When we were planning our family holiday to Cornwall over the summer, we looked at the National Trust places that were near to us that we could visit. We love our National Trust passes and they are great when you go on holiday. Andy was really pleased to see that St Michael’s Mount is a National Trust site and we knew it would make a great day out.
We decided to visit on Alice’s 6th Birthday, Alice loves a castle and we knew this would be the perfect place for her birthday. To get to St Michael’s Mount you can either walk across the cobbled causeway or hop abroad the boat. We knew that we wanted to walk across and Andy had looked up the low tide times for us to be able to do this.
St Michael’s Mount sits in Mount’s Bay, separated by the sea from the town of Marazion. We parked easily, with lots of signs and National Trust workers directing us. The car park is cash only, which is worth knowing before you go.
On the day we went the causeway would be open to walk across around 11am and we arrived just at that time and set to walk across. The girls were really excited, as it felt like we were walking through the sea. When we reached one part, the tide hadn’t quite gone out far enough and we could either stand and wait for the sea to go out further or take our shoes off and walk through the water. You can imagine which one the girls choose, they thought it was great fun and it did add to the excitement.
When we arrived, we were greeted by a lovely village area, where there is a cafe, toilets and a shop. You can use these without using either your National Trust pass or buying tickets.
We had brought a picnic with us and we found a grass area which had picnic benches and had our lunch before we headed up the mount. Which I was very happy about, as I was carrying the picnic on my back and this made it a lot lighter!!
Once we had finished it was time to climb up St Michael’s Mount. It is at this point you will either be asked for your National Trust Card or your ticket. It is a long way up, with steep steps, so make sure you’re able to manage this before you start. It is worth it, when you get to the top.
When we reached the top the views were amazing and there were canons for the girls to sit on.
There was a small queue to go inside the castle, but it kept moving and didn’t take long at all. Alice loved looking around and was asking lots of questions.
You could walk around outside and the views all around were amazing.
I even said yes when someone kindly offered to take a photo of all of us, something I rarely do as I always feel awkward. But I’m really pleased that I did.
There was a chapel which you could look inside and it was beautiful.
We then made our way back down. Behind the cafe was a large grass area that was for National Trust Members only and we sat and had an ice cream, whilst watching the world go by. There were a few lawn games that you could play and just lots of grass for the girls to do cartwheels and run around.
It was then time for us to go and we walked back across the cobbled causeway.
We had a great time at St Michael’s Mount it was a highlight of our holiday and now one of our favourite National Trust places.
