Explore
What's On in Devon
Welcome to the Itinerary Planner. Use this tool to build your own journey or choose from an exciting range of specially selected tours.
To build your own Itinerary, click to add an item to your Itinerary basket.
You are here > Home > Visitor Info > More Information > Visit Devon News > Why walking is a great way to explore Devon
27th November 2019
Categories: Visitor News
As the days shorten and the Christmas lights come on, when you’re settled indoors to warm up cold toes and muddy boots by a nice roaring fire, let your mind wander to next year’s crisp spring mornings and to days walking the moors in the hot summer sun!
With over 350km of bridleways and byways in Dartmoor National Park alone, and coastal walks which form part of the 630mile South West Coast Path, there are an endless variety of routes which criss-cross and make accessible the natural highlights Devon has to offer. Whatever you’re walking through be it fields of yellow, poppy red, golden grain or the snowy whites of Winter; Devon is somewhere one never tires of hiking and walking.
Devon’s huge variety of landscapes is one of its greatest attractions; what better way to explore than by ‘Shank’s pony’ (on foot!); down winding lanes and cobbled streets, over hills and up into Dartmoor National Park. Within the course of one walk it is possible to start from a tiny village of thatched cottages to end up at the roaring ocean, sandy beaches and vibrant seaside towns.
With a wealth of heritage, from castles and forts atop hills, to burial chambers tucked away in twisting valleys; there are hundreds of glorious gardens, gorges, tors and waterfalls waiting to be discovered! In fact, with our Rights of Way and public footpaths, there are almost too many options to choose from; a lifetime’s worth of walks. We like to narrow down our walking routes by choosing great coffee and cake spots along the way, and by finishing at a great pub!
No walk is complete without a good pit stop and one of our favourite wanderings has got to be around Castle Drogo, the last castle to be built in England. Perched on the Teign gorge, you can walk from there along the river, through woodland, up to Sharp Tor and Hunters Tor, while making the most of the cakes and scones from the National Trust Café!
Walks out from villages like Widecombe in the Moor and Bovey Tracey, up to beautiful Tors with panoramic views over the largest open space in Southern England, where you can meet the free roaming and grazing Dartmoor ponies, are some of the best ways to explore this region.
If you are interested in walking and hiking through the South West, Active England Tours run 6 Day Guided Walking Holidays which begin in Devon, and, via our favourite pubs, cafes and hotels, continue South into Cornwall for some incredible coastal walking and seaside villages.
Highlights on this trip include the gorgeous village of Chagford, Hay Tor, Lydford Gorge, and the the Meldon Reservoir.
© Visit Devon Community Interest Company