Cornwall Coast: Padstow and Tintagel - tour description
Our tour starts with 2 nights at the historic and picturesque port of Padstow - now famed for its fish and seafood restaurants. There is a full day to explore the long series of sandy beaches and rocky headlands which extend westwards from Padstow towards Newquay. This part of Cornwall is popular with surfers, who enjoy the challenge presented by the breakers rolling in off the Atlantic. There is a handy local bus service which enables you to break off the walk at any point and return to Padstow. On the third day, while your baggage goes round the long way by road, you take the little passenger ferry across the Camel estuary (tidal river) to Rock, then follow the increasingly precipitous coastline to the tiny fishing village of Port Isaac, which has been used in films and TV series to epitomize the 'olde' Cornwall.

The next day's hike,takes you on along the coast to Tintagel, famed for its association with the legendary King Arthur. Tintagel Castle (now owned by English Heritage, open to visitors daily) is on an island linked with the mainland only by a high footbridge. From Tintagel you continue to Boscastle, one of the scarce natural harbours on this wild coast. With 2 nights at Boscastle you can choose between a wide range of excellent hikes both along the coast towards Crackington Haven and up the sheltered valleys of St Nectan's Glen and the River Valency. The latter valley leads inland to the isolated church of St Juliot's, which was restored by the novelist Thomas Hardy when he was working as a young architect. Hardy later set his romantic novel A pair of blue eyes in and around Boscastle - and married the blue eyes.

The coastal walking in North Cornwall is undeniably strenuous, with numerous long steep ascents and descents, so you need to be fit before the start of the tour. It can help to build in a rest day, for instance at Port Isaac. However it is possible to shorten most of the days by using local buses for part of the way - we provide timetables and tell you where to find the bus stops.

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Cornwall Coast: Padstow and Tintagel - tour details 2011
A Discerning Traveller self-led hiking holiday
Duration. 5 or 7 nights. Tour codes: T5 or T7; T5E or T7E (E = with ES/private bathroom).
Start of tour: Padstow. End of tour: Tintagel (T5) or Boscastle (T7).
Dates. April to mid-October.
Grade. Moderate to demanding. The gradients on the coastal path are steep and strenuous. However days can readily be shortened by using buses or taxis.
Train stations. Start of tour Bodmin Parkway, then hourly bus direct to Padstow; end of tour Bodmin Parkway (bus from Tintagel or Boscastle, change buses en route at Wadebridge).
Train service. Direct from London Paddington train station via Reading Station to/from Bodmin Parkway. Journey time from Paddington 4.5 to 5 hours; from Reading Station 30 minutes less. Also direct trains from Bristol Temple Meads station to/from Bodmin Parkway.
Airports. The nearest airport is Newquay (20 minutes drive by taxi to Padstow; 1 hour by bus) with flights from London Gatwick (Air South West) and Stansted (Ryan Air). Also direct flights by Lufthansa from Düsseldorf to Newquay on Saturdays only. From London Heathrow airport there is a frequent bus shuttle to Reading Station, where Paddington to Cornwall trains stop to pick up passengers. Also convenient for this tour are the airports at Bristol and Exeter, from which cities there are frequent direct trains to Cornwall stations.
Overnight stops. T5: nights 1 and 2 Padstow; 3 and 4 Port Isaac; 5 Tintagel. T7: nights 1 to 5 as T5, then 6 and 7 Boscastle.
Accommodation. Specially selected guest houses or 'B&Bs'. En suite or private facilities can be guaranteed throughout the tour on payment of a supplement.
Meals included. Breakfast each morning; other meals can be obtained locally without pre-booking.
Extra nights. These can be included at any point on our tours at the time of booking the holiday. Devotees of the legendary dark ages King Arthur may consider an extra night at Tintagel, where the evocative ruins of Arthur's castle, now in the care of English Heritage and open to the public, stand on a precipitous rocky island linked by a bridge with the mainland. From Tintagel or Boscastle it is possible to spend a day hiking on Bodmin Moor, by taking local bus or taxi to Camelford.
Factsheet. These are more detailed information sheets, one for each tour, which should be obtained from The Discerning Traveller before booking. The Factsheet code for our Padstow & Tintagel tour is FST. See Enquiry form.
Reading. For many readers the Cornwall writer par excellence was Daphne du Maurier. Her non-fiction work Daphne du Maurier's Cornwall is available in paperback. Thomas Hardy's early autobiographical novel A pair of blue eyes is set near Boscastle. .

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Cornwall Coast: Padstow and Tintagel - tour prices 2011

• T5 (5 nights tour, ES or private facilities most nights): £470. SRS*: £80. STS**: £100.
• T5E (5 nights tour, ES or private facilities every night): £510. SRS*: £90. STS**: £110.
• T7 (7 nights tour, ES or private facilities most nights): £560. SRS*: £100. STS**: £120.
• T7E (7 nights tour, ES or private facilities every night): £600. SRS*: £120. STS**: £140.
• Extra nights £45 per person per night.
• SRS* = single room supplement (applicable when 3 or 5 persons book together).
• STS** = single traveller supplement (applicable when booking is for one person only)
• Note 1. Maximum of 1 single room per booking.
• Note 2. Extra night prices may be higher for single rooms.
• Basic prices quoted are per person on basis of two people in double or twin-bedded rooms. Included in the price are bed and breakfast each night, with baggage transfers, maps and route directions. 'ES' (en suite) facilities means that there is a private bathroom with shower or tub and toilet within the main door of your room. 'Private facilities' means that the private bathroom may be outside the main door of your room. When the booking is made for a party of 3 or 5 customers, a single room supplement is payable.
  

We offer 3 other walking tours in Cornwall: Lands End & St Ives, Polperro & Fowey and Cornwall Coast & Bodmin Moor.
Other coastal walks are on the Jurassic Coast and in Pembrokeshire

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