Ok. I was not expecting this. I’m not exaggerating when I say this might just be my favourite walk that I have done. From now on, if someone asks me what is the one walk they should do in England, it will be this one. The Tintagel to Bossiney coastal walk.
We only came here as an afterthought. On our way to Cornwall from London, with a plan to head further south, time was getting on. We realised it would be dark by there time we got to our destination, so I whipped out Google Maps, and had a search for somewhere we could stop to break up the journey.
Tintagel seamed reasonable. So we pulled up, and camped out for the night. The next morning, as we were already here, I figured we should go for a bit of a walk, and check out Tintagel Castle before heading off. That’s how this walk came about….
What I’m going to do in the guide, is first tell you a little bit about what to expect on the walk from Tintagel to Bossiney Cove, with full logistics, a map, and useful tips. Then I will go on to describe the route step by step with lots of photos. At the end I will provide suggestions for other coastal walks near Tintagel, or around Cornwall.
What to expect on the coastal walk from Tintagel to Bossiney
On this circular walk, you will see Tintagel Castle, Merlin’s Cave, headlands, the Rocky Valley, a waterfall, Bossiney Cove and many more caves. There was a sort of Game of Thrones vibe, and, the way those seagulls flew about like pterodactyls, a dash of Jurassic Park.
Bossiney Cove
When sitting up on the headland of Willow park, we could see a beach way in the distance. We didn’t know anything about it, but figured, why not go have a look.
So we did.
We are very glad we did.
It is one of the most impressive beaches I have been on. It was way bigger than we realised. Perfect soft sand, numerous caves, arches and a waterfall.
How long is the coastal walk from Tintagel?
As far as coastal walks go, it’s not that long. The circular from Tintagel to Bossiney, and back via the Rocky Valley, is just over 7 miles. My tracker says it took 3.5 hours. But that’s because most of the time, I paused it when we stopped to look, explore, and admire. Not at first though, however, there came a point where I had to, as we were stopping so much and the timings would not be fully accurate for how long it takes to do the walk.
In reality we were out walking for about 6 hours.
As Ollie said, ‘this is not the kind of place you come to hike, it’s the kind of place you come to look’.
Is the circular walk from Tintagel challenging?
The coastal path section of the walk from Tintagel to Bossiney Cove is moderate/challenging difficulty. It’s fairly rugged, with lots of undulations, and some steeper hills. To get down onto the beach at Bossiney, it’s quite steep, and for the final bit, you need to help yourself down with a rope.
If getting down onto the beach sounds too much for you, then you can just skip it. You will miss out on the cool caves, and the elephant arch, however, the views from up top are still wonderful.
For the walk back to Tintagel, it’s much easier, as you will be slightly inland from the coastal path. First through the Rocky Valley, and then a bit of road, and field walking, to return to Tintagel.
Parking to walk along the coastal path from Tintagel
For free parking (free at the time of writing), you can park up by St Materiana’s Church. There is a car park here but it’s not marked on Google Maps. Post code is PL34 0DJ. It’s up the hill just outside of the village. This is where we parked to start the walk.
In Tintagel, there is then main castle car park, which is pay and display. At the time of writing it only accepts coins. Near to that is the Old Tintagel country club car park, which you can pay by app (JustPark). Then further up the road, out of the main village is the Sword in the Stone car park, which is also pay and display.
I have rambled enough now. Let’s get into the tips and logistics, and then I will tell you about all the other delights when I describe the Tintagel walk route below.
Tips for the walk
- Wear good grip shoes/hiking boots.
- Time the walk for low tide (or as the tide is going out). If you want to walk inside Merlin’s Cave, which sits under Tintagel Castle, the tide needs to be out. Bossiney Bay is also completely submerged at high tide. You can check the tide times here.
- Following on from the above point, if you are mooching about on Bossiney Bay, be aware of the tide. If you aren’t careful, as the tide is coming in, you could get cut off.
- Take swimwear if you fancy a swim at Bossiney.
- On the walk back to Tintagal, stop off at the Bossiney tea room from traditional English cream tea.
- If you want to make the Tintagel walk longer, then when you reach the bottom of the Rocky Valley, go over the bridge and up the hill, to continue on the coastal path. You will see what I’m talking about, when I describe the route below. Following the coast path here, will lead you to Boscastle.
- If you choose to park in Sword in the Stone car park, be very carful of your timings. You are filmed entering and leaving, so if you are back to your car within time, but by the time you drive out you are over your time, you will get a fine. Reading the reviews, this has caught a lot of people out. Also note, that as it’s just outside Tintagel, it’s the furthest car park from the start of the walk.
Logistics
- Start/Finish: St Materiana’s Church. Post code is PL34 0DJ.
- How to get there: If you are in town, there is a road called Vicarage Hill which takes you to the church. To get to Tintagel itself, it’s quite tricky without a car. It’s served by buses 95, 181, 182 and 212. I have had a look at what towns these buses run through, and none of them seem to have a train line.
- Type of walk: Circular
- Distance: 7.4 miles/12km
- Time: 3h 30min (not including stops. I would allow much more time).
- Difficulty: Medium/challenging.
- Terrain: Some road and asphalt path, but mostly very very rocky and uneven dirt trails.
- Elevation: Very hilly
- Amenities: There are public toilets in Tintagel as well as other stuff you would find in a village (places to eat etc). A tea room in Bossiney.
- Time of year: We did this walk from Tintagel during Spring
Map for the Tintagel circular walk
You can find my more detailed route map for the Tintagel circular walk on Alltrails.
More walks near Tintagel and around Cornwall, will be listed at the end
Route description for The Tintagel Circular Walk
As this walk from Tintagel is a circular route, you can start anywhere you want really. However, I am going to describe it as I walked it, starting at the church just outside Tintagel village.
Walk to Tintagel Castle and Merlin’s Cave
From the car park by St Materiana’s Church, you head north along the coast path. There are actually a couple of routes you can take here. One is a wider path that runs next to the church, or you could follow the smaller trail that runs right next to the coastline.
We took the wider path.
As you walk along this path, very soon you will get a view of Tintagel Island up ahead, and Tintagel village to the right. When you get closer to the castle, the terrain changes from smooth and easy, to rocky and uneven. Then as you walk alongside the Tintagel Castle wall, you will go over some wall steps.
This is a taste of what’s to come.
Tintagel Castle
When you reach the junction, left will take you to Tintagel Castle itself. We didn’t go, as we had wandered around there the night before, but feel free to check it out yourself. You have to pay and there might be a queue. You can find more info on visiting Tintagel Castle here.
It’s pretty cool, as you can walk along the bridge you see, which leads from the castle to Tintagel Island, and go and see King Arthurs statue.
Walk down to Merlin’s Cave
If you do go to the castle, there will be a trail that leads you down to it Merlin’s Cave after. Otherwise, follow me.
At this junction, if you walk left towards Tintagel Castle, there will be a trail that leads down to the right just before the entrance kiosk. There is coast path signage here if you aren’t sure. This is where you want to go.
Here you will wind your way down the hill on a mix of stairs and gravel path. Keep going past the white buildings, and continue down to the lower level by the sea.
(The public toilets are here, as well as somewhere to eat)
At the fence turn left, and you should see the little beach cove and cave. This is Merlin’s Cave. Keep going to reach the steps, and go down them.
This bit won’t be for everyone, as after the steps, you will need to then walk across some rocks, which could get slippy when wet.
Merlins Cave
Once on the beach, you can walk into Merlin’s Cave, which lies below Tintagel Castle. It’s about 100m long, and you can walk right through from one side to the other. If the name didn’t clue you in, this is apparently where Merlin the wizard lived.
You can also play a little game of find Merlin. His face has been carved onto a rock.
I only know this because when I was there, a guy asked me if I had found Merlin. I had no idea what he was talking about, and then he started pointing to a rock. Staring at the rocks, I started to wonder if this guy was a bit crazy….
Then I saw it. It was a sort of, oooooh yeah moment. I won’t tell you where it is. I will leave the fun up to you.
Leave Tintagel to Walk to Barres nose
Head back up the way you came down, to get back on to the coast path trail. There is a short and rocky steep bit, before the trail levels out briefly.
After a bit, you will see ahead that the trail splits. I thought for a moment about which one to take. The left trail is steep and rocky. Did I really need to see what was up there? The right trail would take me where I needed to go.
Well, my curiosity won, and I’m glad it did.
Once at the top, there is a lovely view back down to Tintagel Castle, and then if you continue following the path up and walk over to the to the other side, a fantastic view along the coastline to Willa Head and beyond. This was truly a wow moment. One of many on this Tintagel walk.
Willa Park and the Sisters
Continue following the coast path in the direction of north. The next section of the Tintagel coastal walk is a mix of level ground, ups and downs, and some steps, along the cliffy coastline, to take you to Willa Park.
From the entrance to Willa Park, you can go right. But I urge you to go left. Left will take you along a grassy trail and through a brick wall, to reach the headland and the Sisters.
This is one of the many places we stopped for a bit, and it’s where we got a view down to Bossiney Cove.
The Sisters
The Sisters are a couple of big rocks off the headland. Birds like to hang our here. Ollie and I watched the seagulls and thought about how wonderful their lives are. Sitting there on their throne.
I have had a look online and can’t find any stories about the Sisters. Usually stuff like this has a story or legend of sorts. I guess it’s just two rocks.
If you do know a story, then I would love to hear it.
Walk to Bossiney Cove
As we hadn’t planned or researched anything about this walk from Tintagel, we didn’t know Bossiney Cove was a thing. We were just walking. Walking along the coast path from Tintagel, until we got bored (or tired). Seeing Bossiney Cove, Ollie asked me if I wanted to go down to it. I said yes. So off we went….
When you are ready to leave, walk back the way you came to get back to the entrance of Willa Park and follow the trail.
You will notice on the walk back to the entrance, there are actually a few trails. They all take you in the same direction and meet further along, so choose whichever you please.
Now things get serious…
It will get steep. Very steep. First downhill on a mix of path and steps, and then across the bridge, followed by steep steps uphill.
Through the gate and down again, you will reach the signpost. Left takes you down some steps to Bossiney Cove. When we were there, this was closed off. Too dangerous or something.
If you go there and it’s open, then you could go this way, however, you would miss out on something fun….
The adventurous walk down to Bossiney Cove
So instead, continue straight and up again. Once you have reached the top, things will level up nicely, as the narrow trail winds its way along the coastline. With a lovely view down to the beach.
Now, you need to pay attention for the next bit, or you will miss it. You should see a grassy trail split off from this one. Follow it to take you down to Bossiney cove.
Things start off fairly easy. Then it starts to get steep….then very steep. It’s a very narrow rocky (potentially slippy) dirt trail down. There are railings for part of the way, but not all of it.
At the bottom there will be a rope for you to hold onto to get the rest of the way down. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photo of this bit. But I have a video if you want to see (sorry for the terrible quality….His phone is rubbish):
Explore the caves, arches and waterfall of Bossiney Cove
It wasn’t until we got down to beach level that we realised how big it is, with pale and soft sand.
If you walk to the left, you will pass by an arch and some caves, which you can go in to explore.
If you continue on to the left corner of the beach you will find some more delights. A little cove enclosed by dark rocks, a mini but tall waterfall, and a unique arch called Elephants nose.
We spent quite a bit of time down here, only leaving when the tide came in, and we were forced out.
Leave Bossiney Cove Beach to walk to the Rocky Valley
To leave Bossiney Cove, head back out the way you came, up the rope and the narrow steep trail. Getting back up wasn’t as challenging as I was expecting. It was actually easier, because I wasn’t worried about slipping.
We weren’t yet done with the walk, so instead of turning back to Tintagel, once we got back onto the main coast path trail, we turned left….
A bit further along here, there is a fantastic view down to Bossiney Cove Beach, and ahead to some more rocks. In the photo below, you can see that the tide had now come in a lot, and most of the beach was gone.
Walk in the Rocky Valley
If you keep following the coast path, you will reach a sign for the Rocky Valley, where the trail continues downhill. We passed a guy at the entrance who said ‘It’s very Rocky’.
He is correct.
You will walk down the rocky trail, and at the bottom of the valley, there is a lovely view to the left through the rugged rocks, and to the right along the stream giving a sort of fairytale vibe.
Now, this is where we went wrong. We had decided at this point to circle back to Tintagel, through the Rocky Valley. To do so, you need to turn right at the signpost to walk along the stream, and through the valley. We instead walked over the bridge and went up. Very steeply up. Only to realise once at the top, that we didn’t have to….and now we had to walk back down.
Ollie was not impressed.
I actually didn’t mind, the view from up there, back down into the valley was lovely.
Follow the stream towards Bossiney village
So, at the bridge, don’t go over it. (You can go over it if you want. This will lead you to Boscastle. Although you will miss out on the valley)
Following our route, to walk through the Rocky Valley, walk along the trail with the stream to your left.
It’s very pretty along here, walking through the valley alongside the gentle flowing river, moss covered rocks, trees and flowers.
It’s also super easy, with the level (and slightly rocky) trail.
Further along, you will reach a wooden bridge. Walk over it and past the abandoned brick building, following the yellow arrows.
Towards the end, you will reach some houses and an immaculate lawn. I felt sort of envious that this lawn and house wasn’t mine.
Through the gate at the end, walk uphill along the road, then at the main road turn right to walk into Bossiney.
Walk from Bossiney to Tintagel
You will now be walking on road and pavement for a little bit, and will pass by the Bossiney tea room where you can get some refreshments.
You can continue along this road to get you back to Tintagel, however, if you want to get off the road, look out for a right turn with coast path signage.
Following the coast path sign, continue along the track and then through the gate. Continue to follow this trail, as it then turns left to take you uphill and through another gate.
Walk to the end of this field keeping the brick wall to your left.
Walk through Tintagel
Once you reach the road, continue on it as it goes from Atlantic road to Fore street. You will walk by some cute Cornish shops, pubs and the Tintagel Old Post office.
Fun fact: When I told my mum we had been here, she told me that the post office was used as a school during the war….and my grandmother was a pupil there.
Walk from Tintagel back to the car park
Past the Tintagel post office, take a right after the Spa and walk along and into the car park. Walk to the other side of the car park onto the green. Follow that path that takes you over a mini bridge and up some steps.
There is a signpost up the steps, pointing you to the church. Follow it. Shortly ahead, there is a gate also directing you to the church.
Through the gate there is an obvious trail, then it disappears. We sort of winged it and ended up walking through a field with a locked gate at the other end. It was simple to climb over, but if this isn’t your thing, then there should be a turning a bit before, which takes you onto the road.
Once on the road, walk up it to get back to the church/car park.
More walks to try in Cornwall
If you head a bit further south along the coast from Tintagel, between Padstow and Newquay, you could try out a few really cool coastal path walks:
Porthcothan to Treyarnon – 4.5 mile circular with some absolute stunning coves.
Bedruthan Steps walk – 6 mile circular to one of the most beautiful beaches on Cornwall.
Trevone to Gunver Head and Stepper Point – 5.6 mile circular to a really unique shaped rock. It looks like a flame, and is really cool the way it is framed by the other rocks.
If you would like to see some of the famous tin and copper mines, then I recommend trying out this walk from Rinsey. Its very easy (I actually did it because I wanted something easy that morning), but super impressive. Or you could try out the ancient stones walk (I still need to finish writing this one), which features some engine houses. This was also a random last minute walk, but I was also pretty impressed with it. Quite different from the usual coastal walks of Cornwall. Both these walks are in South Cornwall.
Sticking with the south, you should try the Mousehole to Lamorna walk. This one has a lot of really interesting rock formations. If you like rocky walks, then the St Ives to Zennor walk will not disappoint. This is also south, but still on the North Coast, so you will have some good rugged cliffs.
For more walking ideas in Cornwall, you could check out the National Trust website.
Pin it for later: Walk from Tintagel to Bossiney along the coast path
