Glastonbury Tor
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A visit to Glastonbury Tor with kids

Posted on
September 22, 2020

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.

Glastonbury Tor

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.

Glastonbury Tor

Unlike many National Trust sites, entry is free and their is no need to book your visit in advance.

Glastonbury Tor

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.

Glastonbury Tor

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.

Glastonbury Tor

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.

Glastonbury Tor

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.

Glastonbury Tor

It doesn’t not have a roof, so doesn’t provide any shelter from the wind, or rain.

Glastonbury Tor

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.

Glastonbury Tor

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.

Glastonbury Tor

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.

Glastonbury Tor

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?

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13 Comments
  1. Reply

    Sarah Bailey

    September 22, 2020

    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.

  2. Reply

    Sim @ Sim's Life

    September 22, 2020

    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

  3. Reply

    Samantha Donnelly

    September 23, 2020

    I love the area but have never been, my husband went to school not far from there and used to cycle there at weekends

  4. Reply

    Anosa

    September 23, 2020

    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

  5. Reply

    Rebecca Smith

    September 23, 2020

    It looks like a wonderful place to explore! Jack loved that film so I bet he’d be interested in visiting!

  6. Reply

    Jenny Kearney

    September 23, 2020

    I love exploring this part of the country, I bet my kids would love this.

  7. Reply

    Katrina Downie

    September 23, 2020

    Wow I’ve not been here but will look to pay a visit! The walk looks fab for kids and very energy burning lol

  8. Reply

    Louise

    September 25, 2020

    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

  9. Reply

    Rosemary

    November 13, 2020

    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

  10. Reply

    kevin

    September 9, 2022

    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.

  11. Reply

    kevin

    September 9, 2022

    PS forgot..flying kites from the top of the tor was great fun…

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KARA GUPPY
Bournemouth

Are we nearly there yet? is a new online blog run by me, Kara Guppy, and is named as such thanks to my daughter Eliza who always asks that very question when we are less than 5 minutes up the road heading off on our adventures. You may know me from my other family blog chelseamamma.co.uk