The Celtic Way

The Celtic Way: Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire to St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall – 758 miles, 3 months

Long ago, Neolithic peoples gathered blue stone from the Preseli Mountains in Wales, and brought them over hill and vale to Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain. Centuries later, the peoples of Wales and “West Wales” (Devon and Cornwall) were united by a common Christian faith and a common language, quite apart from the pagan English. Ranging almost 800 miles from Strumble Head, near Fishguard in Wales, to the tip of Cornwall, this pilgrimage reflects this long history, allowing you to encounter hundreds of prehistoric and Christian sites through South Wales and the South West. It is based partly on the Lands End Way, with alternative routes over Exmoor or across Wessex also on offer. If you have a few months to spare, and want to connect with the ancient stones and sacred waters of Pembrokeshire, Stonehenge, Glastonbury and St Michael’s Mount, this may be for you.

If you take on the challenge, you will encounter a kaleidoscopic array of wild landscapes. There are the majestic Preseli Hills, the wild Black Mountain range and lush Waterfall Country in Brecon Beacons, the geologically prehistoric Heritage Coast near Llantwit Major and Vale of Glamorgan. You exit Wales via ancient fortified sites before emerging in England, where you encounter the great prehistoric monuments of Avebury and Stonehenge, both World Heritage Sites, and the great Pagan and Christian pilgrimage site of Glastonbury and its springs, then Sherborne Abbey, the abbey and naked figure of the Giant carved into the chalk hillside at Cerne Abbas, the colossal Iron Age hill fort of Maiden Castle, then Exmouth, where the River Exe meets its end, across enigmatic Dartmoor and through magical Cornwall before arriving at the destination of St Michael’s Mount.

Highlights

• Incredible wild scenery
• Beautiful waterfalls and lakes
• Stone circles and burial chambers aplenty‍
• Getting to know the old Brythonic lands‍‍

Holy Places along route listed in our book Britain’s Pilgrim Places: Llanwnda; Llandeilo; Llantwit Major; Caerleon; Caerwent; Mathern; Beachley; Glastonbury; Sherborne; Cerne Abbas; Tavistock.

Low-cost hostels along the route: YHA Pwll Dewi, Fishguard, YHA Newport, Brechfa, YHA Llandeusant, Chepstow, Stonehenge, YHA Street, YHA Litton Cheney, YHA Beer, YHA Dartmoor, YHA Perranport, YHA Portreath, Penderleath, YHA Penzance and across Welsh region and South-West England region.

Read more about The Celtic Way on the official website.