Page 15 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - England's South Coast

DISC OVERING ENGLAND ’ S SOUTH C O AST  13

Rocks (see p142). Next, drive west
to Boscastle (see pp156–7) and
spend the afternoon admiring
the Cornish coast. It is a 6-km
(4-mile) hike along the South
West Coast Path to the ruins of
Tintagel Castle (see p156), said to
be the birthplace of King Arthur.
Spend the evening in Boscastle.

To extend your trip…
Head south from Boscastle
to Land’s End (see p169),
the westernmost point of
England. En route visit pretty
St Ives (see p168), home to
Pretty thatched cottages at Swan Green, on the outskirts of Lyndhurst, in Hampshire Tate St Ives and the Barbara
Hepworth Museum.
A Week in the Day 3: Exeter
South West After a morning walk on the
Cobb, Lyme Regis’s famous Day 5: The Atlantic Highway
• Airports International visitors harbour wall, continue west to The scenic Atlantic Highway runs
to southwest England will Exeter (see pp136–7), stopping along the north coast of Cornwall
usually arrive at Heathrow or off at the Regency seaside resort and Devon. The first stop is Bude
Gatwick, but there are also of Sidmouth (see p137) for a (see p156). Once a bustling port,
airports at Bristol and Exeter. mid-morning coffee. In Exeter, this town is now a magnet for
• Transport A car is needed to start by visiting the 14th-century families drawn to its beaches. At
cover the places on this tour. cathedral, before braving the Clovelly (see p151), work up an
Underground Passages (see appetite for a cream tea with a
p137), the city’s medieval water- walk along Hobby Drive before
Day 1: New Forest supply system. Finish with an heading to the busy market town
The New Forest (see p97) has a evening meal at the Jack in of Barnstaple (see p149).
name that is rather misleading; the Green (see p190) pub.
claimed as a new royal hunting Day 6: Exmoor and
ground by the Normans, it is one Glastonbury
of the oldest areas of woodland Dartmoor’s softer sister, Exmoor
in the South. Start your day at (see pp122–3) is where heathery
Lyndhurst (see p97), a village with hills tumble to meet the sea in
many pubs. There are great walks a succession of pretty villages.
from here and plenty of wildlife Trundle up the steep cliffs on the
to see, including the wild New water-powered funicular railway
Forest ponies. Leave the forest in the fishing village of Lynmouth
at Ringwood for the seaside (see p148) and walk the ramparts
town of Poole (see pp112–13). at Dunster Castle (see p122). Next,
Enjoy a dip at Sandbanks beach head eastwards, across the wild
followed by supper at Rick heathland of the Quantock Hills
Stein (see p189) restaurant. to Glastonbury (see pp124–5). As
the legendary site of the Holy
Day 2: Dorset Grail, the town has drawn visitors
Head southwest for the historic since the Middle Ages. It is now
market town of Dorchester (see best known for its music festival.
p118), immortalized by Thomas
Hardy as the setting for The Mayor Day 7: Bath
of Casterbridge and surrounded Magnificent 14th-century vaulting in Charismatic Bath (see pp128–31)
by picturesque villages. Essential the nave of Exeter Cathedral, Devon is an irresistibly beautiful city.
stops nearby include the famous Founded by the Romans, the
Cerne Abbas Giant (see p119) Day 4: Dartmoor, Boscastle immaculately restored open-air
and Hardy’s childhood home at and Tintagel baths provide a glimpse of life
Higher Bockhampton. Head west From Exeter it is a short drive in Roman Britain in the 1st
to Abbotsbury (see p115), with its to Dartmoor (see pp142–3), a century. There are guided tours
medieval Swannery and lovely landscape of brooding hills and of the city’s Palladian terraces
gardens, then follow the coast granite tors. The Rock Inn at and crescents, which remain
to Lyme Regis (see p117) to look Haytor Vale is well placed for much as they did when Austen
for fossils along the beach. lunch after a hike on Haytor lived here over 200 years ago.

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