From ancient cobbles to castle walls, through time and tide St Michael's Mount is beckoning

Situated just 400 yards off Mount's Bay in Marazion, St Michael's Mount is an iconic Cornish landmark and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the South West.

Striding the causeway, or crossing by boat. Treading medieval pathways or exploring tropical gardens.  Discover a castle, a sub-tropical garden paradise and a close-knit island community, home to the St Aubyn family and thirty island residents.  Through time and tide the Mount creates moments to remember.  From ancient cobbles to castle walls, through time and tide St Michael's Mount is beckoning.

2015 Events: This season come and uncover stories of harbour, legend and family home.  Hear the islanders' tales and unearth a history that lives on in every step.  From digging into the history of the village and harbour life during summer, to the conservation of the castle through autumn and the development of the cliff-side gardens through Spring.

Over the coming months, the island will come alive with activity, kicking off with the annual Cadbury Easter Egg Trail (3, 5, 6 April) where being an Eggsplorer for the day and hunting out clues around the village and harbour will lead to a delicious prize.

Explore The Gardens (from 20 April).  Spring will see a spotlight put on St Michael's Mount unique terraced gardens, where abundant blooms and exotic plants have thrived since 1780. Weave through garden terraces bursting with colour.  Breathe in the sea air, scented with springtime blossom or summer herbs. Peer from the battlements at the garden terraces stepping down to sea.

Visitors will have the unique chance to experience life beyond the castle walls and meet one of the gardening team, including new Head Gardener Lottie Allen.  Learn what they do day-to-day and hear about the garden's history and current design.  There will also be the opportunity to watch the team in action as they 'Cliff Climb' – abseiling above the garden, planting and weeding as they go. Tours will run daily at 1pm from 20th April until the end of June – for Cliff Climbing please check the website for dates and timings.

A Garden in a Castle Festival (May) will bring the glories of the Mount's subtropical planting into the castle itself, curated by our gardening team and local florists with displays and plantings that will reflect the gardens' plantings within the castle walls and terraces.

Village Tours – Island Life Today:  With 30 islanders calling the village their home, the Mount is a living, breathing community. Even before the first boats come and go from the harbour, the village springs to life – school children gathering to travel to the mainland, goods being loaded onto the quayside and islanders preparing for the jobs the day will bring. Everyone who lives on the island plays their part.  Boatman, mechanic, guide, gardener or fire officer – the islanders work together to keep everything running smoothly. 

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. Tours take place daily at  11am and 2pm.

Storytelling Alongside tall tales of our legendary Cornish giant, new for this season will be nautical tales telling of a mythical Mount boatman. Listen to the history of the Mount told through the words of one of a Storyteller who, during one of his childhood visits, met an old Boatman. This mythical Boatman has been on the island since the dawn of time and tells the Storyteller everything that he has seen and heard over thousands of years; from the “Grey Rock in the Woods” to the vision of St Michael; from the first sighting of the Spanish Armada to the footprint left by Queen Victoria on the harbour cobbles. Please check the website for storytelling dates and timings.

Explore the unexpected at The Mount… 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.When the tide floods in, boatmen ferry visitors 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.

Discover the castle.  Climb the cobbled pathway up to the island's summit and discover its changing faces. Bronze age settlers, monks, pilgrims and soldiers have all left their mark on the Mount.

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. 

While the National Trust now ensures the preservation and conservation of the Mount, the St Aubyn family continue to manage the island, as they have done since the middle of the 17th century. This unique partnership preserves the astonishing legacy built up since the island's earliest known inhabitants during the Bronze Age.

The subtropical gardens. Weave through garden terraces bursting with colour.  Breathe in the sea air, scented with springtime blossom or summer herbs. Peer from the battlements at the garden terraces stepping down to sea.

For many 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 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.

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 the island guides tell tales of history, legend and a living, breathing island. Take the castle quiz as a family and let the little ones' curiosity engage them, as they learn what makes this castle so special.

Tickets/Opening Times: St Michael's Mount castle, shops and restaurants are open daily (except Saturdays) from 15 March until 1 November

You can walk to the island at low tide and there are also boat crossings (subject to weather).

Due to their fragility, the lush-sub tropical gardens have restricted opening times and are open between 20 April and 25 September.

Please check www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk for details.

Media enquiries:  For more information on St Michael's Mount please contact:

Katherine@brightmediauk.com or call 07958 649502