Lizard Point

Lizard Point: England’s Southernmost Tip

Lizard Point is the southernmost piece of mainland England, a headland in southwest Cornwall where the Cornish serpentinite - a greenish metamorphic rock unlike anything else on the island - meets the Atlantic. The cliffs here are 60 metres tall and the sea is frequently rough. In clear weather you can see the Eddystone Lighthouse 30km to the northeast, and occasionally the Isles of Scilly another 40km beyond that.

The National Trust manages the land around the point and keeps the car park small deliberately. This means arriving before 10:00 in summer if you want a space. The café at the tip - a converted lifeboat house - is open from around 09:30 and serves decent pasties and hot drinks.

The lighthouse

The Lizard Lighthouse dates from 1751 and has been automated since 1998. The attached Heritage Centre (open daily in summer, weekends only in spring and autumn, free entry) is better than it sounds: the lens mechanism on display and the history of Trinity House’s fog signal operations are genuinely interesting. Lighthouse tours run in summer when weather permits (adult GBP 5).

Kynance Cove

One mile north of Lizard Point along the coastal path, Kynance Cove is the most photographed beach in Cornwall. The beach is accessible only at low and mid tide - it disappears under water at high tide - which most visitors don’t realise until they arrive. Check tide times before walking down (it’s a steep 10-minute descent and the return is tiring). The stack formations and sea caves visible from the beach are serpentinite, the same rock as the cliffs. The National Trust café above the beach is reliable for cream teas.

Walking the coastal path

The South West Coast Path passes through Lizard Point and the walking in both directions is excellent. North toward Mullion Cove takes about an hour and a half. South is irrelevant as Lizard Point is the tip. Going east toward Cadgwith adds another 3km of clifftop walking to reach a small cove village with a pub (the Cadgwith Cove Inn, on the harbour, serves food daily).

The terrain is uneven and exposed. Wear proper footwear; the serpentinite surfaces become slippery when wet.

Wildlife

Choughs - red-billed, red-legged corvids that were absent from Cornwall for sixty years before recolonising in 2001 - are regularly visible on the clifftops between Kynance and Lizard Point. They are more acrobatic in flight than jackdaws and travel in small family groups. Grey seals haul out on rocks below the cliffs most of the year.

Staying nearby

The Lizard village, 1km from the point, has a post office, a pub (the Top House), and a few B&Bs. For something with more quality, the Coverack village hostel 8km east on the east side of the peninsula is excellent and the Roskilly’s organic farm near St Keverne sells their own ice cream daily. Helston, the main town on the peninsula, is 10 miles north and has more accommodation options.

Getting there

The Lizard is not served by rail. From Helston, the First Kernow bus service 37 runs to Lizard village (approximately 30 minutes). From Penzance the bus connections are slower but work. The fastest approach from outside Cornwall is to drive to Helston and transfer to bus.

Avoid August bank holiday weekend. The road through the peninsula is a single carriageway and the queues at the car park can stretch back 2km.