The loop around Land's End from Penzance to St. Ives

We have done that drive several times, most recently last June. You could easily spend an entire day or even two exploring that area. It oozes with lovely beaches, tiny country lanes, and all sorts of megalithic sites, plus some gardens, tin mining relics, and Chysauster Ancient Village. We twice had to wait in the middle of a road for ten minutes while a huge herd of cows (200 maybe?) ambled from west pasture to east pasture.

We stayed at Gunard's Head and highly recommend it for both accommodation and meals. The Tinner's Arms in Zennor is also a good place for a meal. If you are by the water, it is nearly always windy and a bit chilly.

hi and thank you so much. so allowing a day would include st. ives, as well?

We never went into either Penzance or St. Ives - we try to avoid the towns which are big enough to have PIA traffic and impossible to find parking. However, you could easily spend the day on the Penrith Peninsula and then do dinner in either town. Are you also visiting other parts of Cornwall? We liked Boscastle and Port Isaac, but visit Tintagel only if you are up for climbing the hundreds of slippery steps to the castle. On the south coast, the Falmouth estuary is interesting and the stretch of coast from Mevagissey to Polperro is lovely. .

Hi Nancy- I just did this last month. I spent a week in Cornwall.
My tips/suggestions:
First and foremost: Do NOT waste time even stopping at Land's End. What a disappointing, commercially run place. It's horrible. I really wish I had known what the place was before I paid money to park. I could go on about how much my friends and I hated it, but I will spare you my further rant.
Now- You could spend all day making that drive around. In one day, I did Minack theatre, which I stopped at for about an hour. I also stopped at The Merry Maidens Stone Circle, and Lands End (ugh). I did that in about half a day and then drove up to St. Ives for the afternoon. As pretty as St. Ives can be on a sunny day, it wasn't my favorite. I only shopped around there, but it was too crowded for my taste.
Additional suggestions- stop in Mousehole. That is where I stayed the week and its just lovely and quiet. The Ship Inn right on the harbour was my go-to pub for the week- their calamari, chicken sandwich, and quiche was particular good. There are cute shops, including one called The Ark, which I suggest stopping at. I would spend at a couple hours just walking around the town, which isn't large.
As someone already stated- Tintagel, further north is BEAUTIFUL and worth a trip if you are able to do the climbing, it's hard, but worth it, just be extremely careful.
St. Michael's Mount is worth a few hours as well if you have the time for that.

Thank you so much, Ashley and Cynthia.
I have heard the same thing about the commercial nature of Land's End and have been advised to try to ignore that part and just walk out to take a look at the headlands and then continue on the loop.
We definitely will be visiting Port Isaac and Tintagel.
I thank you so much for your suggestions about other highlights to include. Will take them to heart!
Nancy