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En Route Attractions - Tintagel

Tintagel town itself may have more than its fair share of tourist trappings and plastic Excalibur's but don't be put off, as an overnight stop to refuel for more coast path you are well provided for. There are plenty of good options for eating and drinking and enough to explore in the village if you have the energy. Most importantly no amount of tourist tat can take away from the castle and immediate coastline below the town which is absolutely unrivalled in atmosphere, drama and panorama and should not be missed or rushed through. The big advantage of staying here is you can visit early in the morning or late in the day before or after the masses and contemplate these black foreboding ruins the in semi isolation they deserve.

The remains of the castle visible today herald from much later than any tenuous connection with King Arthur's Camelot but this mesmerising site on a precipitous off shore island has monastic and fortified remains dating right back to the 6th Century. It is these ruins that have drawn and inspired visitors such as Turner, Tennyson and Dickens to develop the literary cult of King Arthur. According to the legend, Merlin smuggled Uther Pendragon into Tintagel using magic to disguise him as the Duke of Cornwall so that he could make love to Igerna, the duke's wife, Arthur was duly conceived here and the legend born. The small gap between land and island was reached by a drawbridge and is now replaced by a stunning walkway leading you to the ruins. Beneath the castle a newly installed vertical stairway takes you down tumbling cliffs to the beach at Castle Haven and the chance at low tide to explore Merlin's cave which runs right under the island to meet the sea on the other side.

Back up in the village the Old Post Office is actually a fascinating 14th Century National Trust manor house, its oak pieces, gallery and buttress construction well worth investigating. For those more interested in the Arthur cult visit King Arthur's Great Halls with its storytelling approach to the Legend. Keep your tongue in your cheek and it's an amusing and admittedly impressive attempt by one 20th Century eccentric to encompass all things Arthur on an appropriately monarchic scale. With over 70 stained glass windows depicted the deeds of the knights as well as granite thrones, sound and light shows and of course that obligatory round table.

If you become Arthured out head inland to St Nectan's Glen (also accessible from Rocky Valley and the Coast Path between Boscastle and Tintagel), where at the head of a lush valley a stunning 60ft waterfall crashes through a natural rock arch into the forest floor. The Kieve (the natural bowl at the base of the falls) is now a hermitage reported to be on the site of St Nectan's Cell and is claimed to have been a place of reverence, worship and healing since pre-Christian times. If you can stand the water temperature you can still bathe in its mysterious and therapeutic atmosphere but if it all sounds a bit chilly, with plenty of good pubs boasting roaring fires in the colder months Tintagel town will happily accommodate the weary and hungry as they look for rest from the coastal climbs.

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