The Rough Guide to Devon & Cornwall (Travel Guide eBook)

Description

The Rough Guide to Devon and Cornwall is the perfect companion to your trip to this captivating peninsula, introducing you to the charms of gentle, pastoral Devon and wild, craggy Cornwall. Both counties will tempt you outside to enjoy their mild climate, with everything from hikes over Dartmoor and surfing off Newquay to puffin-spotting on Lundy Island. But it's not all about the great outdoors, with awe-inspiring cathedrals, innovative galleries and a well-established local food scene to explore (not to mention an even longer-established cider-drinking tradition).

The Rough Guide to Devon and Cornwall includes honest reviews from our expert author of what to do and where to eat, drink and sleep in the region, alongside detailed full-colour maps and inspiring photography.

Whether you want to visit a rock-hewn theatre or a witchcraft museum, a stately home or a vegan café, The Rough Guide to Devon and Cornwall will help you make the most of your time in these beautiful counties.

Sujets

• Cornualles
• Cornwall

Informations

• Publié par: Apa Publications
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9780241307618
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 45 Mo

Extrait

CONTENTS HOW TO USE INTRODUCTION Where to go When to go Author picks Things not to miss Itineraries BASICS Getting there Getting around Accommodation Food and drink Festivals and events Outdoor activities Travel essentials THE GUIDE 1. Exeter and mid-Devon 2. East Devon 3. South Devon 4. Dartmoor 5. Plymouth and around 6. Exmoor 7. North Devon and Lundy 8. Southeast Cornwall 9. The Lizard and Penwith peninsulas 10. The Isles of Scilly 11. Cornwall’s Atlantic coast 12. Bodmin and Bodmin Moor CONTEXTS History Landscape and wildlife The arts Books MAPS AND SMALL PRINT Introduction Introduction Cover Table of Contents
HOW TO USE THIS ROUGH GUIDE EBOOK
This Rough Guide is one of a new generation of informative and easy-to-use travel-guide ebooks that guarantees you make the most of your trip. An essential tool for pre-trip planning, it also makes a great travel companion when you re on the road.
From the table of contents , you can click straight to the main sections of the ebook. Start with the Introduction , which gives you a flavour of Devon and Cornwall, with details of what to see, what not to miss, itineraries and more – everything you need to get started. This is followed by Basics , with pre-departure tips and practical information, such as transport details and accommodation tips. The guide chapters offer comprehensive and in-depth coverage of the whole of Devon and Cornwall, including area highlights and full-colour maps featuring all the sights and listings. Finally, Contexts fills you in on history, books and film.
Detailed area maps feature in the guide chapters and are also listed in the dedicated map section , accessible from the table of contents. Depending on your hardware, you can double-tap on the maps to see larger-scale versions, or select different scales. There are also thumbnails below more detailed maps – in these cases, you can opt to zoom left/top or zoom right/bottom or view the full map. The screen-lock function on your device is recommended when viewing enlarged maps. Make sure you have the latest software updates, too.
Throughout the guide, we ve flagged up our favourite places - a perfectly sited hotel, an atmospheric caf , a special restaurant – with the author pick icon . You can select your own favourites and create a personalized itinerary by bookmarking the sights, venues and activities that are of interest, giving you the quickest possible access to everything you ll need for your time away.
INTRODUCTION TO DEVON & CORNWALL
Stretching sinuously into the Atlantic, Britain’s westernmost counties of Devon and Cornwall have always captured the imaginations of artists, writers, surfers and hikers – anyone, in fact, who’s drawn to wild landscapes, dramatic coastline and a benign climate. The two counties have a markedly different look and feel to the rest of the UK: Devon’s rolling swards of pasture, narrow lanes and cosy thatched cottages are a counterpoint to Cornwall’s craggy charm and deep Celtic roots. The essential elements, however, are shared, first and foremost being the sea – a constant theme, whether experienced as a restless force raging against rocks and reefs, or as a more serene presence, bathed in rich colours more readily associated with sun-baked Mediterranean shores.


  You’re never very far from the coast in Devon and Cornwall, where the panoramic sequence of miniature ports, placid estuaries, embattled cliffs and sequestered bays is linked by one of the region’s greatest assets, the South West Coast Path , stretching from the seaboard of Exmoor to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Most visitors are primarily enticed by the magnificent beaches strewn along the deeply indented coast, ranging from grand sweeps of sand confronting ranks of surfer-friendly rollers to intimate creeks and coves away from the crowds. The resorts also come in all shapes and sizes, from bijou fishing ports to full-blown tourist towns offering every facility, and from genteel Victorian health resorts to spartan outposts squeezed between cliffs.
  Inland, the peninsula has a trio of wildernesses – Exmoor , Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor – which appeal equally to activity enthusiasts and wildlife watchers. Elsewhere, Devon and Cornwall also boast some supreme specimens of English rural life – unsung hamlets far from the beaten track, where clustered cottages, steepled churches and brilliant flower displays perfectly complement the lush meadows and tidy dells surrounding them.
  Some of the region’s greatest cultural treasures are to be found in the various stately homes that are open to the public, many with gardens that thrive in the mild climate. There’s plenty of interest in the towns and cities too: castles and cathedrals vying for your attention with galleries and ancient markets . It’s not necessary to stick to the bigger centres to track down top-quality restaurants or the most sophisticated accommodation , either – Devon and Cornwall excel at both, often in the remotest spots.

ADVENTURE COUNTIES
If you’re looking for a piece of the action, Devon and Cornwall have it all. The tracts of rugged wilderness inland combine with miles of cliffy coastline and beaches to make the region the destination of choice for adventure enthusiasts of every hue. Devon’s Tarka Trail and Cornwall’s Camel Trail are only the best-known of a web of cycle tracks weaving across the peninsula, some of them following old mining trails. Dartmoor and Exmoor provide ideal terrain for hiking , riding and climbing , while the rivers Dart and Fowey are popular with the kayaking crowd. Other water-based activities include sailing from the south-coast ports of Dartmouth, Salcombe and Falmouth, coasteering along the sea cliffs of northern and western Cornwall, and swimming from just about anywhere. The waters around the Lizard and Penwith peninsulas and the Isles of Scilly offer some of the country’s premier dive sites, while Croyde, Woolacombe, Polzeath and Newquay on the north coasts of Devon and Cornwall can boast some of the finest surfing – not to mention more select sports such as kitesurfing and waveskiing . Newbies will find facilities for renting and instruction throughout the region, while action addicts can sate their appetites with a choice of adventure centres offering day, weekend and week-long sessions.

Where to go
Where you go in Devon and Cornwall will depend on your primary interest. If beaches are the priority, you can pick just about any stretch of coast with the guarantee of finding a patch of sand or rocks to swim from. Beaches on the northern littoral are generally the first choice for surfers, notably at Woolacombe and Croyde in Devon and, in Cornwall, those around Bude , Padstow and Newquay . Devon’s most popular seaside towns are on the more sheltered southeast-facing coast, where there is superb swimming to the north and south of Torquay , capital of the self-styled “English Riviera”. Elsewhere in Devon, you’ll find less coming and going around the classic resorts of the East Devon coast, where the predominantly shingle shores are backed by sandstone-red cliffs, as at Sidmouth . In Cornwall, crowds home in on St Austell Bay and around Falmouth , but the beaches are more inviting at the western end of the region, where the Lizard and Penwith peninsulas are liberally studded with sheltered bays like Porthcurno and Kynance Cove , as well as more extensive surfing beaches such as Sennen Cove and Poldhu . All, however, pale into insignificance when compared with the dazzling white-sand strands found on the Isles of Scilly , where the sea can take on a tropical brilliance.
  Likewise, hikers need only head for the nearest coast to find some of the best walking in Britain. Circling the entire peninsula, the South West Coast Path allows endless opportunities for long-distance or shorter jaunts, and links up with other routes such as the Tarka Trail , around Barnstaple and Bideford in North Devon, and the Camel Trail , which weaves inland from the coast at Padstow to Bodmin Moor . Unsurprisingly, it is the moors that hold the greatest range of paths and bridleways, and of these Dartmoor has the densest concentration, though more cultivated Exmoor should not be discounted.
  The pleasures of Devon and Cornwall are not confined to the great outdoors, however. History and culture can be soaked up at the region’s main centres, not least in Exeter , which features stunning medieval architecture and a first-rate museum. Devon’s leading part in England’s maritime history is in evidence here and at Plymouth , which has preserved its medieval core around the old harbour despite severe bomb damage during World War II. On a smaller scale, the nautical tradition is perpetuated in such estuary ports as Dartmouth , Salcombe and Fowey on the south coast, all favourite anchorages of the yachting set.
  The West Country’s past is evident in the numerous ruins scattered throughout the peninsula. These range from the primitive hut circles and Iron Age remains on the moors and remote Isles of Scilly, to castles from diverse eras – fragmentary but dramatic, as at Tintagel , fabled home of King Arthur on the north Cornish coast, or immaculately preserved, such as at St Mawes and Pendennis Castle in South Cornwall. The region’s former wealth, derived above all from mining and wool, is reflected in a rich assortment of stately homes, usually tucked out of sight in splendid countryside, as at Hartland Abbey , in North Devon, and Lanhydrock , on the edge of Bodmin Moor. The endowments of landowners and merchants helped to fund some of Devon’s most striking examples of ecclesiastical architecture too; for example at Crediton in mid-Devon, while Cornwall’s myriad Methodist chapels are testament to the markedly different style of popular religion proselytized by J