Walks near Falmouth.

The Pendennis headland above Falmouth harbour is managed by English Heritage (castle entry fee applies) but the coastal path around its perimeter is free. The circuit — barely two miles — passes the castle walls, the Half Moon Battery, and the Discovery Centre before reaching the cliff edge above the harbour mouth with views to St Anthony Head and the Roseland beyond. One of the most historically layered short walks in Cornwall; the defences span four centuries of maritime anxiety.

The Fal Estuary above Truro carries the King Harry Ferry — crossing to the Roseland every twenty minutes — and the path north from the ferry on the west bank passes Tolverne, where US troops embarked for Normandy in June 1944. Five miles of woodland walking above the deep-water channel to the outskirts of Truro, through bluebell-dense ancient oak in spring. Return to Falmouth by train via Truro. The wooded estuary scenery is the best of the Fal system.

Eight miles south of Falmouth, the Helford River cuts deep into the farmland above the Lizard in a series of wooded tidal creeks. Frenchman's Creek — immortalised in Daphne du Maurier's 1941 novel — branches south from the main river and is accessible via a two-mile path from Helford village. The path through the creek woodland is extraordinary in autumn when the oaks turn and mist lies in the valley. Boat hire from Helford Passage provides an alternative approach.