Devon Introduction | Encounter Walking

Ladram Bay on Encounter Walking Holidays South West Coast Path walking holiday route

Walking Holidays In Devon

Welcome to Walking in Devon

Almost twice the size of its wild west Cornish neighbour, at first glance Devon presents itself as a county with a more tranquil and timeless feel , a more rounded landscape of sweeping pastures, thatched cottages serving up cream teas, picture postcard villages and twisting lanes. Yet for those taking a Devon Walking Holiday whilst you will find all this on your walk, your two feet are a passport through so much more than the usual “scrumpy” and village fete stereotype.

In fact, Devon provides the widest variety of walking routes and some of the wildest hiking in the South West boasting two National Parks at Exmoor and Dartmoor as well as four very distinct sections of coastal walking on the South West Coast Path.

With the variety of trail comes an equally energizing diversity in your overnight stays. Rest up in low beamed and slate floored village inns or remote and windswept moorland farmsteads, upmarket coastal Regency Hotels and cosy cottage B&B’s. Take a Devon Walking Holiday and you tread the walking routes that have long inspired the UK’s writers from Coleridge and Dickens to Agatha Christie and you will wander through locations that have inspired everything from the terrifying Hound of the Baskervilles to the playful Tarka the Otter.

Fully supported Self Guided Walking Devon Walking Holidays run all year with options and lengths suitable for all levels of walker. For guidance and ideas on how to best link the network of footpaths and get the most variety of scenery within your timescale get in touch with one of our walking advisors for advice.

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Devon South West Coast Path Walking Routes

The Devon coastal walks will amaze you with everything from the lost and remote wooded valleys of the South Devon Hams to the epic golden estuaries and dunes of the Taw and Torridge river system around Barnstaple. Head to the border with Somerset and you walk into Gorge country, valleys of immense rocks and twisted headlands that collide with Exmoor’s purple heather Moor at “little Switzerland” in Lynmouth . Finally to the east of the Exe River the Devon Coast Path enters the protected World Heritage Site along the superb Jurassic Coast and you start your own walk through time itself.

Dartmoor Walks and Dartmoor Walking Holidays

“The longer one stays here the more does the spirit of the moor sink into ones soul, its vastness and also its grim charm. When you are once out upon its bosom you have left all traces of modern England behind you".

Arthur Conan Doyle – Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskervilles

Compelling, exhilarating, challenging and never boring! Dartmoor walking is a great antidote to modern urban life pitching you straight into England’s last remaining wilderness. A land of deep gorges, ghostly tors, churning rivers and endless mystery.

Dartmoor National park offers 365 square miles of virtually uninhabited freedom and a walking holiday over Dartmoor frees your soul and clears your mind.

The long distance walking routes below shatter the myth that the area is one large, dark and sinister bog. Mystical Stone Circles and ancient Iron Age settlements compete with pretty moorland market towns and imposing castles.

High twisted Granite Tors, home to hardy wild ponies and buzzards, fall away on the edge of the moor to gentle river gorges hiding otter, kingfishers and long lost villages where time itself appears to have stood still.

Experienced walkers confident with a Dartmoor Map and compass should consider The Two Moors Way route over the moor. Tackle the high ground and ridges and for those with the time continue on over Exmoor to link the North and South Coastlines of Devon with its two National parks.

For those wanting a less demanding Dartmoor Walk then The Dartmoor Way offers a superb week or more of walking following the edges of the moor but still mixing sections of high ground and Tors with the Abbeys, Market Towns, gorges and villages that cling to the edge of the National Park. From the infamous Victorian Prison to the dramatic Castles of Drogo and Okehampton the route links the very best of the area without the full challenges of the Two Moors Way.

Encounter Walking support Self Guided Dartmoor Walking breaks and holidays throughout the year. Based just a few miles over the border in East Cornwall our staff have plenty of experience of the moor, its trails and its highlights.

Contact a Walking Advisor to discuss your ideal walk and get the best itinerary for the time you have available in this unique and unforgettable walking area.

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Introducing Exmoor National Park

250 Square miles of near perfect and unique beauty, Exmoor packs a great deal into the UK’s most compact National Park. Windswept high moorland and gorgeous heather banked summits roll ever downward into densely wooded valleys and roaring rivers and gorges that reveal secretive yet welcoming cob and thatch villages at the end of your days walking. Smaller and less harsh that its neighbouring Dartmoor what Exmoor Walking Holidays have over the former is the dramatic collision of moor with Ocean. The Moorland literally ends by plunging into the Bristol Channel down incredible Hogs Back coastal cliffs, the highest in England - an incredible 800 feet of bare rock – there is simply nowhere else like it in North Devon, Somerset or indeed the rest of the UK.

Without doubt, Exmoor’s survival has been thanks to its relative isolation, tucked away at the top of the UK’s West Country Peninsular its missed by those rushing headlong for Cornwall’s far west or Dartmoor. Well....their loss can be your gain! As a result on Exmoor Walks you never feel crowded out, in a location where space and height become the overarching themes to your walking holiday – Exmoor leaves you feeling tall as you wander high on top of a hidden country, looking forever downward from an empty heaven that seems to stretch all the way to the mighty ocean in one long purple heather carpet.

Within these expanses your walking holiday will link fascinating evidence of historical attempts to tame these moors, deserted Medieval Villages, Iron Age hill forts and the ruined farmsteads of the outlaw clans that once controlled the area. Whilst at Tarr Steps the incredible ancient stone clapper bridge spans the crystal clear gurgling River Barle like something left behind by Giants

The thrill of stalking a lone Stag as it prances over the heather ahead or creeping towards a nervous herd of roe deer is unforgettable out here where the largest concentration of Red Deer in England freely roams the National Park along with the unique and rare breed of Exmoor Pony and even a herd of sea cliff residing wild goats.

Testament to its walking quality , Exmoor has over 750 miles of “rights of way” and the longest stretch of naturally wooded coastline in the UK running right down through deep and lush gorges to the shore itself. Encounter Walking cover the best of these trails with options across the moor and along the South West Coast Path.

Little Switzerland, The Valley of the Rocks, The (Lorna) Doone Valley and the Samuel Coleridge Way, world class walking meets the poets and artists here and we cover the highlights and full variety of the National Park with selected options across the moor and along the South West Coast Path. This area in particular lends itself to those who can’t decide between the Moor and the Coast and are looking to mix a few days of splendid isolation walking the high ground before seamlessly linking the adventure into the drama and challenges of the South West Coastal Path en route into North Devon.

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