North Devon

The Wikivoyage region of North Devon is the area of Devon that lies to the north of Dartmoor and west of the River Exe.

Towns and villages

Towns

Villages

Other destinations

Understand

Wikivoyage defines North Devon as the area that is bounded by the Bristol Chanel to the north, the River Tamar and Cornwall to the west, Dartmoor National Park and Exeter to the south and the River Exe to the south-east. Somerset lies to the north-east with the border between the region and Somerset passing through the Exmoor National Park. Much of the region, apart from Exmoor is good agricultural country with a scattering of villages interspersed with picturesque market towns. The region’s industry is oriented towards the support of agriculture and the processing of agricultural products.

A number of fishing villages are to be found on the north coast of the region which has also become a popular holiday resort, though wilder in nature than the Devon South Coast.

Get in

By road

Visitors to the region from London should either take the M4 to Bristol and then follow the M5. Once they are in Devon, they should leave the M5 at a suitable point, depending on their destination. Alternatively, they can take the M3 from London to Junction 8 and then the A303 as far as Ilminster, the A358 to Taunton and then follow the M5 as described earlier. The distance from Central London to Barnstaple is about 320 km (200 miles) and should take about 4 hours (plus stops).

Visitors who are travelling westwards along the coast should take the A35 from Bournemouth and Dorchester and at Honiton join the A30. Once they reach the M5 at Exeter, they can go either northwards for Tiverton and Barnstaple or southwards to rejoin the A30 for Okehampton.

Visitors travelling from Cornwall have the choice of using the A39 which follows the Bristol Channel coast or the A30 which passes through the southern part of the region.

By rail

Rail travellers can either travel to Exeter and catch a local train service or use road transport (bus or hire car) from Tiverton Parkway (on the Great Westerm lines from Penzance and Exeter to London Paddington and Birmingham.

By air

Exeter Airport (IATA:EXT) has regular scheduled direct flights from Aberdeen, Alicante, Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Guernsey, Jersey, Málaga, and Newcastle. A greater variety of international flights operates in summer, but these are mostly aimed at jetting locals to the Med.

Get around

By bus

The region has an extensive bus network which is aimed at local travel, so can be slow. Many services are subsidised by the local authorities and are therefore subject to the whims of local politicians who are trying serve their voters as well as balance the books. Up to date information can be found from the Devon County Council website.

By train

This region is served by an hourly service between Barnstaple and Exeter and another hourly service between Okehampton and Exeter. The two services share the same line between Crediton and Exeter.

Eat

The larger towns in the region often have a hotel and/or restaurant alongside fish-and-chip shops or Indian or Chinese take-away outlets. Virtually every community has a pub where meals can be bought at reasonable prices. Please visit the entries for individual towns to find specific establishments

Stay safe

Even though the crime rate in Devon is low, visitors should still take the normal precautions to remove temptations for petty pilfering. Visitors should also be aware that drunken behaviour increases during the holiday months.

Check the safety of beaches before entering the water. Many beaches have life guards on duty during the holiday season. It is also advisable to make local checks as to any pollution that might have been discharged into the sea.

Go next

You can explore Dartmoor, Exeter, or the English Riviera and South Devon which are to the south of the region, North Cornwall is to the west of the region while Somerset, including the rest of Exmoor is to the East of the region.

Dartmoor National Park is a swathe of moorland to the south of the region.

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