READY TO EXPLORE A LITTLE FURTHER?

ALTHOUGH SOUTH DEVON HAS MORE THAN ENOUGH TO KEEP YOU BUSY, A JOURNEY FURTHER AFIELD CAN MAKE FOR AN EXCITING NEW ADVENTURE

Although South Devon is teeming with brilliant attractions, exciting activities and breathtaking coast and countryside, there are also some fantastic opportunities for you to explore a little beyond its borders.

It is a surprisingly short journey from South Devon into the neighbouring county of Cornwall. To reach the famous Eden Project from Newton Abbot, for example, takes just an hour and a half by car, plunging you into the largest indoor rainforest in the world.

There are a huge variety of activities and sights to see ‘in the Duchy’, from world-famous beaches to posh foodie destinations like seafront Padstow and the artistic community of pretty St Ives, where Tate St Ives and the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden are star attractions, as well as the wild walk along the cliffs to the ancient village of Zennor. Taking the train from Totnes, Newton Abbot or Exeter to Truro, Falmouth or Penzance is an excellent and inexpensive way to travel between the two regions.

Heading upcountry, Dartmoor’s volcanic sibling and the gateway to North Devon, Exmoor, is well worth a visit. It is a landscape of contrasts with wild coastline, the rugged moor itself and lush valleys. The picturesque coastal towns of Lynton and Lynmouth, often referred to as ‘Little Switzerland,’ are particularly charming – and you can travel between the two on a unique water-powered Victorian cliff railway.

Up in North Devon, surfers flock to Croyde and Woolacombe, where the sport’s history stretches back at least 40 years and you can even visit the Museum of British Surfing in nearby Braunton.

Fans of the artist Damien Hirst should visit the seaside resort of Ilfracombe where his 66-foot bronze- clad sculpture named Verity, depicting a pregnant woman holding a sword, towers over the pier. There’s another unique attraction in the form of Tunnels Beaches, hand carved in the 1820s and leading down to a tidal swimming pool and sheltered strands.

At the mouth of the River Torridge, the pretty fishing village of Appledore makes a nice stop for a wander around the quay or browse through galleries tucked away down narrow cobbled streets. There’s a shipyard here, as well as the North Devon Maritime Museum, and a seasonal ferry can deposit you in the pretty sand-fringed village of Instow, with good wind- and kitesurfing and three pubs to choose from.

Immediately east of the region in Dorset sits Lyme Regis, with its historic Cobb and harbour, pitted with fossils for which the region is famous. The Malthouse Gallery is a focus for the area’s artistic community.

A little further east into Dorset, the market town of Bridport is another artistic hotspot: the Bridport Arts Centre, based in a Wesleyan Chapel, runs an international literary award, and there’s also a theatre, an Art Deco cinema and an excellent town museum. Go west again to salty Weymouth, where the magnificent sandy town beach is overlooked by a magisterial curve of beautiful Georgian buildings.