Day 4: Melting at Tintagel Castle and riding the Lynton cliff side railway

[Dollymixture]

Day 4

We are still managing to keep the pace up but it’s not been easy with the heat, everything just seems a little more exhausting!

It’s been another beautiful day with the temperature around 30 again with lovely clear blue skies.

Today we had a timeslot for Tintagel castle at 11.30.
We had the usual chaotic job of packing up the car and making sure we had everything.
The plan was to leave at 9.30 but we didn’t get out til just after 10am so it was a bit of a rush to get to Tintagel. I hadn’t had any signal or WiFi at Haven, so when I googled Tintagel, it was only now I realised we’d have a fairly long walk to get to the castle, even with the closest parking and it was going to be a close call whether we would make our time slot!

So we had to scrap the plan to stop at Aunt Avice’s pasty shop - even though we drove right passed it!

We arrived in Tintagel and managed to park in the second closest car park. We walked down to the castle entrance, which luckily did not take as long as the website said and we just made our time slot!

The views were absolutely breathtaking! There isn’t a whole lot of castle left but it was interesting seeing what was there and it’s a big site with a nice walk along the cliffs and across the suspension bridge.

We were there in the hottest part of the day so it was sweltering and very little shade - we didn’t spend as long there as we probably would have done if it was cooler, especially as we had the dogs with us, but we enjoyed the views and it was a good stop off on the way north.

We were so hot and exhausted that we couldn’t face the walk back up the cliff to the carpark, so we got one of the taxi Land Rovers, which cost £11. There was about a 15 minute queue and they really crammed everyone in so it wasn’t the most comfortable ride, but would have been a struggle to walk up in the heat!
We rewarded ourselves for not melting with traditional Cornish pasties and milk shakes in one of the cafes in the town - it was bliss to sit inside out of the sun and lovely that it was dog friendly.

Feeling refreshed and slightly less hot and bothered, we got back in the car to continue on to our next stop - Lynton.

The main reason for stopping here was the cliffside railway - it’s the longest and steepest water powered one in the world.
We parked in Lynton at the top where there was plenty of spaces and walked into the town to the railway.
There was no queue - probably due to the prices - it cost us £15 each way and only takes a couple of minutes! However the kids really enjoyed the experience and were interested in how it worked, and the views were spectacular!

We had a stroll around Lynmouth and got some fish and chips which were delicious. Sonny had to make do with just a baked cod without the batter though as they used peanut oil to fry everything and he has an allergy, so he wasn’t too impressed!

We rode the railway back up to Lynton and asked to catch the next carriage as the girls wanted the best spot on the balcony!

We then drove to Taunton where we stopped for McFlurry and a McDonald’s for Sonny (who was still hungry after his baked cod and no chips!) and checked into the Travelodge around 7pm… definitely all in need of a good nights sleep!

[mrsdjh]

Definitely a hot day for exploring! You have found some interesting places to visit so far - how long did your planning take for the trip?

Poor Sonny having to have a baked fish instead - hope he enjoyed his extra tea.

[margyloveswdw]

Another fab (if a little warm) day!

[P&S]

Well done to all of you doing all of that on such a hot day! Phew I'm sweating just thinking of it

[Sparksy72]

Beautiful pics of the gorgeous coastline. You did well to get so much done in this warm weather!

[cartoonp]

Loved the train very nice day

[Mental Minnie]

I'm sure your girls had an amazing view at the front of the train. Poor Sonny with his baked fish, my sons would have been really grumpy. At least McDonalds saved the day.

[OB1LukeLucas]

Stunning views, I feel your pain in the heat it seems unfair to complain about the weather because nobody wants to be doing these adventures in the rain but it does take it’s toll!