Tour: The southwest coast in 8 days
Tour: The southwest coast in 8 days
©fstopphotography/iStock
An 800km-seaside tour around the coast of southwest England.
Day 1: Jurassic Coast
Depart from Dorchester: the city of novelist Thomas Hardy offers the visitor a vision of demure façades stretching along South Street and High Street. After a detour via the hillfort of Maiden Castle, the site of amazing defensive banks and ditches, drive alongside the splendid cliffs of the Jurassic Coast from Weymouth to Exmouth.
Stay overnight in Exmouth (see accommodation in Exmouth).
Day 2: Exeter
In the morning, visit the medieval city centre and the cathedral.
In the afternoon, visit Exeter’s Royal Albert Museum, home to one of Britain’s finest natural history collections, or pay a trip to Ottery St Mary, a picturesque Devonshire village.
Stay overnight in Exeter (see accommodation in Exeter).
Day 3: English Riviera
The Torquay Road runs past the resorts of the English Riviera as far as Dartmouth.
Stay overnight in Dartmouth (see accommodation in Dartmouth).
Day 4: Plymouth
Spend the morning exploring the Barbican waterside neighbourhood: historic Plymouth lives on in this district riddled with cobblestone lanes lined in medieval houses.
In the afternoon, go shopping or explore Dartmoor National Park.
Stay overnight in Plymouth (see accommodation in Plymouth).
Days 5, 6 and 7: Cornwall
Day 5: explore the south coast of Cornwall from St Germans to Marazion, strewn in picturesque little harbours, castles and seaside landscapes.
Stay overnight in Fowey (see accommodation in Fowey).
Day 6 & 7: explore Penwith Peninsula and the northern Cornish coast, battered by the sea and wind from Penzance to Illfracombe – the views are stunning, without forgetting a halt at King Arthur’s castle at Tintagel.
Stay overnight in Penzance and Newquay (see accommodation in Penzance and Newquay).
Day 8: Exmoor
Treat yourself to a walk between land and sea in Exmoor National Park.
Stay overnight in Illfracombe (see accommodation in Illfracombe).
Feel like getting away from it all?
See our suggestions for novel trips and must-see places to visit near your home or holiday destination.