Welcome to Exmoor

The hills and moors of Exmoor surely have everything to offer that the country loving visitor could ask for. Rolling moorland where you can still find total solitude. with only the deer and the peregrine for company - wild cliffs with sheer drops to the sea below and far reaching views of islands and shipping - beautiful villages with cottages and streams that call out to be photographed.

Tarr Step Exmoor

Fishing, riding, sailing, walking and many other sports. Little wonder that this beautiful area is also home to painters and craftsmen and women deriving inspiration from their surroundings. With so much to offer we can only give an outline suggestion - you will, we know, thoroughly enjoy exploring the area in more depth.

Further east are the lovely valleys of the Exe and the Barle - well known to game fishermen the world over but giving equal pleasure to those who just want to linger on the old stone bridges and watch the fish moving in the clear waters of the mill pool. Everywhere there are pubs and restaurants for refreshment. A justly popular area - but once out on the moors you will find solitude in plenty.

For an inland base South Molton is often called ’The Gateway to the Moor’ and this old market town, still very much an essential centre of the rural agricultural community, makes a good place to stay if you want to steep yourself in the true countryside atmosphere.

At Lynton and Lynmouth you are coming to the northern edge of the true Exmoor, where the cliffs drop steeply away into the Bristol Channel and the rivers rush down to meet the sea through steep rocky gorges. Then turn inland and run across the heart of the moor to Simonsbath, where some of the loveliest walks on the moor begin.

Many writers and artists have made this their home in the past and the tradition still carries on - throughout the area you will find craftsmen and women producing work of the highest quality.

Exmoor straddles the boundaries of both Somerset and Devon and at Porlock you have crossed to Somerset. Porlock town is very much of the moor - Porlock Weir is a delightful coastal village. Much larger is their neighbour, Minehead, which although very much a seaside holiday town does house some of the best craft shops, galleries and studios in the two counties.

Inland you will find Dunster with its echoes of the Civil War and its multitude of teashops. A crowded but pleasant town.