A visit to Glastonbury Tor with kids
Ever since watching the film, The Kid Who Would be King, the kids have wanted to climb Glastonbury Tor as it featured in the film.
The film was about Alex, a 12-year-old boy, and his friends fight an evil sorceress with the help of Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur, in a bid to save the world from her atrocities and Glastonbury has a long tradition of being ‘The Isle of Avalon’ where King Arthur went after his last battle.
Glastonbury Tor is owned by the National Trust, but there is no parking, so we parked at Draper and Co on Chilkwell St, at a cost of £3.
From here, turn right onto the main road and the entrance to Glastonbury Tor is on the left hand side. We missed the front entrance to the Tor and walked up the country lane to the rear entrance, which gives a lovely view as you walk past.
Unlike many National Trust sites, entry is free and their is no need to book your visit in advance.
Once off the road, the climb up the Tor is quite steep. Sebby and Isaac chose to climb the steep hill, but Eliza and I opted for the steps as they are easier.
The hill rises 158m above the surrounding flat land and rewards you with a stunning 360° view of Glastonbury, the Mendips and all the way to the Bristol Channel.
At the top, their is a handy sun dial type plaque, which points out various view points including Cheddar Gorge, which we visited the day before.
The tower at the top of the Tor is all that remains of the 14th-century church of St Michael and there are some really interesting carvings on it.
It doesn’t not have a roof, so doesn’t provide any shelter from the wind, or rain.
The visit is not a full day activity and we climbed there and back in around 90 minutes, although we did cut it short as it started raining.
The kids did enjoy racing back down to the bottom though and we just made it to the shelter of the trees when the heaven’s opened.
They did manage to count the steps on the way back down too – 301!! With that in mind, if you have a young child / baby, they will need to be in a carrier rather than a pushchair.
A visit to Glastonbury Tor is a lovely day out and there are plenty of places to visit nearby to make a full day of it, such as Glastonbury Abbey, Wookey Hole and Wells.
Have you been to Glastonbury Tor?
Sarah Bailey
What an absolutely stunning place Glastonbury Tor looks like! It seems like it offer a nice walk for kids and then getting to explore at the end would be my favourite part I think.
Sim @ Sim's Life
That looks like such a wonderful walk! Not bad going for a 90 minute trip out. but good to know that there are other places to visit locally to make a full day of it! Sim x
Samantha Donnelly
I love the area but have never been, my husband went to school not far from there and used to cycle there at weekends
Anosa
I would love to visit Glastonbury Tor one day especially since it is a national trust site makes it even better even without the parking
Rebecca Smith
It looks like a wonderful place to explore! Jack loved that film so I bet he’d be interested in visiting!
Jenny Kearney
I love exploring this part of the country, I bet my kids would love this.
Katrina Downie
Wow I’ve not been here but will look to pay a visit! The walk looks fab for kids and very energy burning lol
Louise
Glastonbury is somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit. I just didn’t know there would be so much there for the kids! Definitely going to look into going next year now. Hopefully travel will be a lot easier by then 🙂
Louise x
Rosemary
https://arewenearlythereyet.co.uk/a-visit-to-glastonbury-tor-with-kids/
Hi Kara,
On your webpage, you have a nice picture of Glastonbury Tor from the air. I wonder if I could have your permission to publish it in a book that I have written about the history of Glastonbury please? Many thanks. I look forward to hearing from you.
Rosemary
kevin
We used to visit every august bank holiday for the kids’ festival in abbey park, we camped at chalice farm (can’t nowadays) just under the tor on the road you walked up to get to the tor field gates, we climbed the tor every night for sunset, this was in the 1980s, but it doesn’t change and is special.
kevin
PS forgot..flying kites from the top of the tor was great fun…