A path on the Tintern Trails in May, winding through woodland carpeted with flowering wild garlic and bluebells.

Tintern Trails

Four trails, and one of them starts at your door

There are four walking trails around Tintern for all to enjoy: the Gardener's Trail, the Tintern Demesne Trail, the Bannow Bay Trail, and the Foxborough Trail, on which the cottage is located. All of them pass Tintern Abbey.

Tintern Abbey standing above the river, its square tower and Gothic windows lit by low sun, with a white swan gliding on the mirror-calm water below.

Ireland's Ancient East

Tintern Abbey

Once one of the most powerful Cistercian foundations in Ireland, Tintern Abbey lies on the western shore of Bannow Bay. It was founded in 1200 by William Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke, in fulfilment of a vow to found an abbey if he landed safely ashore after a treacherous sea crossing from Pembroke in western Wales. Its name, Tintern de Voto, means “Tintern of the Vow”.

The abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1536 and passed to the Colclough family, who held it until the 1950s. It's a heritage site managed by the OPW, with an interpretative centre and quaint tea rooms.

More on the abbey's history

The four trails

Pick your walk

  • The Foxborough Trail in May, a gravel path curving through woodland banked on both sides with flowering white wild garlic.
    The cottage is on this one

    The Foxborough Trail

    Our cottage is on the Foxborough Trail, which we access by a private bridge over the Tintern Stream from our adjoining lands.

    The trail follows the Tintern river through a pleasant, serene landscape. The combination of drifts of ferns, bluebells and wild garlic makes this a stunning walk in springtime.

  • Bannow Bay lying mirror-still, a wooded shore and its reflection under a rippled sky.
    Longest, just over 7 km

    The Bannow Bay Trail

    The longest of the four. It meanders out to Saltmills, along the edge of Bannow Bay and back to the trailhead at the Abbey, covering just over 7 km.

    The shoreline of Bannow Bay is within walking distance of the cottage and is a beautiful, calming walk by the sea, with spectacular sunsets and a course of nature provided by the many sea birds feeding on the mudflats.

  • Low sun breaking through tall trees on the Gardener's Trail, casting long shadows across the ferns and the path.
    Colclough Walled Garden

    The Gardener's Trail

    Mixed woodland containing 200-year-old beech trees. About halfway along you discover the Colclough Walled Garden, which once supplied the Colclough family who lived in the abbey.

    Restored to its former glory, this enchanting Georgian walled garden with curved corners was built in the early 19th century. Set on 2.5 acres, the ornamental and kitchen gardens are separated by a brick wall with distinctive intramural structures, and a river crossed by five bridges flows through its length.

  • A woodland path on the Tintern Demesne Trail, edged with green ferns and wild garlic under a leafy canopy.

    The Tintern Demesne Trail

    Along the Tintern River and around the demesne boundary, showcasing nature's bounty.

Admission to Colclough Walled Garden: adults €5; seniors, students and groups of 10+ €3pp; under-14s free.

Woodland on the trail in May, the floor carpeted with flowering white wild garlic beneath a fresh green canopy.
Spring on the Foxborough. Drifts of ferns, bluebells and wild garlic, the reason to come in May.
The sun setting over Bannow Bay, the sky washed orange and gold above the dark far shore and the wet sand catching the light.
Sunset over Bannow Bay. The reward at the end of the day's walk.
An aerial view of the Colclough Walled Garden, its formal beds laid out in geometric patterns inside high brick walls.

Halfway along the Gardener's Trail

Colclough Walled Garden

A Georgian walled garden with curved corners, restored to its former glory. Set on 2.5 acres, with ornamental and kitchen gardens separated by a brick wall, and a river crossed by five bridges running through it.

Useful links

Stay on the trail

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