The Southwest Coast Path passes through Porthcurno, descending from the windy cliffs into the valley.
From Land's End to Porthcurno is a scenic 5 mile / 8 km coastal walk, including Nanjizal bay, and from Porthcurno on to Lamorna Cove is 6 miles / 9.5km, and walking from Lamorna on to Penzance is a bit less. From Porthcurno there are inland footpaths to the villages of St Buryan, Sennen and the town of St Just. All these places feature local buses so a walk need not be circular.
The booklet Heritage Walks in St Levan describes six circular local walks and is available to buy online. The small parish of St Levan includes Porthcurno, Treen, Polgigga, Trethewey, Trebehor, Crean, Roskestal, Raftra, Bosisto, and the coves of Porthgwarra and Penberth. St Levan is in the former Penwith District in the far west of the county of Cornwall. For more info see the coastpath walking guide. Please note that filming of Poldark did at times lead to delays for coastal footpath users, and has made Porthgwarra and Penberth popular destinations. The Telegraph Museum at Porthcurno have published a free leaflet, available from them when they are open, mapping two short circular walks starting at the museum which explore and explain local history and landmarks very well.
The 2020 Covid-19 lockdown period saw many families and happy residents walking in the quiet streets, as well as the occasional horse, further making the case for a very desirable and do-able 20mph speed limit at Porthcurno, the benefits of which are so well set out by the UK's 20'sPlenty campaign group. Porthcurno also needs a continuous pavement for pedestrians from the turning from the B3315 all through the Porthcurno valley and on up to the Minack Theatre to accomodate the many visitors and sightseers exploring on foot, as well as the local residents.