on the final approach to Bigbury-on-Sea and Burgh Island.

A short, scenic stretch held together by one seasonal ferry: the crossing of the River Avon at Bantham, without which the alternative is a nine-mile inland loop via Aveton Gifford that changes the day completely. Once across, the walking turns pretty and undemanding past Thurlestone's golf links and sandy coves to Hope Cove, before Bolt Tail to Bolt Head roughens up with steps and craggy little climbs, often rated among the most attractive stretches of the whole path. Salcombe's harbour, full of yachts and cafés, makes a lively, well-populated finish.

From East Portlemouth the path turns properly remote around Prawle Point, Devon's southernmost tip, and Start Point, wild, cliff-edged walking with big views and few people. Slapton Sands brings relief: several flat miles of shingle-backed road walking beside Slapton Ley, the easiest going of the day, before the climbing resumes hard into Dartmouth. The Dartmouth–Kingswear ferry is the day's hinge, after which the path climbs steeply through pine woods, rated among the toughest walking on this stretch of coast, on to Brixham. From there the character flips: Brixham through Paignton is proper Torbay resort, promenades and beaches after a genuinely tough, sparsely populated first half.

Torquay keeps the resort character going from Paignton, harbour, promenade, palm trees, before Babbacombe's cliffs bring back real climbing on the twisting run to Shaldon. A short ferry crosses the Teign into Teignmouth, then the walking flattens for good: an easy promenade stretch through Dawlish to a long flat finish at Starcross. The Exe estuary crossing to Exmouth is the day's pivot point, seasonal and not a given outside Easter–October. Past Exmouth, Budleigh Salterton is genteel and quiet, and the path finishes with an easy riverside walk up the Otter estuary to a footbridge and the short inland pull into Otterton.

Red Devon cliffs give way to white chalk at Beer, with steady, repeated climbs out of Weston Mouth, Branscombe and Salcombe Mouth that add up more than the map suggests. Past Seaton the path commits to the Axmouth–Lyme Regis Undercliff, a wooded landslip wilderness where leaving the path isn't an option for around seven miles, a genuinely different kind of walking, closer to jungle than clifftop. Lyme Regis and Charmouth offer the only real breaks before Golden Cap, the highest point on England's south coast, delivers the section's hardest single climb on the way to the quiet finish near Chideock.

A flat, low-key finish to this stretch of Dorset. From Bridport the path runs open cliffs above West Bay and Burton Bradstock to Abbotsbury, then turns inland before dropping to follow the shore of the Fleet Lagoon, Britain's largest tidal lagoon, rather than the shingle of Chesil Beach itself, a long, easy run to Ferrybridge. Weymouth's seafront and harbour make a sociable finish after a sparsely settled stretch. Portland is visible for miles but sits off-route as an optional detour, not part of the through-path. This is the gentlest ground on the whole trail, flat, quick going, good for making up time.

Weymouth's seafront gives way to quieter bays at Ringstead and White Nothe before the crowds return hard at Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove, the most visited stretch on the whole path. Beyond Lulworth the route crosses the Army's live-firing ranges: open most weekends and school holidays, but genuinely closed on firing days with no simple diversion, forcing a long inland detour or a bus round via Corfe Castle. Past Kimmeridge the coast turns wild again around St Aldhelm's Head before Swanage's resort bustle, then Old Harry Rocks' chalk stacks lead into Studland, South Haven Point marks the official end of the whole 630-mile path.