While visiting Cornwall England back in 2019 with my mom on vacation we stopped at King Arthur’s Tintagel Island. Tintagel is known for a castle dating back to the time of when was thought that King Arthur could have ruled, if proven that King Arthur was not mythical and an actual King but due to lack of documentation during the dark ages it is hard to determine factual evidence of King Arthur’s validity. They say that if he were to have ruled, that Tintagel might have been the legendary castle of Camelot. There are some discovered evidence of two Latin inscriptions that would link Arthur with Tintagel discovered in the 1980s. It is believed that Tintagel is the birth place of Arthur by Merlin and the site of Merlin’s cave. There are many claims to Camelot and the home of King Arthur but either way this is a great site to visit and magical in itself.
The cliffs of Cornwall are breathtaking and unique in every direction. St. Materiana’s Church near to the parking area where we were was very peaceful inside and easy to access. We did not descend into the Tintagel Castle on the island due the island being closed to the public, lack of time and a steep climb back. I would say that the Tintagel Castle and island are not an easily accessible site but the church of St. Materiana’s definitely is if that is where you park.
On the map it looks as if there is another parking area closer to the island access area at the bottom of the cliff near the entrance of Tintagel Island with a coffee shop and toilets. I am not sure why we parked so far from this area, up on the cliff but there could have been too many parked down at that area. Every tour is different and will bring you to areas sometime close, but not the exact area you were supposed to go. I like to use google maps to see where to go sometimes because when I was there you would never know there was another area because we were so far up on a cliff we couldn’t really see it.
Believed to be the site of Merlin’s cave the picture below is not of the cave because the cave was on the other side of the Island. The views alone are amazing though and the waters in Cornwall is very tropical with many coves and clear turquoise waters surrounding rock formations, tricking you into believing you were in the Mediterranean. I would like to go back as I feel as though we did not see enough of this site and I have been very interested in King Arthur recently. I would say that this is a must visit and make sure that you book enough time there because the trek down and back seemed too strenuous for a quick visit.
As you can see below there is a sculpture of King Arthur on the Tintagel island at the top. I took this photo maybe over few hundred feet away and could still see it. I believe there are other art installations associated with King Arthur and sadly we were unable to see them but always a good site to revisit. Sometimes you cannot always see everything and that is okay. I had a great experience and the views were amazing and all in all a good site even though we did not see it to the full extent. I am excited to maybe even take a King Arthur tour of England someday!
