Qype User (.
Yelp
This has to be one of my favourite places to go in Cornwall and holds a special place in my heart.
If you're visiting the area by car, you turn off the B3301 just outside Gwithian, drive up a gravel track which becomes a narrow tarmac road to a lower car park. If you have a National Trust card, you can continue up to the top car park (and out of season there are no restrictions).
And if you're on foot, it's on the coastal path. When the tide's out, you can walk along the beach from Hayle or Gwithian Towans. Gwithian Sands is a fantastic beach, popular with surfers. Walk towards the lighthouse.
There are various ways up from the beach to the top of the cliffs and you get fantastic views from up there. Look across the bay to St Ives, which always seems bathed in sunlight and across to Godrevy Lighthouse, which inspired Virginia Woolf to write 'To the Lighthouse' on her holidays in St Ives.
It can be very windy up there, being so exposed, so take a windbreaker or coat, depending on the weather. If you're lucky, you may spot a seal in the waves.