Land's End, Cornwall

One of our favorite stops during the Cornwall trip was to Land's End. This was the only day of our vacation where it didn't rain nearly most of the day and we had great weather for our hike along the coast. We skipped the over-priced, underwhelming visitor's center, which was more or less a half-rate amusement park, and found a nearby place to park where we could take advantage of the coastal trails. We hope to go back to Cornwall again some day!

(R) Land's End visitor's center in the background

(Above) We came across this pretty amazing shipwreck during our hike.

(Above) Jack walking back to our van.

(L) Three good little travelers. 

Carn Euny & Penzance, Cornwall

During our Cornwall spring vacation, we stopped at the ruins of a pre-historic village called Carn Euny. A description of the settlement is in one of the photos below. We left the kids in the van as a couple of them were sleeping, hence there are no photos of any of them here.

(R) Lush vegetation in this part of England.

Rock throwing and seashell hunting at a small beach in Penzance. 

(R) St. Michael's Mount is visible in the background.

Porthcurno, Cornwall

We had planned to check out the outdoor, cliffside Minack Theater (pictured below), but there weren't any shows playing and there was a steep entrance fee just to see the premises, so we opted for the (free) adjacent Porthcurno Beach. This was a beautiful little cove; the rainy weather stopped for about an hour and the sun peaked out for a short while, making it one of the few dry stops during our Cornwall vacation.

(Above) We had to carefully hike down a steep hillside path to get to the beach.

(R) Noelle playing in the sand. The sand was made up of a lot of course particles including broken-up sea shells.

(Above) Noelle had a blast at the beach.

(R) Waiting for the next big wave to chase us.

(R) On the way back up the trail to the parking lot.

The Minack Theater, which we skipped. Obviously this photo was taken during a different time of year.

We stayed in Hayle, Cornwall for a couple of nights. Here are some pics of when we took the boys went to visit the beach near Hayle on a rainy afternoon.

(Above) Jack practicing the alphabet.

Tintagel Castle, Cornwall

One of our favorite stops during our Cornwall trip was to Tintagel Castle. Legend has it that this medieval castle is was home to King Arthur. Unfortunately, the rain was steady and wind relentless, so we didn't get to explore as much as we would have liked. Nonetheless, the coastal scenery was some of the best we've seen in Europe. 

(Above) The ruins of Tintagel can bee seen in the foreground and on the hill in the center of the photo.

(L) Inside the ruins. (R) The long footpath down to Tintagel's entrance.

These two shots were taken from the plateau above Tintagel Castle. The town of Tintagel is visible in the background in the 2nd photo.

These views from the plateau above the castle were absolutely breathtaking:

This old post office was located in the town adjacent to Tintagel Castle. The building dates from the 14th Century: