St Michael's Mount

Step into Our Island Story
From ancient cobbles to castle walls, through time and tide, St Michael’s Mount is beckoning.

Striding the causeway, or crossing by boat. Treading medieval pathways or exploring sub-tropical gardens. Climbing to the castle or uncovering stories of harbour, legend and family home. Admire the views, hear the islanders’ tales and unearth a history that lives on in every step. Through time and tide the Mount creates moments to remember. What will yours be?

Plan Your Visit

Every sunrise, something new…

From pulling on your walking shoes and choosing how to get here, to losing yourself in the history, myth and legend that shapes the Mount’s story, plan your visit and make your trip your own.

By foot or by boat?

At low tide, the causeway appears from the sea and you can reach St Michael’s Mount by foot, following in the footsteps of giants and pilgrims. Setting out from the beachfront at the Godolphin Arms, it takes just minutes to walk across the ancient cobble causeway which stretches from the mainland to the island. Please use our handy causeway search to look up when the causeway will be open on the day of your visit.

When the tide floods in, our boatmen will ferry you across the water to the island. At high tide during spring, summer and autumn, frequent motorboats leave from landing points along the shore at Marazion for the Mount’s ancient harbour.

The Castle

What these walls have seen…

The clash of the portcullis and the hatching of plans in the study, the tolling of bells in the ancient priory and the hustle and bustle of the servants’ quarters. With shades of the past in every room and new discoveries waiting around every corner, dig deep into the Mount’s history, experience a different kind of family home or simply let your imagination run wild.

Castle itinerary

Stoop through ancient doorways and glimpse the castle’s changing faces – from priory to fort, iconic castle to family home. Wander century-old corridors and unravel the history of the St Aubyn family, who have lived here since the 17th century. Discover treasures from the Mount’s past, from religious roots to times of siege and conflict. Where will your journey take you?

For kids

A hunt for a giant’s stone heart, the armour of a samurai warrior, a mummified cat and a real life castle waiting to be discovered. Watch young minds race as our island guides tell tales of history, legend and a living, breathing island. Take our castle quiz as a family and let your little ones’ curiosity engage them, as they learn what makes this castle so special.

The Gardens

Explore the unexpected…

For many of our visitors it is astonishing that a garden exists here, but despite the gales and salty winds, the Gulf Stream tempers the climate so that frosts are a rarity and the rock acts as a gigantic radiator – absorbing heat by day and releasing it at night, creating a micro climate in which all sorts of unlikely plants flourish.

Puya, agave and aloe rear out of the bedrock, agapanthus wave their heavy heads, and binding threads of rosemary, lavender and coronilla tumble down the terraces. Come and experience life beyond the castle walls…

Developing the gardens

Worn stone walls harbouring a multitude of succulents, towering rocks rearing up above you with granite ledges bursting with colour. Our gardens might be rooted in history, but they are full of vitality and life. Discover their unique past and how our gardening team maintains and refreshes the gardens today.

The gardens trail

Make your own journey of discovery through the winding pathways and steep stone terraces and unearth some of the Mount’s surprises along the way.

Village and Harbour

Adrift from the mainland, bustling with life

A dairy lawn where cattle grazed. An underground tram transporting provisions from harbour to castle summit. Bronze footsteps to commemorate where visiting royals have stood. Set foot in the village and you’ll find a thriving community with a rich history.

Rewind to classical times and the island is thought to have been a trading centre for the tin industry. More than two thousand years ago Phoenecian ships may have sailed into the Mount’s harbour and exported Cornish tin to the rest of Europe.

The island’s population ebbed and flowed, but by the early 1800s, the Mount was thriving commercially and the village was alive with activity, home to over 300 islanders with 53 houses and four streets.

Pubs welcomed sailors and fishermen, a school taught the island’s children, a parish policeman kept the peace, the dairy churned butter and the green saw villagers gather to play bowls. It was said that at times you could walk from one side of the harbour to the other stepping over the boats that were moored there. There were net lofts, stables, a pilchard press and even a Victorian Change House, where castle residents could change into their swimsuits for a sea dip.

Today, the village plays home to a smaller community with 30 islanders living and working here. But stroll along the harbour front and you can still see many of the buildings that shaped the village’s past – from the blacksmith’s forge that is now home to the Courtyard Shop to the island laundry that now houses the Island Cafe

Village tours

We run guided tours of the village and harbour every day, except Saturday, at 11am and 2pm.

Hear about the families that call the Mount home, explore the buildings that have played many roles in the village’s history and discover what life here today is really like.