Salisbury to Tintagel and Merlin's Cave

It is difficult without a car. It's a long way!

I'd be looking at Salisbury to Bodmin Parkway by train - look at www.nationalrail.co.uk for details. The easiest route involves one change of trains in Exeter, and takes just over four hours in total.

From Bodmin Parkway, you might be able to book a local taxi firm to take you to Tintagel - it's about 20 miles or so.

Salisbury to Tintagel isn't really a day trip, if that's what you were thinking. I hope you don't find the castle disappointing after that journey - I know I did! You might want to spend a bit more time in Cornwall after travelling that distance... nearby Boscastle is a lovely village.

When I was there I had a rental car, so I'm not much help. There really isn't much left of the castle, but the area is beautiful. In Tintagel, we stayed at the Wooton Hotel. The Camelot castle hotel is nice but not right in town. Parts of episodes of the UK program Doc Martin have been filmed there.

Are there any Arthurian fanatics out there who absolutely loved Tintagel Castle and Merlin's Cave because of the myth behind them or were you disappointed?

Read reviews and see photos on TripAdvisor. They should help you make up your mind.

Not exactly an Arthurian fanatic, but did some research on them in undergraduate school. As a result, the Castle and Merlin's Cave were interesting to say the least. The scenery there is absolutely fantastic. If you can figure a way to get there do so. You wont regret it.

we had a car and stayed at padstow. we visited port isaac and tingagel. they were shooting doc martin at port isaac, so that was great. we very much enjoyed tintagel, not for the 'legend' etc but for the dramatic beauty. there is not much of the castle but once you walk there , and on a clear day, the scenery is great. the rest you can imagine for yourself , whether you believe in merlin or not. try and pick a nice day as the weather would make or break the trip to tintagel. port isaac was a delight to walk around.
i am not sure how you would tour this interesting and scenic part without a car?

I went to Tintagel last summer and absolutely loved it. It was the highlight of my trip. There isn't much of the castle, but what you see is over a thousand years old. It is absolutely beautiful. One piece of advice that was given to me was go on a day where there is no rain. You will be climbing on rocky cliffs and you do not want it to be slippery. We had a car and did both Tintagel and Port Isaac (another great village to explore) on the same day.

Also not much help in getting there since we had a car. I did like it though, a lot. Enough that I want to go back ..and don't forget to visit the Post Office in Tintagel.