Tintern



Tintern (Welsh: Tyndyrn) is situated just inside South Wales in the beautiful Wye Valley, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), six miles north of Chepstow on the A466 road to Monmouth. Its main tourist attraction is the ruined 12th-century Cistercian abbey. Two long-distance paths can be accessed from Tintern: Offa's Dyke Path, on the east bank of the Wye, and the Wye Valley Walk, on the west bank.

By car
Tintern is along the A466, which runs up the valley between Chepstow and Monmouth.

Chepstow is served by the M48 motorway, from Cardiff, Bristol and London, and the A48 from Gloucester.

Monmouth is on the A40, which runs from West Wales, through the Brecon Beacons, and connects with the M50 for the Midlands and North of England.

By public transport
The 69 bus runs through Tintern every hour (M-Sa) between Chepstow (15 min) and Monmouth (30 min), and calling at other villages in the valley. There's no Sunday service, but the taxi fare with Abbey Taxis is about £15 from Chepstow. (Mar 2022)

Trains from Cheltenham, Gloucester, Newport and Cardiff stop at Chepstow.

On foot
Tintern is on the southernmost stretch of the Wye Valley Walk long-distance footpath, from Chepstow and  from Monmouth. The path is scenic and undulating. If you prefer a flatter route, take the Wye Valley Greenway on the east bank of the river and cross the pedestrian bridge near the abbey.

Get around
There are several bus stops along the A466 as it passes through Tintern (which is built along the road). If you bring a car, Tintern Abbey has a large pay and display car park. The village is small enough for all exploration to be done on foot - indeed, this is preferable, as most of the side roads are very narrow and the A466 is unsuited to roadside parking.

See




Do

 * Wye Valley Greenway follows an old railway trackbed for five miles from Chepstow. It's on the east bank of the Wye and passes through Tidenham Tunnel, 1188 yards long - this is a bat-roost so it's only open in daylight hours April-Oct. The long-distance footpath continues north from Tintern for 10 miles to Monmouth.



Buy
There's a small village shop for basic food and drink essentials in Llandogo, 3½ mi (5.6 km) north on the A466. As of March 2022, this has been closed for three months but is expected to open under new ownership. Chepstow and Monmouth both have a range of shops and supermarkets, and a weekly market apiece.

Tintern Abbey gift shop sells books, cuddly toys and medieval-style tat.



Eat and drink








Go next
The A466 offers easy egress to Chepstow and Monmouth. Alternatively you can depart from the village along one of the local public footpaths.

To the North of Tintern, and on the other bank of the river, is the attractive little village of Brockweir, which has riding stables and a Moravian Church. The bridge over the river, which opened in 1906 and replaced a ferry (which promptly went bankrupt owing to an inevitable loss of custom), is particularly fine. It was built by the Wye Valley Railway, who also built the Wireworks bridge across the Wye in Tintern (although that is 30 years older); consequently they are both built in the same style.


 * Lydney
 * Usk