Taunton (England)

Taunton is the county town of Somerset, a county in the south-west of England. Taunton has several landmarks room its thousand-year history, and is famous for its cider.

Get in

By air

The nearest airports are at Bristol Airport (BRS IATA), to the north-west and Exeter Airport (EXT IATA), to the south-west, both about 35 mi (56 km) away.

By road

By road, leave the M5 motorway at exit 25. Taunton has a railway station on the main line from London Paddington (typical journey time 2 hr 5 min) to Exeter (25 min), Plymouth (1 hr 30 min), and Penzance (3 hr 40 min). Bristol is 35 min away by rail.

By train

๐ŸŒ Taunton station has many rail connections:

By bus

Buses link to Wellington, Bridgwater, Yeovil, Exeter, and Chard.

South West Falcon operates a service connecting Bristol, Taunton, Exeter and Plymouth. A single fare from Plymouth to Bristol is ยฃ28. Tickets can be booked online in advance, but reservations are not strictly required.

Get around

Traffic in Taunton is awful. A park and ride service (the Taunton Flyer) provides transport between the town centre and a large car park at Silk Mills.

The best options are to walk or take a bus. However, the bus and railway stations are a good 15 minutes' walk apart!

By bus

Buses are frequent during the week, but evenings and Sundays are very limited. Buses operated by Firstbus - They are expensive.

See

Do

  • ๐ŸŒ Brewhouse Theatre, Coal Orchard TA1 1JL, โ˜ +44 1823 283244. Professional and community theatre.
  • Cricket at ๐ŸŒ County Ground, St James St TA1 1JT (just east of river). Somerset CCC play in the First Division of the County Championship.
  • ๐ŸŒ Taunton Racecourse, Orchard Portman TA3 7BL (B3170 two miles south of town), โ˜ +44 1823 337172, . Only in winter, as (unusually) this is solely a jumps course, with meetings every fortnight or so Oct-Mar. The course is near M5 but there's no junction with B3170, you need to exit at jcn 25 onto A358 west, then left onto Bridgewater Rd to zigzag around town.
  • Rugby Union: Taunton Titans play in National League 1, the third tier. Their home ground is Veritas Park on Hyde Lane, two miles east of town centre.

Buy

  • ๐ŸŒ Taunton Deane services. Taunton Deane services both northbound and southbound have a WH Smith that sell all kinds of supplies and souvenirs including wooden carvings, aluminium lettering and even Buddha statues.
  • Farmers Market is held on High St on Thursdays.

Eat

All of the major fast food chains are represented, including two branches each of Subway and McDonalds. The town has a range of coffee shops, including the major chains Starbucks, Costa and Caffรจ Nero.

  • ๐ŸŒ Pizza Express, 20 Bridge Street, TA1 1UB, โ˜ +44 1823 352245. Su-Th 11:30AM-10PM, F Sa 11:30AM-11PM.
  • ๐ŸŒ @Tristans, 11 East Reach, TA1 3EW, โ˜ +44 1823 332117. Tu-Th 6:30PM-midnight, F Sa 6PM-midnight, Su M closed.
  • Castle Bow Restaurant, in Castle Hotel, see Sleep, โ˜ +44 1823 272671. W-Sa 6:30-9PM. Has a national reputation for cooking excellence, although the prices and formality reflect its fame. The hotel also has Brazz (open daily, breakfast 8-10AM, lunch noon-3PM, dinner 6-9PM, two-course set menu ยฃ12). tasting menu ยฃ64, a la carte mains from ยฃ20.
  • ๐ŸŒ Willow Tree, 3 Tower Lane, โ˜ +44 1823-352835. Tu W F Sa from 6:30PM. Cozy restaurant with superb food, open only in the evening. from ยฃ28.
  • The Skewer House, 41 Bridge Street TA1 1TP, โ˜ +44 1823 335711. Traditional and authentic Portuguese food.
  • ๐ŸŒ The Barn, opened in 2021, is on Pound Lane in Bishop's Lydeard 8 miles northwest of Taunton. It's modern British cuisine, served Th-Sa 12:00-23:00, W & Su 12:00-16:00.

Drink

Sleep

Connect

As of May 2022, Taunton has 5G from EE and Three, and 4G from O2 and Vodafone.

Go next

Routes through Taunton
Plymouth โ† Tiverton โ†  SW  NE  โ†’ Bridgwater โ†’ Bristol



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