Introduction to Falmouth (Updated 11/05/2026)

Falmouth is a lovely town that's very popular with tourists.  It's unique location makes it stunning and gives it both a deep water harbour that can take very large ships and beaches.

During the last Ice Age, water was locked up as ice and the sea level was much lower.  Three river valleys came together and flowed out to sea.  These river valleys are now flooded with today's higher sea levels.  They are little like fjords, except these valleys were created by rivers and have sloping sides whereas fjords are created by glaciers and have steep sides.  

The point the rivers join is now a large expansive of water called Carrick Roads.  With your back to the sea in the entrance, the left branch is the harbour of Falmouth and leads to the neighbouring town of Penryn.  The central arm leads to Truro, some 8 miles in land and is tidal as far as Truro.  The right branch has the town of St Mawes just round from where it joins the Truro branch and there is a harbour here too.  The Truro branch has numerous beautiful wooded creeks that branch off, one of these goes even further inland than Truro and ends at the village of Tresillian.  .  The land to the right of the Falmouth branch of the river is known as the Roseland peninsula and this ends at At Anthony's point 

St Anthony's Point guards one of the sea entrances to this flooded river network.  The other side is guarded by Pendennis Point.  St Anthony's has a history of fortification, right up to WWII and it is a great place to wander around.  Pendennis Point has Pendennis Castle which is now run by English Heritage and is a great place to visit.  St Mawes also has a castle which is very well positioned to look out of the entrance and add a second line of defence.

The harbour at Falmouth is the third deepest in the world with only Sydney and Mahon being deeper.  The docks are still thriving to this day and if you drive up on to Pendennis Point, there is a viewing area where you can look down at work being carried out at the docks.  They have large dry docks there and often have large ships in for work.  There was several when I was there recently.  As you walk from Falmouth Docks, along the seas edge through falmouth, there are a number of marinas and piers that continue along all the way to Penryn.  There are always many smaller boats moored up and there is always something to look at.  You can do boat trips from the pier and this includes ferry trips to St Mawes and also to Flushing, a village opposite Falmouth on the smaller side branch.  You can also do boat trips out to sea and up river towards Truro stopping at Trelissick Gardens or just outside Truro at Malpas.  A few times a year on very high tides you can do a boat trip to the very edge of Truro.

So Falmouth has it's own little peninsula with open sea with beaches on one side and the flooded river valley creating the harbour on the other.  This peninsula is harder rock that neither the river or sea have yet managed to erode away.  This means there are a series of hills along the peninsula and they often have quite steep sides.  Flat land between these hills and the harbour was at a premium and the main street runs parallel to the water with lots of cut throughs and alleys to get to the water.  The main street is narrow and full of character and quite long.  

The main road in to Falmouth comes in from Penryn and then goes the other side of the hills before cutting down towards the harbour on a less steep route towards the sea.  Where this road and the main street meet, there is a square called the Moor which is full of more old buildings.  One lovely building on the Moor contains the library on the ground floor and Falmouth Art Gallery on the first floor.  Falmouth Art Gallery is free and definitely worth a look as they have some really interesting exhibitions.  Falmouth has a long history of art, so it is not surprising the town has a great collection of art.

Where the hills of Falmouth are steepest, roads circle round them with terraces of houses.  People still wanted to get up and down the hills quickly though, there are narrow steep routes.  The other side of the Moor from the art gallery, there is an alleyway that leads up one of the hills known as Jacob's Ladder.  Jacob's Ladder is a series of 111 granite steps and there is now a mural up one side.  There are other steps and alleyways, but Jacob's Ladder is the most infamous.

The hill at the end, Pendennis, has a road that goes up and round it.  The first stop is the viewing point that lets you look down on the shipyard.  A bit further on, you have roads leading down to the sewage plant (yes, I have visited it and it has the best views ever but is also completely out of the way) and also roads up to the leisure centre, the castle and the coastguards local command centre.  On the open sea side, there is a great car park with amazing views and there is often a ice cream van there.  Continuing on you can get to the smaller and less well known Castle Beach.

If you continue on you reach the best known beach in Falmouth, Gyllyngvase Beach.  It's a beautiful big sandy beach, overlooked by hotels.  If you continue along the coast you will reach Swanpool beach.  This is surrounded by newer housing.  Swanpool is a lake with the beach at the mouth of the lake.  Between the lake and the sea there is a car park and the road.  It's a lovely spot.  Maenporth is the next beach and really it sits just outside Falmouth.

I am sure you can see how, with such unusual and varied topography, Falmouth is stunning.  If you don't want to walk up and down roads, then pick your route with care.  Walk along the sea front on either side, it's flat but the road round Pendennis Point goes up, although it isn't as terribly steep as some of the hills around town that are very short and sharp.  Walking from the Moor through town to Discovery Square may take you half an hour or less, definitely more if you stop to look at some of the lovely shops.

Discovery Square is a new development at the far end of the main commercial street, shortly before the shipyards.  It used to be boat building sheds but now its a lovely events square surrounded by eateries.  On the sea side of the square is Falmouth Maritime Museum that has a walkway all the way aroun for you to enjoy the harbour.  There is also a large car park here.  There are other car parks, but many of them are smaller such as the Custom House Quay Car Park, a little car park on the Moor.  My favourite is Church Street, which is on the quayside like the Custom House quay Car Park but the way in is  a narrow lane and the way out is an arch through buildings with rooms above.  Quarry Hill is another larger car park but involves walking up and down a hill, even if you go the longer way by road.  The short way is Webber Hill which has sections of steps.  There is a park and ride from Ponsharden, between Falmouth and Penryn with a bus to the town centre.  It only runs in the summer though.

If you want to get the bus, you can with buses from Helston, Camborne, Redruth and Truro which have lots of stops along the way.  Use the Transport for Cornwall to work out which bus suits you.  Most of these buses stop at the Moor though so generally are not the best way of getting round the town centre.  They do however have some hopper bus routes that are really handy.  The 60 goes clockwise, along the main street to Discovery Square where it turns up to Falmouth Town Train Station from there it goes further inland via Wood Lane and Albany Road.  It then drops down towards the sea again along Killigrew Street to get to the Moor.  The 67 has a more convoluted route which goes to the Moor and Discovery Square but not through the town in-between.  It does however go to Falmouth Town Train Station, Falmouth Docks Train Station, up round Pendennis Point, along past Gyllyngvase Beach and then out to Swanpool.  The buses are easy to use and you can tap on and off using a debit card.

Falmouth is really great to get to by train.  It is on a branch line from Truro and the main stops are Penryn, Penmere, Falmouth Town and Falmouth Docks.  Some trains also stop at Perranwell.  Its a pretty route with two viaducts at Ponsanooth and another over the Bissoe valley.  Penmere and Falmouth Town are a similar distance from the Moor end of town but Penmere has a steeper hill and less frequent train stops.  Falmouth has a short gentle hill down to Discovery Square and then you can walk through town on the flat.  I would use Falmouth Town for both ends of town but I would consider getting the 60 bus if I was going to Falmouth Art Gallery and the Moor.  Its not far to Falmouth Maritime Museum.  The Falmouth Docks station is not far from Falmouth Maritime Museum either.  At Falmouth Town station, there is quite a step down and across from the train, so be careful getting off.  

If you want to walk from Falmouth Town train station to the Moor, you can do a lovely walk that takes you along the hill before dropping down on to the Moor.  This route does involve walking uphill, but it is relatively steady.  If you walk all the way to the end, you can drop down on to the Moor using the infamous Jacob's Ladder.  This is a set of 111 granite steps that drop steeply down to the Moor, Falmouth's main Square.  If you want to find them on the Moor, it's a narrow alley between the Methodist Church and Lloyds bank, opposite the Art Gallery.  There is a lovely mural on one wall of the lower part of the steps as well as a really good handrail all the way along the middle.

The walk itself takes you diagonally across the Dell car park at the station.   This brings you to the very pretty Arwennack Avenue which is a very quiet dual carriageway.  The footpath takes you gently uphill between the two carriageways and is tree lined.  After this, there are some spots where you can get some lovely views to the Docks and Pendennis Point.  On the right, you will find several streets that cut down to the main shopping street.  If you keep going, you slowly go up so that the way down at the end is longer and steeper via Jacob's Ladder.  

It's a lovely town, definitely worth a visit!