This walk starts just outside Chepstow about half way to Tintern, and has spectacular views of the River Wye, the Severn Bridges, Chepstow Racecourse and the beautiful Wye Valley, also taking in the 365 steps and the crows nest.
Walk this route yourself in 3D!
The Video is a 3D walk through of this route, it will give you a unique sense of having walked through the route before you start.
I have created 3D Videos of my adventures and have shared them with the OutdoorActive community as well as my walking community.
I’m not always looking to do the hardest walk I can find, I sometimes do enjoy a quick walk, taking in the beautiful countryside and stopping off in the local enroute pub, and on this occasion my daughter came with me, so that was great. My children are now adults and creating their own paths, so it’s nice to have these little get-togethers, and we can have a chat about things also.
There is a nice car park which is free to start the walk, which is called ‘Lower Wyndcliff Car Park‘, you then cross the road and head to the 365 steps to the right, which can be challenging, and then once at the top you head right to go to the ‘Eagles Nest‘ before heading back the same way, but not going back down the steps, instead walking to ‘Upper Wyndcliff Car Park‘ and up over the farmland and down into St Arvans.
Getting There: Directions, GPX and App Link
The Hiking app I use to plan the walks and to aslo guide me around is the ‘Outdooractive App‘, which has a free a Pro and a Pro+ version, the Pro version will allow you to download the routes to your phone, and use them without using up your data.
The reason I mention it is that if you were to download it, below is the link to this route in my hike listings. You can then follow the arrows and voice on your mobile, as most of these walks are a bit tricky to explain.
- On the way to Tintern from Chepstow on the A466, about half way a car park will appear on the right called ‘Lower Wyndcliff Car Park‘. The car park is free, and is protected really well by tree’s so a good place to start in winter and summer.
Navigation Aids:
- Follow this route on the Outdooractive App, it is FREE, and it will guide you around safely.
- Download my hand crafted *GPX file, and use it on your own guidance devices.
- * If you’re not sure what a GPX file is, I have put this post together that will hopefully explain it in plain words. It’s worth considering as well as mobile app navigation, as they will make your hikes better & safer.
Hike Map
Hike Profile
- Distance: 3m / 5km
- Duration: 1.5/2 hours
- Highest point: 728ft / 221m
- Difficulty: Easy (365 steps can be tough but plenty of stops and you’ll be fine)
- Route conditions: Well-worn pathways all around, roads and farmland also which can be boggy in bad weather.
Hike Description & Pics
The best place to start is the ‘Lower Wyndcliff Car Park‘ car park, the postcode is NP16 6HD, and it’s between Chepstow and Tintern on the A466. The car park is on the opposite side to the 365 steps, so you will need to cross a road, and head towards the right through the woods. There is a path but it’s not very clear in places, but you will start to see steps in different places and hand rails, so as you venture on you will find your way.
On your way up, there are opportunities to take a breather and look out over the River Wye, and you will see the Severn Bridges, Chepstow and the Racecourse, but the best view is at the ‘Eagles Nest’, and that is where you are heading. Once you get to the top you will see a sign pointing to the right showing you the way to the ‘Eagles Nest’.
Once you’re done you will return to that sign, but walk past it, not going back down the steps, carry on walking through the woods on the path to the next car park.
As you walk from the Eagle’s Nest through the woods, you will follow a path that is heading downwards, nothing to sharp, just a nice walk back to the other car park, which is called ‘Upper Wyndcliff Car Park‘. Once you are in this car park you will see a few options, 2 being tarmac lanes, and the other being a large farmers gate, and if you jump over that gate and walk up the field along the wide tractor’s road, you will eventually arrive at a farmhouse and a bunch of barn conversions.
Follow the path around those conversions to the right, then follow the path behind them onto the lane, and at the junction you will see a sign for ‘Penterry Farm’ to the right, go left instead and your then heading towards the village of St Arvans.
It’s then tarmacked all the way back to the car, you will walk along this lane and it will rise up and then drop down to a nice down gradient until you hit St Arvans. Again, as you walk back you will see some beautiful sights above the hedges, and hopefully the sun is still beating down.
The main road running through St Arvans is a narrow stretch so be careful of cars, turn left when you hit this road from the lane you were just on and head down and eventually you will arrive at an old fountain just before the Tintern road.
You can at this point stop off for a quick drink or something to eat in a brilliant pub called ‘The Piercefield‘, that’s exactly what we did. But if you prefer to just carry on back to the car, then go left at the fountain up the road a lane will fork off to the left, take that lane.
The lane further up will then bend to the left, but you will see a path appear on the right cutting through the trees, follow that path and you will then return to the where the 365 steps started, the car park is down to your right across the road.
That’s it, you’re all done, back to the car and hopefully the weather has been good and you have had a great experience.
It is worth downloading this route onto your outdooractive app, it’ll re-assure you time wise and that you’re not heading in the wrong directions. There is so much space up there and lots of alternative paths you could accidently join.
Hope you enjoy this walk, and I’d love it if you could share this post either with the social media buttons that follow you down the screen on your left, or below you in the footer. Also, comments are very welcome, I love meeting new people and talking and you never know we could meet up on one of our walks.