Taming the Dragon at Tintagel

I'm not what you would call outdoorsy.  I like being outdoors - but when I am, I prefer to be sitting on a patio and eating, or watching a show on an outdoor stage.  I am definitely not a fan of traipsing through any wooded areas or hiking up large hills.  I've never been camping but I'm pretty sure I'd just hate that too.  Though, somehow I found myself at Tintagel Castle in Cornwall doing most of these things that I've just claimed to hate.

Now, I'd like the record to reflect that before visiting Tintagel, I didn't know these things would be required of me.  I assumed it was a castle that I would look at, take some pictures of and then move on. That's what I get for not doing the proper research beforehand. However, if I had done the research, I would never have gone, and would not have had the awesome experience I had.  There's something to be said for being completely in the dark.

Tintagel Castle is said to be the birthplace of King Arthur, and as a fan of the legends of King Arthur and his knights, I was super excited to see the ruins.  When we arrived, it quickly became evident that my thoughts on the castle were slightly underestimated.  For starters, we walked about a half mile from the entrance point, just to get a peak of the castle grounds. The walk was downhill mostly and a piece of cake.

Then came the hard part - the treacherous trek up a mountain (a very large hill at least), then down some terrifying! steps that had been there since the dawn of time (not really, but you get the drift) and then a not badly constructed but still horrifying bridge over the sea. All of this was done in flip-flops. Don't judge me - I told you I wasn't outdoorsy.

We're doing it...

While I'm not particularly fearful of heights, when confronted with all of this, it's a little overwhelming.  But we did it - laughing (nervously) and snapping photos that were more and more beautiful the higher we climbed the whole time.  It's funny how empowered you feel after completing a task you never thought you would.  I was pretty ready to climb Ben Nevis by the time I got to the top of that castle.  Though, I wouldn't recommend the flip flops - they get really annoying on steep inclines.

We did it!

After exploring the ruins and the views, we were then tasked with traveling back down that treacherous path we had just climbed.  It didn't seem so bad though, this time around.  Ok, the steps seemed a bit steeper but we managed.  When we reached the bottom, the Jeep ride back up to our car was a luxury we owed to ourselves. How often do you get to go 4-wheeling through castle grounds with a small terrier and his family as your fellow passengers?  After all of that climbing, we deserved some fun!

In the end, Tintagel Castle was one of my very favorite experiences in England but it definitely didn't start out that way.  Had we not paid the fee to get on to the castle grounds, I would have turned around immediately upon gazing at that bridge.  But sometimes, the things that are the hardest and the scariest are the most meaningful.  And this was definitely one of those times.  The Arthurian legend seems to hang all over those castle ruins so maybe it was King Arthur or Merlin himself that helped me to tame that particular dragon. Whatever it was, I'm so happy it did!  Because the view from the top was something I'll never forget.

Tintagel Castle
Castle Road Tintagel PL34 0HE, UK