A stunning coastal walk takes hikers to the UK’s most southerly point to see seals and other incredible wildlife.

The Lizard Peninsula trail begins and ends at the Top House Inn in Lizard Green, Cornwall. The route is four miles long and should take around two hours to complete.

The route is fairly level, with a few short climbs and rougher sections. A network of paths radiates like spokes between the village and the Coast Path, so it is easy to make this walk shorter or longer if you wish.

A walk around the rugged tip of The Lizard passes the most southerly point on the UK mainland, following undulating high cliffs. 

It is a lovely walk in springtime when the grassland is scattered with many different wildflowers and in autumn when the bushes are full of birds such as pipits, warblers and buntings.

There are many sights to enjoy including the lighthouse and lifeboat station, the Marconi Wireless Museum and an ancient mass grave underfoot. Various scenes in the Poldark series were filmed at Gunwalloe and Lizard Point.

Close to the lighthouse is the Lion’s Den, a 35-metre-deep hole created when a sea cave roof collapsed. Originally only 15 metres deep, 180 years of erosion through the sea, wind and rain has enlarged it.

A must-see is just beyond Polpear Cove, where walkers can spot seals and choughs. Seals often swim in the shallow waters while choughs, a member of the crow family rooted in Cornish culture, do tumbling displays overhead.

It was featured alongside 10 others in an article from The Telegraph. The newspaper wrote: “If ever there was a walk to blow about the cobwebs, this is it: a little loop of the British mainland’s southernmost extremity, sea air blasting all round.”

The Top House Inn was commended as a “wonderfully atmospheric spot” where you can enjoy a well-earned pint after completing the trail. It added: “Grab sustenance from Anne’s Famous Pasty Shop then set out for implausibly cute Church Cove, to meet the sea.

“Then it’s a case of following the South West Coast Path, striding clockwise around this ravishingly rugged peninsula, passing high cliffs, a lonely lighthouse, the Marconi museum (sadly closed in winter) and views to Land’s End.”