South West England

The region extends  westwards in a peninsula between the English Channel to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the north.  The 700 miles of coastline include top surfing beaches such as Newquay, fantastic rock formations like Durdle Door in Dorset and Lands End in Cornwall, and hundreds of pretty coves and fishing harbours. There are many picturesque villages and  well-known resorts such as Weymouth and the nearby ‘Isle’ of Portland.  Inland lies beautiful countryside with narrow lanes and wild hedgerows, and the  brooding moorland National Parks of Exmoor and Dartmoor. The largest cities in the region, Bristol and Plymouth, have a fascinating maritime history and are now vibrant modern cities, while the environmental Eden Project in Cornwall attracts millions of visitors.

The  area to the east of the region is also famously beautiful. There are the lush hills and valleys of the Mendips and the Quantocks, the western edges of the New Forest, the ancient Royal Forest of Dean on the Welsh border, and the dramatic landscape of Salisbury Plain. Here you can find Bath, once a Roman spa town and now a jewel of Georgian architecture, as well as the medieval cathedral cities of Salisbury and Wells, the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge, Cheddar Gorge and the haunted caves of Wookey Hole.

The region has a strong artistic, musical and literary heritage with the Tate St Ives and Barbara Hepworth museums in St Ives, the international music festival in Dartington near Totnes, and Britain’s best-known pop festival at Glastonbury. This is the magical land of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table,  and of Thomas Hardy’s novels; Virginia Woolf’s masterpiece ‘To the Lighthouse’ takes place here as do many memorable scenes from Jane Austen’s novels.

Finally, visitors to the area must be sure to try the many local specialities: Cheddar cheese, clotted cream (enjoyed best with scones in an English cream tea), Cornish pasties and cider.