Off the Beaten Path: Tintern

County: Monmouthshire, Wales

I’ve had two trips, recently, where I had just wanted a hint of Wales.  An appetizer, perhaps, for future travel.  With two friends in tow on my 2014 trip and one on my 2016 trip, each had a request to experience England, Scotland, and Wales… which is hard to do on a two-week vacation!  But, I thought I had found the answer when I located Tintern.

Tintern is only 37 minutes from Bristol (22.7 miles).  It borders Gloucestershire to the east and Herefordshire to the northeast which makes it an intriguing possibility for a Welsh overnighter on an already cramped trip!  So, we packed up the car and border hopped into Monmouthshire for a wee bit of Wales!

I’d entered Wales before with a short trip to Conwy and Llandudno in the north.  Here, we were in the more southerly part of the country and I was really digging the vibe of the place.  Heavily forested, the roads offered “tree tunnels” for cars to wend their way through on the lovely roads leading into town.  We briefly scraped the outer edges of Monmouth, a market town and center of the county.

As you might know, Tintern was made famous in art and poetry.  Famous artists like Gainsborough, Gilpin, and Turner painted the area.  And the poet, William Wordsworth, immortalized the abbey there in his poem “Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey”:

“Five years have past; five summers, with the length of five long winters! And again I hear these waters rolling from their mountain springs with a soft inland murmer. Once again do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs that on a wild secluded scene impress thoughts of more deep seclusion.”

This is truly Tintern. It’s dark and leafy with a beautiful, fast flowing river running through it.  Ducks and swans are swept along its vernal banks.  The River Wye is the second longest river in Wales. It originates from the Welsh mountains at Plynlimon and flows for 134 miles to Chepstow.  It makes for a romantic setting in itself, but then, there’s the Abbey.

Tintern Abbey stands resolute and unwilling to die.  Caught up in the dissolution of the monasteries brought about by Henry VIII, its walls still remain standing, if not intact.  This is the romantic backdrop for the small town of Tintern.

In 2016, I had just experienced a nerve-wracking trip to the Cotswolds (don’t go to any of the tourist towns – it’s a trap!).  The Cotswolds are reachable by various day trip companies from London.

If you do go to the Cotswolds, pick a working town… not a tourist town.  We were inundated by thousands of tourists from several tour companies at Bibury.  Hastily, we withdrew and ended up at Tintern.  I remembered how calm it had been on my 2014 trip, and it was no less calm this time around.  If you want to assuage jangled nerves, catch your breath, and just be one with the landscape – this is the area for you.

We booked into the local Best Western (my first trip, we’d tried a local B&B which didn’t quite suit us).  The Best Western, St. George hotel opened its doors and we had our room for the night.  It’s a bit dated, this hotel, but it’s got a lovely outdoor space where patrons of the hotel bar can stretch out with a nice cider and chat. Our room was on the first floor, and when we opened our back door, we found the perfect place to dry our clothes after hand washing them!  It was just lovely.

Tintern Abbey is .2 miles from the St. George.  It’s an easy, not to mention lovely, walk!  You’ll find shops and cafes along your route, and even a nice pub just across from the Abbey.  The Abbey gift shop is large and has a great selection of gifts very reasonably priced!  I’ve enjoyed shopping there.  It is in the gift shop that you can also purchase tickets to walk around the Abbey and soak up its ambience.

Later, take a stroll into town along the riverside and pick a nice restaurant to have a bite. If you like to walk, there are many routes you can take to enjoy a sunny day along the Wye.

After the Cotswold debacle, Tintern was my haven.  I will always love that town, and hope to explore it more on one of my next trips.  As for 2017? I am taking my sightseeing more toward the north and west of Wales.  For further adventures, watch this space!