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SOUTHWEST ENGLAND

Dartmouth


The pretty riverside town of Dartmouth has long been known as the location for Britain’s largest naval college, but in recent years it’s also established itself as a favourite seaside escape for city types fleeing from the rat race. There are some surprisingly chic shops and boutiques dotted around town, not to mention an astonishing concentration of upmarket restaurants – in high summer it’s all a bit Knightsbridge by the sea, with posh yachts jostling for space in the small riverside harbour and plenty of impeccably-coiffured ladies doing lunch at one of the town’s streetside cafés.

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SOUTHWEST ENGLAND

Lynton And Lynmouth


The attractive harbour of Lynmouth is rooted at the base of a steep, tree-lined valley, where the West Lyn River empties into the sea along Exmoor’s northern coastline. Its similarity to the harbour at Boscastle is striking, and in fact the twin harbours share more than just a common geography; like Boscastle, Lynmouth is famous as the location of a devastating flash flood that swept through the village in 1952. Sadly, Lynmouth paid a much heavier price than its Cornish cousin; 34 people lost their lives in the flood, and memory of the disaster remains strong in the village to this day.

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SOUTHWEST ENGLAND

Southeast Cornwall


Dotted with picturesque fishing villages and patchwork fields, southeast Cornwall offers a much gentler side to the county than the stark, sea-pounded granite cliffs along the northern coast. Carpeted with wildflowers and crisscrossed by hedgerows, this is still working dairy country, where much of Cornwall’s famously rich milk and clotted cream is produced.

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SOUTHWEST ENGLAND

Wiltshire


Britain’s ancient history comes to life around the fields, plateaus and plains of rural Wiltshire. It’s a place that teases and tantalises the imagination, littered with more ancient barrows, processional avenues and mysterious stone rings than anywhere else in Britain; the stunning prehistoric sites of Avebury and Stonehenge understandably receive the most visitors, but there are plenty of lesser-known sites to explore too, including Woodhenge, Silbury Hill and the Iron Age fort at Old Sarum. Wiltshire is also home to the stately homes of Longleat and Stourhead and the delightful villages of Castle Combe and Lacock, as well as the magnificent cathedral city of Salisbury.

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SOUTHWEST ENGLAND

Devon


Picture-perfect Devon has long been one of the country’s favourite holiday destinations, and with such a smorgasbord of natural wonders, it’s not hard to see what keeps the holidaymakers coming back. Blanketed with patchwork pastures, dotted with rural villages, and bordered by some of the country’s most stunning coastline, it’s a county with something to offer everyone: a place to walk the hills, roam the fields and bike the bridleways before stuffing yourself with some hearty Devonian cooking in a backcountry inn. If it’s the quintessentially kitsch British seaside you’re after, then head to the South Devon Coast for the chintzy seaside resorts of Ilfracombe, Torquay & Paignton. For a bit more class, the ancient Roman city of Exeter has some of the best preserved medieval architecture in the southwest, not to mention one of its most impressive cathedrals. And if you’re really looking to get away from it all, the wild expanse of Dartmoor National Park makes the perfect place to escape the summertime crowds.

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SOUTHWEST ENGLAND

Moretonhampstead


The small market town of Moretonhampstead stands at an old crossroads where two of the main routes across Dartmoor meet, and makes a handy base for exploring the eastern moor.

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SOUTHWEST ENGLAND

Southeast Dorset


Dorset’s most beautiful stretch of coastline runs along its southeastern edge, dotted with glittering bays and crumbling cliffs, as well as the romantic ruins of Corfe Castle and the remote Isle of Purbeck (actually a peninsula).

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SOUTHWEST ENGLAND

Dorchester


Thomas Hardy connections abound around Dorchester, which doubles in his novels as the market town of Casterbridge. Hardy was born just outside Dorchester in the village of Higher Bockhampton, and the author lived here for much of his life; its solid red-brick streets, stately Georgian townhouses and agricultural heritage seem to have held an enduring fascination for him, and the place certainly seems immediately familiar if you’ve ever read any of his novels. Hardy’s memory lingers on at two of his former homes; for something less literary there are some good restaurants scattered around towns, as well as some odd museums dedicated to dinosaurs, teddy bears, Tutankhamen and the Terracotta Warriors.

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SOUTHWEST ENGLAND

Newquay


If Padstow is Cornwall’s Cannes, then Newquay is its Costa del Sol. Perched on the cliffs above a cluster of white-sand beaches, and packed with enough pubs, bars and dodgy clubs to give Ibiza a run for its money, it’s become the summer venue of choice for beer boys, beach bums and surf addicts alike, all of whom descend on the town in droves. It’s also the unofficial capital of Cornish surfing, and if you’re looking to learn how to brave the waves, this is the place to do it.

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SOUTHWEST ENGLAND

Southwest Cornwall


Cornwall’s southwest coastline, dotted with inlets, estuaries and wooded creeks, has long been one of the county’s main maritime areas. The deepwater port at Falmouth – the third-largest natural harbour in the world – is still a busy seafaring town, and the remote area further to the west around the Lizard was once notorious as a haven for smugglers and wreckers. These days, history and natural scenery are the main attractions, with long stretches of protected coastline, fine beaches and some of Cornwall’s most impressive subtropical gardens all within easy reach of Falmouth.