What do you do when you love travelling, but you can’t go anywhere far? I knew I wouldn’t be going for any major trips for a while after my visit to New York City, so I had to find a way to feed my wanderlust somehow. And I ended up having a magical weekend in Cornwall.
Let me tell you more about it.
My magical accommodation
I’ve had some pretty awful experiences this year with the accommodation. In all places I’ve visited (Seville, Stockholm, and NYC), my accommodation was below my expectations. And trust me, I don’t need a 5 star hotel.
I promised myself that the next place I’d be staying at would be better.
And Trevigue Farm was so much more than ‘better’.
Wonderful B&B – Trevigue Farm
I could probably write a separate post about this farm – it is this amazing.
Everything from the welcome to the room and ending with breakfast was phenomenal.
Dining Room 
Lounge with fireplace 
Sleeping Room
My room was cosy yet spacious, clean, and warm. Guests can enjoy sitting in a lounge with a fireplace and read one of the hundreds of books there are or play games.
The breakfast is divine – and this comes from a person who is not a foodie. You are spoiled for choice with cereals, fruit, hot breakfast, not to mention the delicious coffee.
And to top it all up, the hosts are lovely, kind, welcoming, and make you feel like you are at home (frankly, I wish my home WAS like that!). Have a look at their website – I can’t recommend this place enough.
King Arthur’s Castle and Coastal Walk
My main aim of the trip to and weekend in Cornwall was to see King Arthur’s Castle and Merlin’s Cave.
I ended up doing a bit more than that, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
King Arthur’s Castle and Merlin’s Cave
The Castle – its ruins, to be precise – was built in 13th century. It is perched on the sea front, which adds to the eeriness of this place. There is now a new bridge that connects the land and an ‘island’ where the statue of King Arthur is. There are also remnants of buildings from 5th and 7th century.
It’s just mind-blowing how old this site is.
The views are simply breath-taking. Everywhere you turn is stunning. When I was there, the weather was not too great initially, but then the sun came out, and I saw lots of rainbows 🙂
Merlin’s Cave is below the castle and on the beach. Be warned that the beach disappears when the tide comes in. I was there before 11am, and managed to go down to the beach and even close to the cave.
The sound of the sea and waves, and the sight of the caves make this place simply magical. You can imagine the wizard going into the cave to perform all sorts of magic, and emerge later with a potion that would no doubt cure all ailments 🙂
Practicalities: if you are a member of English Heritage, you’ll pay nothing for accessing this historic place. Otherwise, it’s £13 per adult. And it’s absolutely worth it. If you’ve got virtigo, you may find it difficult to walk down the steep stairs and look around the area. However, you can get to the beach from the Visitors’ Centre and the access from there is not that precarious.
Coastal Walk to Rocky Valley – weekend in Cornwall
I had promised myself that if the weather is not too horrendous, or dangerous, I’d walk along the coast to Rocky Valley. And I’m so glad I did that.
I can’t describe how beautiful this area is. Every time I emerged from a corner, I’d be blown away by the view around me.
Let the pictures I took while walking up and down the hills speak for themselves:
Rocky Valley is breath-taking. The hills have got these vivid colours that I could stare at all the time. Despite the sound of the crashing water, the place is very calm and peaceful. You could easily just stand there and watch the water flow for hours.
I met some walkers along the way, but not many – this is the beauty of visiting a popular site off season.
Practicalities: the walk down the coastal pathway from King Arthur’s Castle to Rocky Valley involves a lot of stairs and slippery stones. You have to have proper walking boots and be reasonably fit to do this walk. The distance is not long, in fact, but it is the difficulty of walking up and down the hills that gets you. Unsurprisingly, my legs hurt after that walk! And it felt good.
Tintagel and Boscastle
Once you’ve done all the walking, you are bound to get hungry. There are plenty of places to eat in Tintagel, and nearby village of Boscastle.
Tintagel also has many craft shops, a honey shop (loved it!), and Cornish pastry ones. You can easily spend a good hour just walking down the main street.
Boscastle is smaller but very picturesque. I wanted to visit the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic there, but unfortunately it closes between November and April. Next time 🙂
One thing to bear in mind: at the time of writing, all the car parks that I stopped at had ticket machines where you could only use coins. Be prepared and have lots of change.
Driving back to Dorset on Sunday, I concluded that this magical weekend in Cornwall was the 3rd best weekend of this year. I had not expected it to be this positive, this uplifting and invigorating.
And aren’t such weekends just the best ones? 🙂
