A Spiritual Spa - My First-Timer Top Tips for Visiting Glastonbury

Starling’s wonderful Glastonbury reviews on Euan’s Guide inspired me to visit. It has been on my To Do List for ages; however, I was not sure it was accessible, reading the reviews gave me the confidence to visit and I am so pleased I went. Here are my top tips for visiting Glastonbury.

Attractions

Glastonbury is a small town and many of its attractions are located a short walking distance from each other. 

Glastonbury Abbey is legendary, reputedly the final resting place for King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. Once the wealthiest abbey in England, its beauty and grandeur can still be enjoyed today amongst its ruins and extensive parkland. The area is very accessible, with only two places that do not have step free access and an accessible toilet. I really enjoyed my visit and you can read more about it in my review.

Goddess Temple is in the "Glastonbury Experience", a pedestrianised courtyard just off the High Street. A beautifully decorated, sacred space dedicated to the Goddess. It is located on the first floor and only accessible via an external staircase, however if you can visit you will be given a warm welcome. It is a very special place and find out more in my review.

St Margaret’s Chapel and Royal Magdalene Almshouses is a hidden gem, with its chapel, historic almshouses and beautiful garden. Charming, very accessible and welcoming, I was delighted to visit, and you can find out more in my review.

About a mile away from the Market Cross are two adjacent sacred sites, the Chalice Well and the White Spring. 

Chalice Well, a holy well surrounded by tranquil gardens. There are step free paths that slope up toward the Well Head. On the way there are designated places where you can drink the water or paddle in it. This was my favourite place that I visited, I found it profoundly spiritual, calming and restorative, and you can read more in my review.

The White Springs, a holy well housed in a temple, with two bathing pools, three shrines lit by candlelight. A unique place to visit, with a step free entrance and very helpful volunteers. It is only open limited hours, so I would suggest trying to time your visit to Glastonbury to coincide with this, and there’s more about it in my review. 

Glastonbury Tor is also very popular. I could only find very limited information about access; so, I did not visit. There is a seasonal bus that runs from outside the Tourist Information Office, however it stops at the base of the Tor.

Shops and Places to Eat

The town centre focuses around the Glastonbury Market Cross and its radiating streets, High Street (which is on a hill with a steady incline), Magdalene Street and Northload Street. The shops, cafes, pubs, etc are housed in old buildings. Some have step free access and their venue is on the ground floor. Other buildings have one or a couple of steps at the entrance. Disappointingly I did not see a single permanent ramp or a grab rail to enable people with mobility disabilities from entering these premises. Given that there were plenty of shops to choose from I decided to visit only the ones I was able to access. Among the ones I visited were The Goddess and The Green Man, Goddess Temple Gifts, both step free, and Star Child, which has a single step, which sells the most amazing candles. On Tuesdays and Saturdays there is a small, local market in St Dustan’s Car Park next to the Tourist Information Office, selling a variety of wares.

Accessible Toilets

There are two accessible public toilets. One is in St Dustan’s Car Park, near the Tourist Information Office, which was in use when I visited so I can not comment, but appears to have limited opening hours. The other accessible toilet is in St John’s Square Car Park, behind the High Street. This is kept unlocked during the daytime but is accessible 24 hours with a RADAR key. Please note that The Gauntlet, High Street, has a sign pointing to the accessible toilet, however, this route is not step free as there are three steps to reach it.

Getting There and About on Public Transport

The number 376 bus runs daily from Bristol, via Glastonbury and onto Street. The service runs twice and hour Mondays to Saturdays, and once an hour on Sundays and Bank Holidays. The bus has step free access, via a ramp at the front of the bus and has a wheelchair space. The bus starts from the Bristol Bus and Coach Station. This is where I picked the bus up as I wanted to try to get a priority seat.  It uses Coach Bay 18, which is opposite an accessible toilet, which opens with a RADAR key. The bus journey takes about 1.5 hours and passes some beautiful countryside. The service is run by First Bus, and if you download their app, you can pre-purchase tickets, which will last for a year from the date of purchase, and you just activate your ticket when you get on the bus and scan the bar code. Also, with the app you can check in real time when the next buses are from due at a particular stop and some of the buses have additional information about seat and wheelchair space availability too. The Glastonbury Town Hall stop is next to Glastonbury Abbey, the Tourist Information Centre and the High Street. Stay on the bus for a couple more minutes, if you want the Travelodge and get off at Wirral Park Roundabout and for the Premier Inn exit at Moorlands Factory. There are other local bus routes through Glastonbury but I did not explore these.

Opposite Glastonbury Abbey, on Magdalene Street, is a taxi rank. I used this to get to the Chalice Well Gardens. My driver was Mindees, and he was extremely helpful, patient and kind, he even tied my shoe lace when it came undone. I also arranged for him to collect me from the Well and drive me back to my hotel. 

Accommodation

There is a choice of accommodation. In the town centre there are several guest houses which are in old properties, and I struggled to find information online about accessible bedrooms/ bathrooms. However, in the south-west side of Glastonbury, only a five-minute bus ride, are two modern chain hotels, The Premier Inn and the Travelodge, both having accessible bedrooms. I stayed at the Travelodge, which has two accessible rooms, both with wheel in showers I really enjoyed my stay, my room was comfortable, staff were friendly and it is on a small retail park, there was a choice of take-aways and a Tesco supermarket, which as a clinically vulnerable person meant I could eat easily and comfortably in my hotel room. For more details, please read my review.

Conclusion

I loved my time in Glastonbury. It is a remarkable place, spiritual, mystical, magical. I found calm and peace there and I was able to recharge my batteries. Glastonbury is my Spiritual Spa and I am already planning a return visit.

Tags: reviewer's story, reviews, review, glastonbury