The Lizard

A family day out at Lizard Point — the most southerly tip of mainland Britain — with a proper coffee stop on the way down.

Britain runs out of land here. Lizard Point is the most southerly spot on the mainland — serpentine cliffs, a working lighthouse, rock pools at low tide and, if you are lucky, a basking seal below or a chough overhead. It is an easy, mostly level walk from the car park, and there is a café at the bottom as well as the one we always stop at in the village.

The National Trust Lizard Point sign with the sea and cliffs behind — The National Trust marker at Lizard Point — the most southerly point of mainland Britain.

Things to see and do on the Lizard

The Lizard & Kynance Cove: A Family Day Out at Britain’s Southernmost Point

Family days out

The Lizard peninsula is the most southerly point of mainland Britain — a serpentine-rock landscape that runs eight miles south of the…

Stop for coffee at Coast on the way down

The Lizard village — a two-minute drive from the point

The Lizard is the most southerly village in mainland Britain, and the last stretch of lane down to the point runs straight through it. We have never once managed to drive past Coast Coffee Bar & Bistro — a stone barn conversion on the green, with picnic benches out front and a wood-burner inside. It is properly child- and dog-friendly, the coffee is the real thing, and much of what lands on the plate (the crab, the Cornish eggs, the sausages) comes from the peninsula itself.

Our order rarely changes: a flat white for the grown-ups, a bowl of crisp whitebait with tartare to share, and something from the cake counter to carry down to the cliffs. Fuel first, then the ten-minute walk to the National Trust marker and the sea.