Regular visitors grow to love this unique area with its dramatic steep rugged coastline, levelling out to some of the best Blue Flag sandy beaches in the country.

The area around Welcombe, to the West, has some stunningly beautiful walks where one can find both tranquillity and inspiration. Visit Hartland Abbey and come upon the cobbled cliff side ‘film set’ village of Clovelly; continue on to the long sandy beach at Westward Ho!, the fascinating old harbour towns of Barnstaple and Bideford, both steeped in history and standing in traditional rivalry at the mouths of the rivers Taw and Torridge with Lundy Island beyond. ‘The land of two rivers’ can be explored on foot or bike along the 80 mile ‘Tarka Trail’ Coastal Path and Cycle way that follows the journeys in the novel of Tarka the Otter.

There are good bathing and surfing beaches on the North coast at Saunton Sands and Woolacombe, with sailing, windsurfing, waterskiing and boat trips to be enjoyed, as well as golf courses in the area. Bratton Fleming is near the National Trust’s Arlington Court, formerly the family home of Sir Francis Chichester. Then wend your way to the Valley of the Rocks near Lynton and down by water-powered cliff railway to Lynmouth, known as ‘Little Switzerland’. Descend steeply into pretty Porlock, the National Trust Vale and Minehead with its holiday fun park and West Somerset Steam Railway.

On Exmoor enjoy a landscape where you can roam, drive or ride over heather-clad moorland with the rare Exmoor pony and at the same time witness dramatic sandstone cliffs, which descend down to secret wooded coombes and the sea. If you walk or ride, you will love Exmoor with over 700 miles of footpaths and bridleways to explore, even in high season it is possible to get away from it all here. Real moorland Exmoor sometimes gives way to softer wooded valleys where walkers will find the villages of Simonsbath, Withypool and Winsford all with good pubs and cream teas, along with the delightful old moorland town of Dulverton.

Discover the little known area between North Devon and Dartmoor. This is middle Devon, old farming country, beautiful, hilly and wooded with unusual hilltop villages and towns complete with excellent, unpretentious pubs and individual, unique shops offering good quality goods. To visit this unspoilt area is like going back in time, and the people have a refreshingly old-fashioned approach to life. There are charming market towns such as Hatherleigh, (home of Dartington Crystal), South Molton (pannier market) and Winkleigh (cider making).