Overview
Discover challenging and dramatic walking trails shaped by the footsteps of traders, smugglers, saints and pirates. Cornish walking trails will reveal ancient tin mines, clifftop castles, timeless fishing villages and wild moors as you travel through a landscape of huge cliffs and hidden coves that goes back to the depths of time itself. In between the coastal drama, iconic harbours such as St Ives and Padstow give walkers access to some of the UK‘s best restaurants and coastal hotels. A county encircled by the wild Atlantic ocean, there is over 330 miles of spectacular world class coast path here taking you around the farthest corners of England - put simply it feels like walking on the edge of the world.
Stretching from coast to coast across the southwest of England, Devon is a richly diverse county with rugged shores and cliffs in the north, and classic Victorian seaside resorts in the south. In between you'll find tranquil green pastures, wooded gorges and the two dramatic wild moors in the National Parks of Dartmoor and Exmoor. Choose Devon for its walking variety, and you'll find that the popular image of cream teas and thatched cottages is true - but that Devon is so much more once you explore it on two feet. Coast to coast routes like the Two Moors Way will offer a journey through it all from the wild northern shores that inspired the Romantic poets to the maritime ports of the south coast.
Free your soul and clear your mind! Walking on the wild moors of these National Parks is a wonderful antidote to modern living. England's last true wilderness, Dartmoor offers 365 square miles of virtually uninhabited freedom with high moors and twisted dramatic granite tors a land of myths, ghosts and legends. Exmoor, its smaller and more gentle neighour, is 250 Square miles of near perfect and unique beauty, with high uplands swathed in heather and steep, wooded gorges and rushing streams. See Dartmoor ponies and Exmoor stags in these wildlife rich areas, home to 30 species of mammals and over 240 types of bird. The moors offer a unique opportunity for more challenging walking where the only human sound you will hear is the rhythm of your own breath.
Avoid the crowds and discover “Secret Somerset” missed by so many rushing headlong for the far South West. The 'land of the summer people' was named in a time when this area could only be visited in the summer months as the sea receded. Today its a rich, fertile and 'for real' landscape crowned by the fine walking ridges of the Mendip and Quantock Hills both protected areas of outstanding natural beauty. Rising up over King Arthur‘s Vale of Avalon along with the magical Tor at Glastonbury, walkers will find hidden gorges, wooded combes and the best inland panoramas of the South West. Also boasting its own Jurassic Coast Path, providing a gateway into the wilds of Exmoor National Park, Somerset offers walking routes without the crowds for those who want to find..... what the rest miss.
Dorset has a comfortable old world “English” feel to it and its walking routes traverse a rather more green and agricultural land of thatched cottages, cream teas.... and fossils ! Walkers here will find the more gentle rolling farmland, pretty villages and chalk ridges beloved by Thomas Hardy that sweep down to end abruptly at the World Heritage Jurassic Coast. Here, alongside the sea, those after more challenging routes can take a walking holiday through time itself amongst the dramatic chalk stacks, cliffs and arches of the Dorsetshire fossil coast. An area that can be very busy in high season but often suits walkers looking for more gentle and less exposed walking than the far west of the region.
Wales offers some of the best walking and outdoor activities to be had anywhere in the world. The 870-mile Welsh Coast Path was only fully opened in 2012 and is the world's first walk along the entire coast of a nation. The terrain is on an equally grand scale with towering cliffs, vast stretches of unspoilt golden sands, imposing castles, offshore islands and to the north there is the backdrop of Snowdonia National Park with its stunning mountains. Wales in general offers walkers great value for money compared to more popular areas like Cornwall with walking options to suit everyone, from those who want the cosmopolitan restaurants and facilities of towns like Tenby and St Davids, through to isolated and remote forests and coastal hills that sit on the very cusp of the Snowdonian Peaks. Bursting with confidence and pride in its “Welshness”, its Celtic history, language and culture there has never been a better time for walkers to enter Wales.
The South West Coast Path is the UK's longest National Trail and one of the top ten walking routes in the world. It snakes, dips and rises continuously on its way through a staggering 1014km (630 miles) of pristine coastline, 450 miles of which is through nationally protected areas. It's a challenge too; walking the entire South West Coast Path is the equivalent to scaling Mount Everest four times! From towering cliffs to hidden coves, ghostly tin mines to lush subtropical wooded creeks. One minute a dramatic rock theatre hewn out of the cliffs, the next a prehistoric fossilized forest or a 20thC Art Deco Island Hotel. What sets The South West Coast Path apart from other trails is that around almost every corner is yet another surprise as you retrace the footsteps and histories of the tin miners, fisherman, smugglers, wreckers and the customs men who chased them.
17th May 2023 - We are open for enquiries for 2023 and 2024 dates on all routes
11.5 miles Easy Grade Walking with three moderate ascents
One - There is no better way to arrive then by climbing over the lonely and dramatic Glastonbury Tor and pausing to drink in the views, before descending into the mystical mayhem of the town that clusters at the foot of the Tor.
Two…. And if you are going to arrive via the Tor, then the best way to do it is by using your own two feet, following your own personal pilgrimage from Wells Cathedral to the holy ruins of Glastonbury Abbey. Walking in from Wells, you avoid the day-trippers by sneaking up to the Tor from the East, appropriately hobbit-like on a “back door” route through a swathe of hidden, rural Somerset.
The walk from Wells Cathedral uses the historic Monarch’s Way and takes you through shady apple orchards, over ancient wooded downs and finally along a lofty ridge that rises over the extensive Somerset Levels. The one constant as you walk, is that you are always following a trail that is sweeping onwards down the ley lines towards that unmistakeable and perfect conical shaped Tor. For the walker its a route that feels like your own mini quest… with its own Holy Grail to aim for right at the end of it!
The route leaves the Mendip Way at the green below the towering cathedral at Wells, an appropriately spiritual start to our walk.
From here our holy trail to Glastonbury passes out of the “City” through the Penniless Arch and Medieval Market place into the fairy-tale grounds of the Bishops Palace, following its serene moat past the sturdy castle-like walls to reach the meadows beyond There with some impressive views back over the Cathedral you bid goodbye to the bustle of Wells and enter that peace and quiet that always accompanies any walk through the rich and hidden countryside of inland Somerset.
You are quickly swallowed up by a large and ancient tract of cool, lush woodland, full of busy squirrels and the sound of songbirds. You are now walking in the footsteps of a desperate Royal – following the Monarch's Way, part of an epic 615 mile long-distance trail that runs from Worcester to Brighton, tracking the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651.
After a humiliating defeat in The English Civil War at the Battle of Worcester and with a £1000 bounty on his head, King Charles was pursed by Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentary Forces along this route, across the Mendips via Wells, as he headed towards the south coast to try to find a boat in which to flee to exile in France.
After crossing the infant River Sheppey, you reach your first ascent today as you track up from the low meadows into the treeline on an ancient upland area known as Worminster Down.
Climbing its north flank the path gets narrower and steeper, twisting back and forth through the trees and scrub, watch out for rabbits and roe deer as you climb on a trail that does not get much human use. As you pause to catch your breath look behind you to savour great views back over the lowlands to the cathedral at Wells standing proud and framed, but rather dwarfed still by the great Mendip ridge behind it.
The woods suddenly end at the summit, leaving you to cross over the open fields of Worminster Down. Its a flat topped airy expanse where rich fields of corn stretch to the horizon, stalks wafting in the breeze across the top of an area of remote upland that offers pleasing views in both directions off the ridge.
The descent from the down takes you back into ancient, dense woods and this time the goat-like tracks take you downwards to reveal the first sign of the “alternative” lifestyles for which this part of Somerset is known as you suddenly stumble across a well-hidden encampment of semi-permanent tents and yurts deep in the forest.
As you leave the woods and drop off the escarpment to return to the levels you pick up a sunken drove way running to the sleepy village of North Wootton - one of those ancient routes so old that the trees have knitted together above your head, leaving you to walk under a glorious green tunnel of branches.
The Monarch’s Way skirts around the village but allows access in at various points to view the pretty 14th Century Church of St Peter, sitting squatly by an old ford crossing the stream. North Wootoon is recorded in the Domesday book as being part of the property of Glastonbury Abbey and it became known surprisingly perhaps for its excellent wine production !
It’s a classic rural Somerset hamlet with a haphazard maze of grassy footpaths linking well-tended gardens, little orchards and pretty cottages with those two great institutions of rural Somerset life - the Village Church …and the Pub, at The Crossways Inn.
There are good views back over Worminster Down as you climb Pilton Hill above the village, where you pass an area of swirling hillside earth embankments and narrow ridges with the remnants of medieval strip farming, reminiscent of the orderly rows of a Chinese paddy field.
But it’s apples and cider rather than rice that is Somerset’s gift to the world and the next section takes you through a section of larger and rougher apple orchards trees bending under the weight of their loot.
Beyond, yet another change of scenery as you skirt the top of the Somerset Levels. These dead pan flat lands were once under the sea and are now criss-crossed by little dykes known locally as ‘rhynes’ that snake off to join the part of the Levels known as Queens Sedgemoor, which lies between you and that ever-growing Glastonbury Tor.
You have another chance for a drop of cider at The Apple Tree, a family run pub situated right on the route, before climbing up to the wooded ridge of Pennard Hill, rising 400ft above the levels.
You are now adjacent to the world-famous Glastonbury Festival site at Michael Eavis’s Worthy Farm.
The views from the top are hugely significant for the Mendip Way walker. From here beyond Wells, you can see the mighty Mendip ridge and all its bumps stretching all the way back to the Somerset Coast at Brean Down and the very start of your Mendip Way Walk - it’s pretty much the entire walking route in one panoramic sweep.
After a mile or so on the lofty ridge, it’s time to descend into the village of West Pennard and make the final push to cross more of the Levels to the “Isle of Avalon” and that elusive Tor. Around one mile below it, the climbing begins as you reach the old Manor House at Norwood Park, the largest of the Abbey deer parks and built about 1480 by Abbot Selwood as the Abbots residence - in its heyday holding 800 deer.
A short diversion allows you to visit the Oaks of Avalon – affectionately known as Gog and Magog and thought to be over 2000 years old - Gog and Magog are named after Biblical Giants and appear in the Old Testament as well as the Qur’an. Here they marked the traditional entryway to the Tor and are said to be the last of a ceremonial druidic avenue of oaks.
They are certainly huge, very old and whilst the trees themselves are pretty dead, in these holy lands they are made of sturdy stuff and still stand tall and today. In true “Glastonbury Spirt” they are festooned with notes, decorations ribbons and dressings from faithful devotees who visit them
As you reach the foot of the Tor it is easy to feel the draw of the tales and legends that surround this place, believed by many to be the pinnacle of King Arthur’s Isle of Avalon. It’s a metaphoric Holy Grail even if the real one eludes us all and the climb to the top is the highlight of the days walk.
The last section is a lung-busting ascent straight up its bright grassy-green hillside to reach the stone tower which looms large above you, tall and proud amidst the flat expanses of the Somerset marshes. This has been a place of pilgrimage since prehistoric times.
This is one of the highest point in this part of Somerset – Somerset itself meaning 'Land of the Summer People' and settled only in the summer months - and in those days the Tor was once a mystical island above the swirling seas. Excavations on the Tor have discovered an array of graves, standing remains and foundations, indicating this pinnacle was occupied for hundreds of years as both a spiritual and a defensive stronghold.
The steep terraces on the slopes of the Tor remain a mystery and it is not known whether they are naturally formed or made by human hands in the long distant past.
The early church built on top of the Tor was destroyed by an earthquake (yes really!) in 1275 and the replacement church of St Michael fell into ruin after Glastonbury Abbey, which lies below you, was dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1539. As such, it is also a site of Holy Martyrdom.
The Abbot of Glastonbury, Richard Whyting, after refusing to surrender the Abbey, was dragged here by horses to the top of the Tor, where he was hung, drawn and quartered for his beliefs.
Over the centuries most of the stones of the church have been carried away for use in other buildings leaving the solitary tower standing tall as a sentinel, a dramatic reminder of Glastonbury’s turbulent past.
With a 360-degree panorama and views that seem to extend forever, you will be quickly be joined up here by an eclectic and varied mix of humanity. Everything from huffing and puffing Glastonbury tourists and spiritual drummers banging away from their ley lines to those who have struggled up from the town, convinced of the supposed healing properties of the Tor.
It’s a place that demands attention, like a magnet drawing everyone in the immediate area into feeling the need to climb to the top!
The town of Glastonbury lies spread below you like a map and a final steep descent takes you down steps cut into the hillside on the other side of the Tor, dropping through lower woodlands right into the heart of the mystical mayhem of this most unusual place.
You arrive via the Chalice Wells and have the chance to explore the haunting ruins of Glastonbury Abbey before ending your pilgrimage in the most bizarre, amusing and alternative high street in the UK.
It’s an assault on the senses after a day walking through the peace of rural Somerset!
Welcome to the land of Zen and white witches, healers and mystics.
But with not a McDonalds or a Starbucks in sight - whatever you think of warlocks, tarot cards and fairy-dust - wandering through it all, watching the buskers and crystal sellers whilst you try a herbal tea…while it’s not quite Diagon Alley, it really is quite a refreshing change!
Regular buses run back from the end of the walk at Glastonbury to Wells several times an hour only taking around 20 minutes so our itineraries work with you walking to Glastonbury and taking the bus back today.
Better still if time allows consider a night in Glastonbury itself to take in the Museums, Holy Wells, and Abbey and enjoy some of its more unusual eating and drinking opportunities before heading back to Wells next morning to pick up the Mendip Way again. Click here to read more about overnight stops in the town of Glastonbury
If you want to spend most of the day exploring in Glastonbury itself and don’t want to walk from Wells we can advise on an easy 3 mile circular walk from the town passing the Ancient Oaks and climbing over the Tor to take in the main sites at this end of the route.
Price Guide
Frequently Asked Questions
Request a Quote
Map of all our walks
View options for this walk
Go to top
Company Registered in England No: 8227323 VAT Registration No: 138 8656 68
