Tintern Abbey
Tintern Abbey is on the Hook peninsula and was built in 1203. The Abbey itself is semi-restored with parts of the building still in ruins but there are still good facilities on-site, such as a coffee shop and toilets. Tintern Abbey is ranked as one of the major tourist attractions in Wexford and it does not disappoint, the abbey and gardens are a must see when visiting Hook lighthouse as you will essentially drive past the entrance while going to hook lighthouse. The grounds around the Abbey and Tintern Abbey Hikes are free to roam around, to get access to the Abbey itself will cost €5.00. For updates on opening times on the Abbey visit their site here.
When driving into the Abbey you drive down a long private road until you get to the side of the Abbey, the day we were here there was ample parking beside the abbey. We walked down to the side of the Abbey passing the Coffee shop and toilets on our left-hand side until we reached a small bridge and a signpost showing all the walking routes on the grounds.
Tintern Abbey Hikes
There are 4 signposted walks available at Tintern Abbey, they are;
- The Blue arrow walk called the Gardeners trail 0.9km long
- The Red arrow walk called the Tintern Demesne Trail and is 2.4km long
- The White arrow walk called the Foxboro Trail and is 3.5km long
- The Green arrow walk called the Bannow Bay Trail and is 7.5km long
We decided to walk all the trails in Tintern Abbey and as usual, we went for the longest trail to hike first, which was the green signed trail.
Tintern Abbey Hike – Green Signs
The green signed hike is the longest of the Tintern Abbey hikes with a distance of 7.5 km and an expected walking time of 1.5 hrs to 2 hrs. The signpost highlights that the majority of this walk is done on small roads.
The green walk starts by walking across the small bridge at the signpost and then taking a sharp right into the woodland on a good wide gravel footpath until you reach the Abbeys large bridge that resembles the top of a castle. We walked through the deal park and on to the ‘Brickfield’ this is where the bricks were made to be used in the walled gardens.
Continue walking straight and follow the river towards Saltmill town, the trial will gradually rise until the small walking trail slowly starts to turn into a small local car access road with a tarmac surface.
While walking up to the top of the small hill we walk parallel to an estuary and are greeted with views of Saltmills bridge, which made for some nice views with the low winter sun shining through it.
Halfway to Saltmills about 1-2 km into the hike we came across a little pub called “Vine Cottage Bar” we didn’t go in as we felt we just got going and it’s just easier to keep walking instead of taking off the baby rucksack and taking our little hiker out so soon into the hike. We continued walking towards the town and then came to a T junction on a busy road. Be careful on this road as some cars are going extremely quick, so always assume the car has not seen you and stand on the grass verge and let the car pass.
We now cross Saltmills bridge, the footpath stops before you cross the bridge so if you meet a car you will have to walk on the grass. The bridge is called Tintern bridge and was built in 1817 it provided nice views of the Abbey and the Sea, can you imagine the traffic this bridge has witnessed over the years.
We continued on the side of the road passing the red galvanized sheds on our right-hand side going toward the next corner, this is possibly the most dangerous section of the walk as there is limited room to stand off the road when cars are coming toward you.
On the walk toward the next corner which is about 150m from Tintern bridge, St Marys ‘first fruit’ Church is on our left after this, we then came to a Y junction and at this junction, we walked down the small little road toward the Sea.
This road is a very small road with a lot less traffic, we did meet cars but they all slowed down to pass us. The road becomes quite muddy and I imagine it is prone to flooding in bad weather but on the day of our hike, it provided a nice level surface to experience the nice trail.
On right 100m down the road, we start walking along Bannow bay which also has a section of a nature reserve. We continue walking and on the left is an old IRA memorial.
This section of the walk meanders around the bay and the road sweeps in and out following the formation of the bay. Most of the road is visible around the bay so it gives you a good idea what is ahead. In the distance, we can see an old dredger boat that seems to have run aground or maybe even misplaced. The dredger is our visual goal for this section and provided some nice backdrop photos.
It was so relaxing walking beside the sea, listening to the waves crashing against the rocks and the odd bird flying overhead. Unfortunately, our little hiker had fallen asleep at this stage of the hike and missed the dredger and the wildlife, she might see it next time.
As we walked this section of the Tintern Abbey hike it provided much-needed family time and we started to talk about our little hiker’s weekly advances in life. So we decided to try every week on our hikes to make a private video while we are out on the hike detailing her weekly changes and new habits. This took many different attempts but we had good fun doing it.
The road turns 90 degrees soon after the boat and the gradient of the road starts to increase slightly, nothing our little hiker’s Mammy cant handle.
The road continues past a couple of farms and rural houses. We are now starting to walk back towards the Abbey and most of the best sights are behind us.
After about 10 minutes on this road, we come to a T junction at a slightly busier road, the signs point toward a corner on our left.
After the initial first corner, the road is reasonably straight with wide grass verges to stand on if cars are coming. There is not much to see in this section of the walk but it’s only about 15 minutes long and there is a nice little hill to take your mind off the lack of views. After the small hill, there is another T junction, this is the main road so take car approaching it. Opposite the main road, there is a gate back to the grounds of Tintern Abbey where you can walk over the wall or climb the gate to get access to the trail.
This section of the walk seems to have received a new layer of gravel lately and is a very nice surface to walk on. The path leads downhill through a wooded area leading past ruins of an old church and graveyard.
We took some time to explore the ruins of the old church and graveyard. We then continued down the hill and started walking back towards the second bridge that we initially crossed at the start of the walk.
We turned right here still following the green arrows, which eventually brought us back to the Abbey just in time to see a dog looking out a window and get some treats in the coffee shop.
Would we recommend Tintern Abbey Hike–Green Signed Walk
The Bannow Bay Green trail gave us a taste of all that Saltmills and Tintern Abbey had to offer. The majority of this trail is walked on roads but this is highlighted on the signpost at the start and they are quite roads, so it is hard to complain about this.
This walk gave us quite country paths, a town stroll which passed nearby pubs, historical memorials, nature reserves, wrecked ships and churches along with graveyards. There were less entertaining sections of road but every walk has sections like this. Overall we enjoyed the hike but it is probably not buggy or small child-friendly due to the sections of busy road.
Tintern Abbey Hike – White Signs
Tintern Abbey Hike – Red Signs
Tintern Abbey Hike – Blue Signs 0.9km
