Getting to Padstow when there is no railway station

Padstow lost its railway on 30 January 1967. The line had opened on 27 March 1899, and for its last stretch the Atlantic Coast Express ran through from London Waterloo. Station House at the bottom of Station Road is now the town museum, the Railway Car Park keeps the name, and the track bed is the Camel Trail. So the first thing to settle is which station you are aiming for, because the obvious answer is the wrong one.

Four stations, and the one to use

By road from the harbour, the nearest stations are St Columb Road, about 18km, Roche, about 21km, and Newquay, about 22km. Bodmin Parkway is about 31km, the farthest of the four. It is also the one to use. Padstow's tourist office says as much: Google will name Roche or St Columb Road, which are geographically a little nearer, but they are small stations on the Par to Newquay branch and are not easily reached by public transport. Bodmin Parkway is on the Great Western main line, and Go Cornwall Bus route 57 runs from it to Padstow by way of Bodmin and Wadebridge.

The 57

The bus stop named for the station, Bodmin Parkway Station, is about 50 metres from the station building, measured from the stop's published coordinates. On the published timetable the 57 leaves Bodmin Parkway roughly hourly through the day and takes about 70 minutes to reach Padstow. Evenings, Sundays and bank holidays will be thinner, so check the Transport for Cornwall page before you buy a train ticket, and look at its service updates as well, because roadworks can divert the bus.

One access note. Bodmin Parkway's Penzance-bound platform is step-free, and the Plymouth-bound platform is reached by footbridge, according to Great Western Railway's own station page. If your train arrives on the wrong side, ask station staff for help before you reach the footbridge.

From Newquay and the airport

The other bus is the 56, Newquay to Padstow by way of Watergate Bay, Newquay Cornwall Airport and Constantine. It runs a handful of times a day rather than hourly, so it is a good link if the times suit and a poor plan if they do not. Newquay Cornwall Airport is about 21km from Padstow by road, roughly 24 minutes in a car.

If you drive

The National Lobster Hatchery's own directions are the plainest: leave the A30 at Indian Queens, follow the A39 to Winnard's Perch, turn left at the roundabout signposted to Padstow and follow the road all the way in. The hatchery says a park and ride runs in peak times just past the rugby ground. Padstow has four main car parks. The Harbour Commissioners run the Harbour car park nearest the water. The Town Council runs the Railway Car Park, at the bottom of Station Road with level access to the town and the Camel Trail, and the Lawns Car Park on School Hill, which the council calls a ten minute downhill walk. Cornwall Council runs Link Road, by the fire station. The Main Road car park on the A389 is open from Easter to the end of October and is about ten minutes' walk from the harbour. Do not leave a car on the street: the tourist office says the roads are very narrow and residents and businesses need access at all times.

The Railway and Lawns car parks take RingGo (location codes 2849 and 2848). Padstow Cycle Hire says the machine at the Railway Car Park takes coins only.

From the other side of the water

Rock is directly across the estuary and its Quarry car park (PL27 6FD) is run by the same Harbour Commissioners who run the ferry. Drive there, leave the car, and take the ferry across for three pounds one way, by card, remembering that you need a ticket in each direction. It saves the drive round through Wadebridge, and the ferry page lists the last boats.

Taxis

The tourist office recommends two firms and advises booking ahead: Mid Cornwall Taxis on 07785 233 777, which does airport and station transfers, and Coastline Travel on 01637 860006, which is based at Newquay Airport. A taxi from Bodmin Parkway is a sensible fallback if the bus times do not fit a late train.

On 1 May the roads in the old town close; the council's 2025 order ran from 8am to 10pm. Plan for that day separately.