Places to Explore In The West Country

Beer

Beer, just outside Seaton, was once a favorite smugglers' haunt, and the fishing village has remained fairly unchanged. It was the source of the white...

• 0 Restaurants
• 0 Hotels
• 1 Things To Do

Bodmin

Bodmin was the only Cornish town recorded in the 11th-century Domesday Book, William the Conqueror's census. During World War I, the Domesday Book and the...

• 0 Restaurants
• 0 Hotels
• 2 Things To Do

Boscastle

In tranquil Boscastle, some of the stone-and-slate cottages at the foot of the steep valley date from the 1300s. A good place to relax and...

• 0 Restaurants
• 1 Hotels
• 0 Things To Do

Bristol

The West Country's biggest city (population 430,000), Bristol has in recent years become one of the country's most vibrant centers, with a thriving cultural scene...

• 8 Restaurants
• 5 Hotels
• 16 Things To Do

Cadbury Castle

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Chagford

Once a tin-weighing station, Chagford was an area of fierce fighting between the Roundheads and the Cavaliers during the English Civil War. Although officially a...

• 2 Restaurants
• 2 Hotels
• 2 Things To Do

Clovelly

Lovely Clovelly always seems to have the sun shining on its flower-lined cottages and stepped and cobbled streets. Alas, its beauty is well-known, and day-trippers...

• 0 Restaurants
• 1 Hotels
• 1 Things To Do

Dartmoor National Park

Devon presents no greater contrast to the country's quaint and picturesque image than the bleak, deserted expanses of Dartmoor. Southern England’s greatest natural wilderness is...

• 0 Restaurants
• 0 Hotels
• 1 Things To Do

Dartmouth

An important port in the Middle Ages, Dartmouth is today a favorite haunt of yacht owners. Traces of its past include the old houses in...

• 1 Restaurants
• 1 Hotels
• 4 Things To Do

Dunster

Lying between the Somerset coast and the edge of Exmoor National Park, Dunster is a picture-book village with a broad main street. The eight-sided yarn-market...

• 0 Restaurants
• 1 Hotels
• 1 Things To Do

Exeter

Exeter has been the capital of the region since the Romans established a fortress here 2,000 years ago, and evidence of the Roman occupation remains...

• 5 Restaurants
• 5 Hotels
• 10 Things To Do

Exmoor National Park

When you're headed to Exmoor National Park, stop by the visitor information centers at Dulverton, Dunster, and Lynmouth for information and maps. Guided walks, many...

• 0 Restaurants
• 0 Hotels
• 1 Things To Do

Falmouth

The bustle of this resort town's fishing harbor, yachting center, and commercial port only adds to its charm. In the 18th century Falmouth was the...

• 3 Restaurants
• 1 Hotels
• 2 Things To Do

Fowey

Nestled in the mouth of a wooded estuary, Fowey (pronounced Foy) is still very much a working china-clay port as well as a focal point...

• 1 Restaurants
• 1 Hotels
• 3 Things To Do

Glastonbury

A town steeped in history, myth, and legend, Glastonbury lies in the lea of Glastonbury Tor, a grassy hill rising 520 feet above the drained...

• 1 Restaurants
• 3 Hotels
• 3 Things To Do

Helston

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• 0 Things To Do

Honiton

• 0 Restaurants
• 0 Hotels
• 0 Things To Do

Land's End

The coastal road, B3306, ends at the western tip of Britain at what is, quite literally, Land's End...

• 0 Restaurants
• 0 Hotels
• 4 Things To Do

Launceston

Cornwall's ancient capital, Launceston, on the eastern side of Bodmin Moor, retains parts of its medieval walls, including the South Gate...

• 0 Restaurants
• 0 Hotels
• 1 Things To Do

Lizard Peninsula

The southernmost point on mainland Britain, this peninsula is a government-designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, named so for the rocky, dramatic coast rather than...

• 0 Restaurants
• 0 Hotels
• 1 Things To Do

Lydford

The sequestered hamlet of Lydford packs a lot into a small area: there's the dramatic scenery of the gorge just outside the village, the remains...

• 1 Restaurants
• 1 Hotels
• 1 Things To Do

Lynton and Lynmouth

A steep hill separates this pretty pair of Devonshire villages, which are linked by a Victorian cliff railway you can still ride. Lynmouth, a fishing...

• 1 Restaurants
• 1 Hotels
• 3 Things To Do

Montacute House

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• 0 Things To Do

Mousehole

Between Land's End and Penzance, Mousehole (pronounced mow-zel, the first syllable rhyming with "cow") merits a stop—and plenty of people do stop—to see this archetypal...

• 1 Restaurants
• 1 Hotels
• 0 Things To Do

Newquay

The biggest, most developed resort on the north Cornwall coast is a fairly large town established in 1439. It was once the center of the...

• 0 Restaurants
• 1 Hotels
• 1 Things To Do

Okehampton

This town at the confluence of the rivers East and West Okement is a good base for exploring north Dartmoor. It has a fascinating museum...

• 0 Restaurants
• 1 Hotels
• 2 Things To Do

Padstow

A small fishing port at the mouth of the River Camel, Padstow attracts attention and visitors as a center of culinary excellence, largely because of...

• 4 Restaurants
• 1 Hotels
• 0 Things To Do

Penzance

Superb views over Mount's Bay are one lure of this popular, unpretentious seaside resort. Even though it does get very crowded in summer, Penzance makes...

• 2 Restaurants
• 4 Hotels
• 4 Things To Do

Perranporth

Past the sandy shores of Perran Bay, Perranporth is one of Cornwall's most popular seaside spots and becomes extremely busy in high season, though it's...

• 0 Restaurants
• 0 Hotels
• 0 Things To Do

Plymouth

Devon's largest city has long been linked with England's commercial and maritime history. The Pilgrims sailed from here to the New World in the Mayflower...

• 2 Restaurants
• 3 Hotels
• 12 Things To Do

Porlock

Buried at the bottom of a valley, with the slopes of Exmoor all about, the small, unspoiled town of Porlock lies near "Doone Country," the...

• 1 Restaurants
• 0 Hotels
• 2 Things To Do

Port Isaac

A mixture of granite, slate, and whitewashed cottages tumbles precipitously down the cliff to the tiny harbor at Port Isaac, still dedicated to the crab-and-lobster...

• 1 Restaurants
• 2 Hotels
• 0 Things To Do

St. Ives

James McNeill Whistler came here to paint his landscapes, Barbara Hepworth to fashion her modernist sculptures, and Virginia Woolf to write her novels. Today sand...

• 5 Restaurants
• 2 Hotels
• 4 Things To Do

St. Mawes

At the tip of the Roseland Peninsula is the quiet, unspoiled village of St. Mawes, where subtropical plants thrive. The peninsula itself is a lovely...

• 0 Restaurants
• 2 Hotels
• 2 Things To Do

Tavistock and Environs

On the River Tavy, the ancient town of Tavistock historically owed its importance to its Benedictine abbey (dissolved by Henry VIII in the 16th century)...

• 1 Restaurants
• 3 Hotels
• 3 Things To Do

Tintagel

The romance of Arthurian legend thrives around Tintagel's ruined castle on the coast. Ever since the somewhat unreliable 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth identified Tintagel...

• 0 Restaurants
• 0 Hotels
• 2 Things To Do

Topsham

This small town, full of narrow streets and hidden courtyards, was once a bustling river port, and it remains rich in 18th-century houses and inns...

• 1 Restaurants
• 0 Hotels
• 2 Things To Do

Torquay

The most important resort area in South Devon, Torquay envisions itself as the center of the "English Riviera." Since 1968 the towns of Paignton and...

• 2 Restaurants
• 2 Hotels
• 3 Things To Do

Totnes

This busy market town on the banks of the River Dart preserves plenty of its medieval past, and on summer Tuesdays vendors dress in period...

• 0 Restaurants
• 1 Hotels
• 4 Things To Do

Trelissick

Trelissick is known for the colorful Trelissick Garden, owned by the National Trust...

• 0 Restaurants
• 0 Hotels
• 2 Things To Do

Truro

The county seat and Cornwall's only real city, Truro is a good option mostly for food and shopping and for cathedral and museum buffs. For...

• 0 Restaurants
• 1 Hotels
• 2 Things To Do

Wells

England's smallest cathedral city, with a population of 10,000, lies at the foot of the Mendip Hills. Although set in what feels like a quiet...

• 3 Restaurants
• 2 Hotels
• 4 Things To Do

Yeovilton

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• 0 Things To Do