Visit Tintern, Monmouthshire: best walks, places to stay and things to do
Escape into the Wye Valley for a mixture of rural tranquillity, mystical sights and historical intrigue. Here is our guide to Tintern in Monmouthshire with a selection of walks, unique places to stay and interesting things to do
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Here is our guide to Tintern in Monmouthshire with a selection of walks, unique places to stay and eat, plus things to do in the local area
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Walks in Monmouthshire
Walk: Brockweir and Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire
Climb high above the village of Tintern and its ancient ruined abbey through autumn woodland to a viewpoint wreathed in legend, then return to a cosy inn at Brockweir for a celebratory pub lunch.
Walk: River Wye, Monmouthshire
Hike along a wooded bank past radiant wildflowers, foraging deer and a king’s cave on a seven-mile track beside the River Wye in Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire.
Where to eat and sleep on the Wye trail
From tiny campsites to luxury B&Bs if you’re planning to Walk the Wye trail, and want to know where to eat, sleep here are TV presenter Kate Humble top recommendations.
The Old Vicarage, LlangurigA dog-friendly guest house in Llangurig. Clean, comfortable, quiet and a truly delicious breakfast.
The Post Office in Llangurig, run by Mary Davies, is just a couple of minutes’ walk from the guest house, has a good range of supplies for walkers and Mary will add you to her Facebook page.
Elan Valley Hotel, Rhayader
Rhayader has a number of pubs and cafes, but the bar of the Elan Valley hotel. The full Sunday lunch also looked delicious.
Celtic Woodland Holidays, Builth Wells
A small number of self-contained wooden pods set in pretty woodland with lovely views. There is a very clean, warm, communal shower and toilet block – fantastic hot showers courtesy of their biomass boiler. Small honesty shop with supplies like Welsh cakes, milk, chocolate, eggs etc. Just on the outskirts of the village, they have a pick-up service for walkers. Dog friendly.
Poetry inspired by Tintern
After centuries of neglect, Tintern re-emerged as a favourite spot for the late Georgian tourist trade. English poet William Wordsworth composed a poem on a second visit in 1798, commenting that “no poem of mine was composed under circumstances more pleasant for me to remember than this.”
Wordsworth, wrote the poem ‘Tintern Abbey’ or ‘Lines Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey’ in 1798. Inspired by the derelict abbey, which sits on the banks of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, the poem reflects on the power nature has to heal and nurture the human spirit.
Wordsworth work was greatly influenced by the countryside and his autobiographic poem The Prelude in his twenties and worked on it throughout his life. Published in 1850 it recalls his happy childhood at his family home in Cockermouth, Cumbria, now owned by the National Trust and called Wordsworth House.
Over the course of a prolific poetic career, Wordsworth also produced a tourist handbook, A Guide through the District of the Lakes, which provides a geographical background to his poems and biography.
