Porthtowan is a small village in Cornwall, England, UK, which is a popular summer tourist destination. Porthtowan is on Cornwall's north Atlantic coast about 3.5 km southwest of St Agnes, 6 km north of Redruth, 16 km west of Truro and 24 km southwest of Newquay in the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape, a World Heritage Site. Porthtowan is popular with surfers and industrial archaeologists; former mine stacks and engine houses dot the landscape. It lies on the South West Coast Path.