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Preview: Our 5-day Devon & Cornwall Tour starts from your London hotel with a private driver who knows his way around along the way. Shop along the way, try different food, clothes, explore culture and spend five days soaking up 1000 years of King Arthur lore.
Have you ever stood on a wind-battered cliff in Cornwall? Just imagine waves crashing 300 feet below, and you’re pretty sure King Arthur’s ghost just whispered “Excalibur” in your ear. Okay, that’s a bit dramatic, we know. But if you haven’t visited Cornwall yet, this is your chance to personally stand on a cliff edge where King Arthur’s parents first locked eyes across a storm-tossed sea. We’re talking about Tintagel Castle in Cornwall. And AE Tours is offering a 5-day Devon & Cornwall tour. We’ll start from London, trace the South West Coast Path passing through cliffs, sea air, beaches and much more. The kind of walking that will reset you for the rest of the year. We’ll stop at Tintagel, King Arthur’s legendary birthplace. A private driver will pick you up, accompany you throughout the tour and bring you back in one piece.
This blog will take you through exactly where we are going and give you an idea of what a real Arthurian quest looks like in March, April & May.
Let’s break it down.
Day 1: Your Devon & Cornwall Tour Starts at Tintagel
Your Devon & Cornwall tour kicks off first thing in the morning. A private Mercedes picks you up right from your hotel in London. You won’t need to drag your luggage through train stations or airports. Our drivers are professionals and know their roads well, so you just sit back and relax.
About six hours later, with a couple of stops for coffee and some local Devon fudge, you pull up to Tintagel Castle. You will arrive at Tintagel Castle when the afternoon light is just right for seeing the cliffs at their best, and perfect for photos. These are the cliffs where the King Arthur legend starts. The story goes that a duke named Gorlois had a fortress here. Another king, Uther Pendragon, wanted his wife Ingraine. Merlin disguised Uther as Gorlois so he could sneak in and seduce Igraine, and that’s how Arthur was conceived.
Sounds like a myth, but archaeologists actually found proof that some powerful warlord was throwing big feasts here back in the 7th century. There’s a 3.6-mile coastal walk that takes you past old slate quarries and sea caves. You can end the day at the Welly Pub, where you might find people arguing about whether Arthur was real.
Day 2: Devon & Cornwall Tour Explores Merlin’s Cave and Eden’s Medieval Herbs
Start your Devon & Cornwall Tour at dawn when low tide is your window into Merlin’s Cave. Legend says Merlin hid the baby Arthur here to keep him safe from enemies. Archaeologists have a different story, though. They found evidence of 7th-century iron smelting, slag heaps and all. Whichever way, standing inside that dark cave with waves crashing through underwater tunnels…that feeling stays with you.
By midday you’re at the Eden Project, where you’ll get to see huge biomes, humid air, and plants from all over the world. They’ve got a medieval herb garden too (Merlin might have used them for those famous disguising potions. You can get a proper Cornish Pasty, maybe with wild garlic and local cheese to eat.
In the evening you visit Fowey, an old smuggler town with narrow streets and water everywhere. The kind of place you think Arthurian outlaws might have slipped through with stolen treasure. Let your imagination run wild. Stop by the Harbour Gin Distillery for a tasting before checking into the Fowey Hotel. If you’ve still got legs, there’s a 2-mile clifftop walk to witness coves, sea air and space to think about Camelot.
Day 3 & 4: Devon & Cornwall Tour: Smugglers, Lost Knights and the Search for Something Holy
Day 3 takes you from Fowey down to Looe, a fishing village where caves along the coast once hid 18th century smugglers. The drive to Looe will pass through the coast, winding roads and water always in the view. Looe itself is picture-postcard pretty with all toe fishing boats, narrow streets and bridges. But underneath all that charm, you’ll find caves. Hidden along the shore, used by 28th century smugglers who were probably running brandy and tobacco past the king’s men.
The next destination is Plymouth. A waterfront city with big skies and naval history everywhere. The Drake’s Bowl Pub feels like it hasn’t changed in 400 years. Night falls at the Georgian hotel. Now you’ll probably be asleep like a baby.
You can head to Dartmoor National Park on Day 4. It’s a big and ancient place with Granite rocks called “tors”. The wind & light moves differently here. People have been looking for the Holy Grail in these moors for years, centuries. No Kidding. Knights, mystics, dreamers, they all came. Walk three miles along the ridge, and you’ll feel why.
Nearby, Exeter Cathedral claims to hold a fragment from Lastonbury’s lost abbey. You can see it if you want, or just stand in the nav and feel the weight of all those years; pilgrims, prayers, people searching for the same thing you are.
Day 5: Devon & Cornwall Tour Finale Through Stonehenge Return
You wake up with the feeling that you’re not ready to leave, but also miss your own bed at home. The drive back to London will take you through Stonehenge and not the way most people see it.
Just down the road, at Durrington Walls, archaeologists found evidence of massive feasts. People gathered from all over, brought animals, roasted them, and celebrated something. The stones themselves came from Wales. These bluestones were hauled hundreds of miles by people who had no business moving things this big.
By early evening, you’re back in London. Still close enough to smell the pasties in your bag. And as you go to bed, you’ll realise in the last 5 days you walked through stories that people have been telling for a thousand years, and now you’re a part of it too.
Book Your 5-Day Devon & Cornwall Tour with AE Tours Now!
Just imagine returning with stories of walking Uther Pandragon’s exact Tintagel Castle, King Arthur cliff path, Merlin’s Cave, South West Coast Path and everything in between. This 5-day Devon & Cornwall Tour with us will take you on a spiritual tourism journey.
Contact info@adlg.co.uk today with your tour requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q.1. Can you reach Tintagel Castle, the King Arthur site, from London in one day?
Absolutely, although the classic Cornwall day trip to London requires 12 gruelling hours round-trip. This Devon & Cornwall Tour cleverly starts Day 1 off as a comfortable 6-hour one-way trip with adequate coffee stops, scenic stops, and a private driver who takes care of all navigation worries. Day 5 also gets back through Stonehenge for flawless symmetry.
Q.2. Which 5-day Devon & Cornwall itinerary best captures Arthur’s legends?
London kicks off directly to Tintagel Castle King Arthur cliff walk, then follows Merlin’s Cave, smugglers’ coasts, Dartmoor grail woods, and Stonehenge finale. Winter timing ensures that all are completely empty, with private transportation offering flexibility that no coach tour can match.
Q.3. Does Tintagel Castle’s King Arthur reflect actual historical events or simply myth?
Archaeological evidence shows that it was indeed occupied by the elite in the 6th-7th centuries, with imported Mediterranean pottery establishing it as a Dark Ages centre of power. Geoffrey of Monmouth added the concept myth legend in 1136, although the actual cliff walk itself follows the original Dark Ages routes that English Heritage excavations have traced.
Q.4. Are winter cliff walks safe?
Paths are gritted until the end of February, and your personal driver will have all the local knowledge for Merlin’s Cave entry. February winds add an exciting edge without affecting safety, proper waterproofing, and sturdy footwear can handle whatever Cornwall throws at you.
