Two cities, the English Riviera, the Dart estuary and the moors of Dartmoor and Exmoor
Devon is a county in South West England with coasts on two seas: the Bristol Channel to the north and the English Channel to the south. Plymouth, its largest city, and Exeter, the county town, are at opposite ends of the south, with the resorts of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham around Tor Bay between them. The county holds Dartmoor and part of Exmoor, the uplands where most of its rivers rise.
This guide covers six areas: Exeter's cathedral city, Plymouth's waterfront, the three Torbay towns, the Dart estuary from Dartmouth to Totnes, Dartmoor National Park and the Exmoor coast around Lynton and Lynmouth. Main-line trains from London reach Exeter and Plymouth, branch lines run to Torbay, Okehampton and Barnstaple, and the rest is best reached by bus, ferry or car.
Areas
Each area has its own mini guide with 106 sights, places to eat and drink, and where to stay across the city.
Cathedral city on the Exe with Roman walls, medieval passages and a historic quayside
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Waterfront city of the Hoe, the Barbican and the Mayflower Steps
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Torbay's three resorts: Torquay's cave and abbey, Paignton's pier and zoo, Brixham's fishing harbour
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Castles at the river mouth, a naval college and a market town at the head of the Dart estuary
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Granite tors, clapper bridges, Bronze Age sites and moorland villages in a national park
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A cliff railway, wooded gorges and high moorland where Exmoor meets the sea
Open the mini guide →Sights
A sight from each area. Every area guide lists the rest, with directions and official links.
Gothic cathedral completed by about 1400, with an astronomical clock and the longest unbroken medieval stone vault in the world.
Large south-facing open space above the seafront cliffs with views over Plymouth Sound and Drake's Island.
Monastery founded in 1196 for Premonstratensian canons, now a historic house and art gallery with formal gardens.
Artillery fort guarding the mouth of the Dart, begun in the 1380s and later given an early purpose-built gun tower.
Granite tor on the eastern edge of Dartmoor, also known as Haytor Rocks.
Water-powered funicular railway joining Lynmouth and Lynton, opened in 1890 and Grade II listed.
The city's largest museum, founded in 1868, with zoology, archaeology, world cultures and fine art in a Gothic Revival building.
Upper section of John Smeaton's third Eddystone Lighthouse, in use 1759 to 1877, rebuilt on the Hoe as a memorial.
1 / 12Animal attractions, railways, science centres, beaches and caves from our Devon guide, grouped by type. We hold no age ratings or child prices: check each place’s own site for age limits, height rules and family tickets.
Exmoor ZooZoo, Exmoor & Lynmouth
Dartmouth Steam RailwayHeritage railway, Dartmouth, Totnes & the Dart
South Devon RailwayHeritage railway, Dartmoor
Woody Bay StationHeritage railway, Exmoor & Lynmouth
Cricklepit MillVisitor centre, Exeter
Tinside LidoLido, Plymouth
Heddon's MouthCove, Exmoor & Lynmouth
Kents CavernShow cave, Torquay, Paignton & BrixhamPractical help: travelling with children and where to stay in Devon.
Itineraries
Short routes that stitch the areas together.
Getting there
Main-line trains run from London and the Midlands to Exeter and Plymouth, Exeter has an airport, and Plymouth has ferries to France and Spain. Always check the operator for current times, fares and disruption.
Great Western Railway runs from London Paddington to Exeter St Davids in as little as 2 hr 5 min and to Plymouth in as little as 3 hr 4 min, according to GWR. South Western Railway runs from London Waterloo via Salisbury to Exeter, and CrossCountry trains come from Bristol, Birmingham and the north. Visit Devon names Tiverton, Exeter St Davids, Newton Abbot, Totnes and Plymouth as the main stations.
Exeter Airport is at Clyst Honiton, about five miles from the city centre. The airport names Stagecoach bus 4A to Exeter St Davids, with a limited service at weekends and on bank holidays, and says Apple Taxis is its only authorised private hire firm at the arrivals desk.
Brittany Ferries names Plymouth as a UK departure port for France and Spain. Check its route pages for which sailings leave from Plymouth.
Visit Devon says National Express stops at Exeter, Tiverton and Plymouth in the south of the county and at Bideford, Barnstaple, Westward Ho! and Ilfracombe in the north.
The M5 runs to Exeter. From its end the A38 continues to Plymouth and the A380 to Torbay, the A30 serves Okehampton and West Devon, and the A361 North Devon link road leaves at junction 27, according to Visit Devon.
Journey times are the shortest quoted by the operator; most trains take longer. Check the operator before you travel.
GWR runs the Riviera Line from Exeter to Torquay and Paignton, the Tarka Line to Barnstaple and the Dartmoor line to Okehampton, which reopened to regular trains in November 2021. Visit Devon gives about 40 minutes from Okehampton to Exeter St Davids.
Visit Devon points to Devon County Council for bus timetables and maps and to Stagecoach for its route map. In Exmoor, Stagecoach's 309/310 links Lynton and Lynmouth with Barnstaple, according to Visit Lynton & Lynmouth.
Visit Devon says a car gives the most flexibility for rural areas, and that many places on Dartmoor and in North Devon are easiest to reach by car.
Three ferries cross the Dart between Dartmouth and Kingswear. The Dartmouth Steam Railway runs from Paignton to Kingswear and the South Devon Railway from Totnes to Buckfastleigh.
Best time to go
Many attractions change their hours with the seasons, and some close in winter. These notes come from the attractions' own pages; check before you go.
Seasonal places start to reopen: the Golden Hind in Brixham from February half term, and The Box's Elizabethan House in Plymouth in spring. Tinside Lido opens in May.
Tinside Lido is open, and the Exmoor Coaster open-top bus runs along the coast road every day in summer, according to Visit Lynton & Lynmouth.
Widecombe Fair is held in Widecombe-in-the-Moor on the second Tuesday of September. Tinside Lido closes at the end of September.
The National Trust's Lydford Gorge and Finch Foundry close for the winter, and Babbacombe Cliff Railway closes for maintenance. Torbay's Bay of Lights runs over Christmas.
Illuminated events across Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, centred on a 1.5-mile Illumination Trail along Torquay seafront.
English Riviera: Bay of Lights →Day trips
Ideas for a day away from Devon. Check the operators for times and tickets.
Plymouth sits on the Cornish border, and the Cornish Main Line runs west from Plymouth to Penzance. See our Cornwall guide for its six areas.
Cornwall guide →
Devon's south-east coast is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. Our Jurassic Coast guide covers Seaton, Beer and Sidmouth.
Jurassic Coast guide →
GWR quotes as little as 2 hr 2 min from Bristol Temple Meads to Plymouth, and CrossCountry trains also link Bristol with Exeter.
Bristol guide →FAQ
GWR quotes as little as 2 hr 5 min from London Paddington to Exeter St Davids and 3 hr 4 min to Plymouth. South Western Railway also runs from London Waterloo to Exeter.
Yes. GWR's Dartmoor line runs from Exeter to Okehampton on the northern edge of the moor; regular trains returned in November 2021. Totnes and Newton Abbot are main-line stations near the southern and eastern edges.
There is no railway. Take a train to Barnstaple on the Tarka Line from Exeter, then Stagecoach's 309/310 bus, which Visit Lynton & Lynmouth says takes about 55 minutes, Monday to Saturday.
Partly. About 29 per cent of Exmoor National Park is in Devon and 71 per cent in Somerset. This guide's Exmoor area includes Lynton and Lynmouth in Devon and Porlock, Dunster and Tarr Steps in Somerset.
The public has wide access rights on Dartmoor, but parts of the moor have been military firing ranges for over 200 years and access there is restricted, so check before you walk.
Nearby places
Our closest other guides, by straight-line distance between centres. Road and rail distances are longer: check a journey planner.
Photos from Wikimedia Commons, used under the licences shown. All photo credits
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